Ourisman Honda of Bethesda Honored by Clean Cities Coalition

Ourisman Honda of Bethesda was honored on Wednesday as the Autombile Dealership of the Year by the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition, for its environmental stewardship and community efforts related to promoting energy conservation at the dealership. Ourisman Honda was one of 15 awards recipients honored at Clyde’s of Gallery Place in Chinatown, at a luncheon featuring representatives from many of the Washington area’s most visible public services, including the District Department of Public Works, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and multiple county-wide transit systems, including those in Arlington and Montgomery counties.

In recognizing Ourisman Honda, GWRCCC executive director Ira Dorfman highlighted Honda’s longstanding commitment to developing energy-efficient vehicles, dating back more than 20 years to the original Honda Insight, and continuing with the Clarity Plug-in and Fuel Cell models. He also noted that Ourisman Honda in particular has been an invaluable collaborative partner as the area around the downtown Bethesda dealership has changed from a classic suburban layout into a dense, walkable urban area with scarce street-level parking.

In accepting the award, dealership chairman John Ourisman said he strongly supports efforts to reduce congestion in downtown Bethesda, and he has worked collaboratively with the state and county on major development shifts nearby related to both the Purple Line’s construction and overall smart-growth efforts in southwest Montgomery County. The GWRCCC specifically thanked Ourisman Honda for agreeing in 2018 to assume the multi-million dollar cost of building a plaza and additional green space on the county-owned trail that abuts dealership property.

“Doing the right thing sometimes isn’t always the economical thing, but it’s worth doing anyway,” said dealership chairman John Ourisman at the awards luncheon. “We don’t do these things for recognition; it’s just been about doing the right thing and being a good community partner.”