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WINSTON-SALEM -- The folks at Flow Companies say they’ve operated on three principles for more than 50 years in the automobile business. They say they’ve kept their word with their customers, maintained a common vision with their employees and worked for the good of every city where they do business.

But it’s that second point that has earned Flow its most recent acclaim.

The company, which has nearly 900 employees and 31 franchises in North Carolina and Virginia , won the Opportunities Award in Top Workplaces 2011. The company won for the opportunities it provides its workers.

“They get the opportunity to shine, but it is under our processes,” said Dennis Chriss , Flow’s vice president for organizational development . “We promote from within. ... We don’t hire other people’s problems.”

Employees said they like the company for its leadership, training and long-term employment opportunities.

“I love my job because it has given me an opportunity to better myself and be a professional,” one employee said in the survey. “It has given me the chance to play a major role in helping others (and) at the same time helping me better myself professionally.”

Said another: “It’s fun. ... I have been given opportunities to do things that I have never done before.”

The company says its workers have gotten the chance to serve on community boards, build Habitat for Humanity homes and develop an after-school program.

The company has sponsored Davis Cup tennis in Winston-Salem, and owner Don Flow led the effort to bring a professional tennis tournament to the city this past summer.

“We are very proud of our legacy,” Chriss said.

Flow got its start in 1957 as a used-car business that offered a warranty.

In 1961 , it began selling Volks-wagens, and in 1973 it began representing a new company called Honda.

Now, Flow sells 18 makes — everything from Acuras to VWs — in its various dealerships.

“I love the vehicles I sell,” one employee said in the survey, “so the clients definitely see that excitement when I talk to them.”

Flow has eight locations in the Triad and more than 530 area employees.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com