For a Love of La Porte: The Story of LPCDJR’s Lifelong Pride, Passion and Commitment to the Community

LPCDJRLOVE“Slicer for life.”

That phrase means everything to La Porte Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram SRT (LPCDJR) General Manager, Matt Magnuson. Slicer for life extends much further than the pride of wearing the orange and black; as Magnuson did when he attended La Porte High School after graduating from Crichfield Elementary and Boston Middle School; it represents the Magnuson’s love, support, and commitment to the entire La Porte community.

La Porte is a community that the Magnuson family has lived in their entire life. They’ve dug their roots deeply into La Porte, investing their family business in a community where “Slicer for life” translates to “La Porte for life.”

“My dad started this business 42 years ago,” Magnuson told IIMM. “We’ve been in La Porte the entire time and only have moved once from there (pointing directly across the street to a series of condominiums) to right here.”

In 42 years the entire world has changed and shifted; the Cold War began and ended, the “Miracle on Ice” happened; La Porte has grown to what it is today, yet the one constant that has remained throughout these years is LPCDJR and its commitment to the town the Magnuson’s love.

“If it wasn’t for La Porte then we wouldn’t be here,” said Magnuson. “We know it’s not all about selling cars and making money, it’s about giving back to a community that has been there the whole time for us. And that’s why anything that happens around here we want to be a part of it.”

There’s something special about La Porte, too. An aura, if you will. The Magnusons feel it around the town; the high schoolers who proudly don the school colors feel it; and the tight community that seems more like a big family than a collection of neighbors, feels it too.

“It’s just such a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other,” Magnuson added. “We all like to take care of the community, because that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

And LPCDJR is a reflection of this closeness, this special bond shared among residents who, when asked where they are from, proudly respond “I’m from La Porte” with the same pride a student at Crichfield would show when showing the A they got on their last test to their parents for the first time.

“We have salesmen who have been here for 34, 37, and even 41 out of our 42 years,” said Magnuson. “The community knows them, and they know us. When customers come in looking for a car it’s more like two buddies looking at a car.”

“In fact, Bob has a few customers he's so close with that if they need an oil change he just runs out to their house to pick up their car.”

And while that may seem like going way above-and-beyond, it’s normal to Matt and the team because that’s what family does for family, and that’s what La Porte is to him – one town, one family. And that’s the way it is, and will always be for Magnuson.

“We are local, we have been our whole lives, and we will continue to be local forever.”