The Gilleland story begins with an entrepreneur and mentor named Leonard Rydell. Rydell got into the car business after WWll, opening a dealership in Montgomery, Minnesota. In 1954, at Chevrolet's request, he moved to North Dakota to operate the Chevrolet dealership in Grand Forks. Duane Gilleland was hired by Rydell as an automotive technician out of Thief River Falls Community College to work at the Grand Forks dealership. Ambitious and capable, Duane worked his way up to service manager and then to general manager. After he told Rydell that he hoped one day to own his own dealership, the employer did something unusual. He decided to help Duane achieve his dream.