CARSTAR has promoted Ernie Laky to vice president and Bill Garoutte to assistant vice president in addition to his duties as senior marketing executive. It has also added Greg Dehnke on as senior sales executive.
“With 280 domestic stores and growing global opportunities, we have an immense responsibility to guide and lead our franchise business partners to new levels of success. We need a team comprised of the right individuals to help lead this company for the next five to 15 years,” said Dick Cross III, CARSTAR CEO and chairman of the board. “Bill Garoutte and Ernie Laky are individuals with whom I have great respect and confidence to do just that.”
Garoutte joined the CARSTAR family just over a year ago and previously served in both marketing and advertising agency settings at executive levels of leadership.
“Bill Garoutte is an impact player,” says Kerry Woodson, 17-year franchisee based in St. Louis. “Over the last year, he has really put the company on a great marketing track. We see where we’ve been, but more importantly, we see where we’re headed with our marketing and I couldn’t be more excited.”
In addition to his marketing expertise, Garoutte brings a hearty level of collision industry experience. His industry affiliations have grown to high levels of responsibility and prominence in national and regional collision industry associations (SCRS-Missouri/Kansas – chairman, SCRS – National Board of Directors, National Auto Body Council – National Board of Directors and chair or co-chair of the marketing committees of SCRS, NABC and CIECA).
“Over the past year, through the transformation of our own marketing organization, Bill has led our Make-A-Wish relationship to new levels of awareness, championed our National Marketing Committee, and continues to provide invaluable marketing tools, knowledge and resources to our franchisees,” said CEO Cross. “Bill has proven his merit as an officer of our company and as a colleague whom we want as a key member of the CARSTAR Family for the long run.”
Ernie Laky had previously held the title of assistant vice president of purchasing, directing the company’s purchasing division for the last 10 years. Over that time, he worked to leverage the scale of the company to build relationships with more than 40 different national vendor partners. His leadership has helped CARSTAR franchise owners achieve superior pricing and service from paint products to parts resulting in millions of dollars in savings annually to the CARSTAR Franchise Network.
"It has always been nice to have Ernie in your corner,” noted long-time Wisconsin franchisee and Advisory Board member Al Utzig. “He’s done a phenomenal job, and we simply wouldn’t be as successful without him.”
While an advocate for all CARSTAR franchise partners, Laky believes his success lies in a strong belief in the concept of partnerships. Many of the vendors who support CARSTAR have been involved with the organization from the beginning – coming up on 20 years. He views every relationship as an opportunity for a win/win situation for both CARSTAR and the vendor partner.
“Our company has always had great respect for Ernie,” said Antonio (Tony) Torres, national account manager for BASF and the individual who handles the CARSTAR account. “I would classify him as a firm negotiator, but always fair. I think CARSTAR colors run through Ernie. He’s terrific to work with.”
CARSTAR has also added a new member to its team, Greg Dehnke, who is the new senior sales executive. Dehnke will focus on new franchise development and try to help CARSTAR achieve its goal of doubling its current number of stores over the next four years.
“Sure, it’s gotten harder and harder to compete and survive in this industry, “says Cross. “That’s why we’re generating more attention from other collision repair owners than ever before. They see CARSTAR as a total solution to help meet the growing demands we face as an industry.”
Dehnke’s most recent employment was a two-and-a-half year stint with FinishMaster, Inc., a distributor of paint and associated products headquartered in Indianapolis. As the director of national accounts, Dehnke was in charge of growing the company’s national and strategic account business.
Dehnke holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. Prior to FinishMaster, he held key positions at Texas Instruments as a strategic account manager, W.W. Grainger, Inc. as vice president of national accounts, and at SupplyForce.com. as vice president of sales.
“There’s only one company I would have considered making this career change for,” says Dehnke, “and that’s CARSTAR. They are a first-class organization and I look forward to building upon their outstanding reputation.”
Headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., CARSTAR is the largest group of independently owned and operated auto body repair stores in North America. The privately-held company currently has more than 280 locations in 27 U.S. states and more than 125 Canadian locations. Since it was founded in 1989, CARSTAR has performed more than 2.5 million repairs with an average customer satisfaction rating of 97 percent. For more information, visit www.carstar.com.
