With 77 locations across the New England states, Sullivan Tire & Auto Centers is definitely “one of the big guys” in the northeast. Like its competitors, it is eyeing growth and looking at where the business can expand its footprint. However, as it expands, it knows the business can get more corporate, so how do you sustain the personal, family-oriented approach to the business as you grow?
In this episode of What’s Treading with Tire Review, we spoke with Joe Zaccheo, Sullivan Tire’s recently-appointed president and CEO, who explained how the company is keeping that family feel as it expands. Zaccheo, a 26-year Sullivan Tire veteran, is a champion of the company’s “controlled growth,” especially as it looks for opportunities to expand in Connecticut and central and western Massachusetts. Yet, as a tenured member of the Sullivan Tire team, he’s been involved in employee growth initiatives –such as its leadership development programs–that have allowed the business to retain employees for decades.
In this episode, Zaccheo discusses:
- His start in the industry. (0:56)
- How acquisitions have become a central part of Sullivan Tire’s growth strategy. (2:04)
- The importance of culture and treating employees like family as well as challenges that come with acquisitions. (6:29)
- Where he sees Sullivan Tire’s “controlled growth” taking place. (11:05)
- How Sullivan Tire has invested in its employees, from evaluating compensation to incentives, which have led to 400 of its 1,200 employees being with the company for 10 or more years. (15:28)
- The start and evolution of Sullivan Tire’s Leadership Development Program and how it promotes cross-functional collaboration among teams across the company’s locations (18:06)
- How the company is confronting challenges, such as the current labor shortage and inflation, and why Zaccheo thinks it’s important for the company to “build the bench” of rising talent to take the company into the next generation (23:36)
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