As owners of Motor Specialty and members of the business’s founding Lund family, brother and sister Mark Bass and Cindy Bittner have been continuing their family’s 73-year-old tradition of giving back to their community since taking ownership of the business in October 2017.
Seven decades after its founding, Motor Specialty is still deeply rooted in the community. According to Mark, “Giving back our community is important to my sister and myself as well as the Motor Specialty leadership team because we are part of this community—a community that has given so much to us.”
“We [at Motor Specialty] don’t exist on an island; we want to see our community succeed as much as we want to see our business succeed.”
Mark and Cindy grew up surrounded by family members who acted as role models and whose lives were examples of serving others both personally and professionally. In addition to leading the company, members of the Lund family have held many civil service positions, serving as military, police and firefighters as well as in the fields of healthcare and education.
“We were raised by our parents to give back through our occupations as well as in our personal lives,” says Mark. “It’s in our blood.”
The Lund family has been donating to both the American Cancer Society and the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society for years—a tradition started by Motor Specialty’s previous owner and Mark and Cindy’s mother, Carolynn Bass, and continued by her children. Additionally, Motor Specialty and its employees have donated to organizations such as the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization (HALO) and have participated in several fundraisers, including one through which the company provided meals for 40 firefighters at Racine’s South Shore Fire Department.
Motor Specialty’s commitment to the community doesn’t stop with Mark and Cindy. Besides financially supporting local charities, many of Motor Specialty’s employees are personally involved in their community, giving their time and talents to volunteer at local churches and organizations such as the Racine Literacy Council, Habitat for Humanity, food banks and fire departments, as well as a program organized by the sheriff’s department aimed at giving opportunities to underprivileged children.
The majority of Motor Specialty’s employees are either from Racine or the surrounding area, providing a lasting source of employment for those living in and around Racine. In addition to hiring military veterans, Motor Specialty also works with employment programs like LCS Racine, a career development organization that offers skills training, job development, educational workshops and placement services to people in the Racine community.
Mark and Cindy aren’t resting on Motor Specialty’s laurels and will continue carrying on their family’s legacy of giving back to their community for years to come.