It isn’t easy to find a good news story in the American car industry these days.

The Federal government is currently working on restructuring a market which has been one of the hardest hit, by not just the current recession, but also a growing awareness of shrinking oil reserves around the world.

President Barack Obama’s automobile taskforce outlined what American car companies need to do under the government’s bailout of the industry — trim the fat, get more efficient, shed dealerships.

For dealerships all over the country, this meant a very nervous wait, to see if the businesses they had kept running for 50 years or more would be struck aside with a flick of the pen. Jobs were at stake, livelihoods, and careers.

Michael’s Chevrolet of Issaquah was one of the 6,000 Chevy dealerships nationwide that were faced with the difficult task of keeping busy with business as usual, while waiting for the letter from General Motors headquarters in Detroit that would seal their fate.

“GM announced that they were going to reduce dealerships from 6,000 to 3,600,” said Michael’s General Manager Dan Warshawer.

According to Warshawer, the decision on who would get the chop was made by considering a combination of factors, such as profitability, location, size, and the business’ reputation with customers and clients.

At Michael’s there were 30 jobs on the line, many of them supporting families here in Issaquah.

“One Friday last month, the announcement was made to expect a letter that following Monday,” Warshawer recalled. “That letter would say one of three things; one, ‘see you later, goodbye’ — a wind down agreement to be finished and out of business by October 2010. Two, ‘we want you to move, or do something about your facility’ — basically an order to improve the business, to continue, but with stipulations.”

The third letter would say ‘well done, you made the cut.’

Warshawer said that the weekend waiting for the letter to arrive was very stressful.

“I couldn’t get a hold of anyone who might be able to give us some information, an inside track on what was happening,” he said. “All the zone managers were in Detroit, and they had them locked away.”

On Monday morning, the first of two FedEx deliveries arrived at 9 a.m.

“All the staff knew it was coming,” Warshawer said. “There were half a dozen of us out there, waiting for the truck. But the letter didn’t come in that delivery. So our hearts went back down into our stomachs and we went back to work.”

When the second delivery came later that afternoon, the general manager knew this was the moment that would decide his fate, and all of those at Michael’s.

“I got the envelope, and I closed the door,” he said. “I knew this was something that I needed to do by myself. I checked with the owner that I could open it, because it was addressed to him. It was very nerve wracking.”

Good news. “On behalf of the entire GM team, we are extremely pleased to annouce Michael’s Chevrolet of Issaquah has been identified as one of the key dealerships of the Chevrolet brand.”

“I was jumping up and down — it really was life and death,” Warshawer recalled.

After reading the letter, Warshawer gathered the team together to share the good news.

“I’m not much a poker player, so they could tell by my face what it said.”

All over America, in cities just like Issaquah, car dealerships and other businesses are coping with the changing of American industry.

Michael’s Chevrolet is one example of small businesses hanging tough.