Sixty Years of Courteous Service
A family story that began in Grand Rapids in May of 1966 — and is still being written today.
It Started on Plainfield Avenue
In May of 1966, a Grand Rapids car man named Marion “Red” Betten opened the doors of Northfield Dodge on Plainfield Avenue NE. Northfield Dodge celebrated its Grand Opening on May 7, 1966, with its very first newspaper advertisement appearing in the Monday, May 9th edition of the Grand Rapids Press.
From day one, Red ran the dealership the way he believed business ought to be run: honestly, ethically, and with genuine respect for every customer who walked through the door.
How “Red” Got His Name
Long before he opened his own dealership, Red earned his stripes as a manager at Borgman Ford in Grand Rapids. He earned his nickname there too. According to his wife of 49 years, Marlene Betten, the Borgman staff didn’t enjoy paging “Marion” over the dealership’s loudspeaker. Combined with his red hair, “Red” was the natural — and far easier — alternative. The nickname stuck for the rest of his life.
1974: A New Address and a New Name
For nearly a decade, Red built Northfield Dodge into a thriving Plainfield Avenue fixture. In late 1974, Chrysler Corporation offered Red the opportunity to purchase a nine-year-old underperforming dealership on 28th Street called Wonderland Dodge.
Franchise rules of the era prohibited single ownership of two dealerships in such close proximity, so Red made a bold decision. He sold Northfield Dodge to Henry Koning and Henry Mackarewitz — who renamed it K&M Northfield Dodge — and partnered with his brother Joe Betten to purchase the 28th Street location from Chrysler.
The brothers gave the dealership a new name that doubled as a public promise:
Courtesy Dodge.
Courteous service. Low-pressure sales. A trust-based experience for every shopper. That name wasn’t marketing — it was a commitment. In an industry often associated with high-pressure tactics, Red and Joe Betten were doing something genuinely different. And the community noticed.
Three Decades of Steady Growth
Through the late 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s, Courtesy Dodge grew right alongside Grand Rapids. Customers came back for their second, third, and fourth vehicles. Employees stayed for decades.
Courtesy joined the Better Business Bureau as an accredited business in 1988, and that accreditation has remained in place ever since.
2007–2010: Expanding the Family of Brands
The 2000s brought exciting expansion. In 2007, Courtesy purchased Highland Chrysler Jeep from Jay VanHouten, bringing the Chrysler and Jeep brands into the Courtesy family. Many of the talented people from Highland came along too — and remarkably, several of those team members are still part of Courtesy’s staff today.
In 2009, Chrysler officially separated the Ram truck brand from Dodge — and just like that, all four brands were proudly under one roof:
Chrysler. Dodge. Jeep. Ram.
Then in 2010 — with all four brands now under the Courtesy banner — a major addition expanded the dealership’s footprint on 28th Street, accompanied by a top-to-bottom remodel to accommodate the growing lineup.
2011: A New Generation Takes the Wheel
In 2011, the Courtesy family said goodbye to its founder. Red Betten passed away that year, leaving behind a legacy of integrity that had defined the business for 45 years. The dealership was purchased by his daughter, Laura Betten Lamer, who had quite literally grown up in the car business.
Laura had spent a lifetime alongside her father and uncle, learning every aspect of dealership life — from the showroom to the service drive, from the front office to the lot. When she stepped into the role of owner, she brought with her not just deep operational knowledge, but the same core values that her father had built the business on:
Provide courteous service. Keep the pressure low. Just do the right thing — for our customers, our staff, and our community.
Under Laura’s leadership, Courtesy has continued to thrive. The dealership today is consistently one of the largest-volume Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealerships in the West Michigan area, serving customers across Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Holland, Grandville, Lowell, and Coopersville.
Values That Have Never Wavered
For both Red and Laura, the values driving Courtesy have never been simply good business practice — they are the expression of a deeply held belief that every person deserves to be treated with honesty, respect, and kindness. Red lived that belief every day in his relationships with his family, his employees, and everyone he met. It’s the conviction that has been the quiet, steady compass guiding decisions at Courtesy from the very first day he opened his doors to today, and it’s the reason “doing the right thing” isn’t a slogan at Courtesy — it’s just how business is done.
That conviction has shown up in tangible ways throughout the dealership’s history. One small but telling tradition speaks volumes:
In the entire history of Courtesy, an advertisement has never run in a Sunday newspaper.
Red believed Sunday should be a day of rest — for the dealership and for the staff who make it run. That principle has been honored every week since 1966, even though Sunday editions historically had the largest readership of the week. Choosing rest for the team over reach, week after week, year after year, is the kind of quiet, costly commitment that shapes a company’s character.
Giving Back to Grand Rapids
Today, a portion of revenue at Courtesy goes directly to local non-profit organizations serving the Grand Rapids community. It’s a tangible expression of a belief that has guided the business from the very beginning: when the community supports you for sixty years, you give back every chance you get.
A Team That Stays
Walk into Courtesy on any given day and you’ll meet team members with 20, 25, and even 30+ years of service. In an industry where turnover is the norm, that kind of staying power is almost unheard of — and it’s no accident. Courtesy has long been known as a place where employees are treated with the same respect and consideration that customers receive.
The Promise, Measured Today
Sixty years in, the Courtesy promise is still holding strong.
Today the dealership maintains an overall 4.8-star rating on Google with over 3,000 reviews — making Courtesy the highest-rated Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership in West Michigan.
It’s the kind of number that doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because thousands of customers, year after year, walk away feeling exactly what Red Betten promised back in 1974: respected, listened to, and treated fairly.
Sixty Years In — and Looking Ahead
Sixty years is a remarkable milestone. It spans nine U.S. presidents, the introduction of every safety innovation now standard in modern vehicles, and the entire arc of Grand Rapids’ transformation into the thriving West Michigan hub it is today.
Through all of it, Courtesy has remained exactly what Red Betten promised back in 1974: a dealership where customers are treated with courtesy, where pressure is replaced with patience, and where doing the right thing isn’t a marketing slogan — it’s just how things are done.
To every customer who has trusted us with a vehicle purchase, a service appointment, or simply a question over these six decades — thank you. You are the reason Courtesy is still here, still family-owned, and still proud to call Grand Rapids home.
We can’t wait to serve you for the next sixty.