"We're out looking again,'' Heard told the Ledger-Enquirer in 1997. "It just depends on what pops up. If something comes up at a reasonable price, we're a player.''
The goal at that time was to double revenue from $1 billion to $2 billion by the year 2000. It's a target Heard would hit.
The volume and dollars and business acumen drew respect from his peers and the industry, as Heard continued to roll and eye large markets like Dallas, Charlotte, Phoenix and San Antonio.
"We can't second-guess a successful man like Bill Heard,'' Bill Morie, then-president of the Georgia Automobile Dealers Association, said in the late 1990s. "If he says he's going to do it, then he's going to do it."
As the expansion continued, Heard's sons, Bill III and Edward, took on larger roles in the corporation. For several years, Bill III managed the Columbus dealership, then became president of the company. Edward ventured to Houston, where he shepherded the firm's stores there and in Las Vegas.
THE PHILANTHROPIST
Heard, now a millionaire many times over, began to enjoy the perks of his empire. He built a $17 million mansion on Lake Oliver. There were hunting safaris overseas. There was a Cessna jet he and his family used to fly to the dealerships across the country. Times were good.
But the personal gain was not selfish. Through the years, Heard gave time and money to charities, good causes and community organizations.
The Columbus Boys Club, Junior Achievement, Urban League, Columbus State University, United Way, Partners in Education and the city's Summer Olympics effort in the mid-1990s all have benefited from Heard's quiet, yet steady, philanthropy.
He was chairman of the chamber in 1973 and 1974, pushing for a civic center. He championed the need for a four-lane highway into Columbus in the early 1970s.
"He doesn't draw attention to himself, but it would be hard to name anyone more central to the building of this city than Bill Heard," retired banker Jim Blanchard said in the 1996 feature. "He was there for all of it. He is an unsung hero of Columbus.''
Heard also nurtured the arts, helping raise money for the Columbus Museum and the Columbus Challenge, which led to the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. He donated $5 million to that campaign, and today the main performance hall bears the name "The Bill Heard Theatre."
In 1994, he was selected as the Distinguished Alumnus of Auburn University's College of Business. And he received the Distinguished Citizen Award in 2000 from the Chattahoochee Council Boy Scouts of America.
"Bill has been an influence in this community for generations — before him, it was his dad," said Mike Gaymon, president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce. "We're talking about generational influence."
THE ACCUSATIONS
The Heard business continued to roll strongly as the company entered the new millennium, with sales soaring. But the torrid growth appeared to come at a price. Consumers in several states began to allege that the dealer was being deceptive in its advertising practices.
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