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01 Jun 2013

Engine Charlie

Charles Wilson (MBA 1936) at 100 years old, is still active in the auto dealership which he started in 1940.
Topics: Competency and Skills-Experience and ExpertiseCompetency and Skills-Experience and ExpertiseCustomers-Customer Relationship ManagementSales-GeneralStrategy-Business Strategy
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WILSON

WILSON: Decades in the auto business.

Photo by Jesse Skoubo/Corvallis Gazette-Times

Charles Wilson (MBA 1936) came into this world back when Henry Ford was cranking out Model Ts. Unlike those now retired roadsters, Wilson, at 100 years old, is still active in the car business, although, he admits, "I've got a few miles on me" (Corvallis OR Gazette-Times, January 16, 2013). The founder of Wilson Motors, a dealership he started in 1940 in Corvallis, Wilson still works a six-day week, assisted by his son and grandson. As for his business strategy, honed over seven decades in the trenches, there are no big secrets: "If you didn't take care of your customers, you wouldn't have any business," he said. "It's pretty simple."

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