| Total Commitment - Our salute to Larry Carter, a true legend of the industry. |
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| Wednesday, 10 December 2008 19:09 |
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Larry Carter, former President and CEO of Car-O-Liner North American Operations, is no stranger to hard work. For more than 45 years he has dedicated his life to the collision repair industry. That dedication was recently honoured at a lavish party in Las Vegas, NV that was hosted by Car-O-Liner. First introduced to the trade in his father’s repair shop, it was there that Larry made the decision to pursue collision repair as a career. The journey from repair shop employee to CEO has been a road marked with various exciting opportunities, through all of which Larry has demonstrated his deep commitment to advancing the collision repair industry. The year 1963 marked two significant milestones in Larry’s life. He graduated from the Provincial Institute of Automotive and Allied Trades in Ontario, and soon after married his wife Lorraine, with whom he still shares his life. In fact, the couple recently embarked on a cross-Canada tour to mark Larry’s retirement. diverse career The next few years found Larry in diverse roles. He began his career as foreman of the Century Auto Body division of Jackson Motors in Barrie, ON, and after just two years moved to the Jackson Motors operation in Kitchener, ON where he was employed as both service and collision repair facility manager. In 1967, only four years after his graduation, Larry was offered a position in the sales field with Applied Power Canada Ltd. He accepted the offer and became territory manager for Eastern and Northern Ontario, selling BlackHawk Automotive Products and Enerpac Industrial Hydraulic tools. Larry proved that he had drive and determination, moving through a succession of sales and management roles between 1970 and 1980. He was the first Enerpac salesman to achieve $1 million in sales in Canada. Larry was soon appointed regional manager of Enerpac’s Canadian operations. Taking full advantage of his position, Larry established the first Enerpac training facility in the country, and in 1980, after becoming the Director of Marketing and Sales at Applied Power Canada’s BlackHawk Automotive division, he established a new BlackHawk sales and training facility in Rexdale, ON. onward and upward It didn’t surprise anyone that knew him when Larry continued to rise upward in Applied Power. In 1986 he made another move, this time to Milwaukee, WI, where he became General Manager of the company’s automotive division. One year later Larry returned to Canada as President of Hein-Werner when BlackHawk was sold to the Hein-Werner Corporation, bringing with him the introduction of Kansas Jack products to the Canadian collision repair marketplace. This initiative met with great success, and very soon he was beckoned back to the United States, where he took over as President of Hein-Werner’s Kansas Jack division. Larry’s strong work ethic and his willingness to rise to any challenge are the qualities that led to him being offered the position of President and CEO of Car-O-Liner in 1990, a position he held until his retirement earlier this year. Larry’s involvement in every aspect of the industry is a great contributor to his success. From his humble beginnings to his present day status as a legend of the industry, he offers a credible standpoint that has without a doubt been shaped by his journey through the collision repair industry. “I’ve always felt that when you’re running businesses and employing people, you have to have a commitment, but you also have to look after all of those people,” says Larry, reflecting on his more than four decades of experience in the collision repair business. “The industry has been good to me. I think I need to be good to it.” crm |
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