Dixon, first hand, has seen the trials, tribulations and rewards of the family auction business. And, he’s experienced his own misfortunes and challenges.

He watched his father, Ed Dixon, build Dixon’s Auction from operating out of a small chicken house in the early 1970s into central Virginia’s largest weekly consignment auction.

Now, Ed and Billy Dixon will be erecting a new auction facility in Powhatan County.

Years ago such an undertaking was thought impossible. Billy had worked in the family business since early childhood, but at the age of 17 he began losing his hearing. By the time he was in his mid-20s, his hearing was completely gone. Doctors attributed his loss of hearing to “nerve deafness,” a malady that has not struck anyone else in his family.

“It got to where I couldn’t talk to customers on the phone,” he says. “I couldn’t relate well with people … the hearing aids I had weren’t worth two cents. I just had to quit here, and go out and do my own thing.”

That thing was driving a bread sales truck; not a bad job, he says. But, it was a far cry from plans to help his dad – and eventually take over – the family business. To become an auctioneer with such a hearing impairment was unthinkable.

But, then in 2005 medical technology had come far enough to deal with Billy’s impairment. Later in the year, he underwent a successful cochlear implant surgery which successfully restored his hearing. In early 2006 he graduated from auction school and was ready to call bids.

“The surgery was a life changing event,” he says. “I went back to the family business, met my second wife … everything just started going great.”

Now, Dixon’s Auction is erecting a 8,200 square foot modern facility in Powhatan County, at 2043 New Dorset Road, a little more than seven miles from the family’s current auction site.

The new auction facility, under construction now, is scheduled to open for bids in April or May.

The family decision to build the new facility comes on the heels of Billy’s return to the business, in addition to the family’s long dedication to auctioneering.

“They’re just hardworking, genuine, sincere people,” First Community Bank Vice President Lori Powell, who has worked with the family for years, told the Powhatan Today.

“It’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility,” according to Billy Dixon.

The company plans to install large video screens to record items being auctioned, and is also working on streamlining the checkout process.

In addition to their weekly sales, Dixon’s Auction also handles estate sales, real estate and appraisals.

Sixty-three-year-old Ed Dixon plans on slowing down – and eventually retiring – within the next few years. But Dixon’s Auctions in Powhatan County, a historical swath of land bordered on the north by James River and on the south by the Appomattox River, will now be able to continue its legacy to the area.

“Our whole family is really happy about that,” Billy Dixon says.

Contact: (804) 272-1557

www.dixonsauction.com

Eric C. Rodenberg