Greater Raleigh Chamber Blog

​​To this day, Tom Greco remembers wise words that his mother once spoke to him.

“Your eyes are in the front of your head for a reason,” he recalled his mother told him. “So always look forward.”

That’s a mentality that Greco carries with him in his current role as the president and CEO of Advance Auto Parts. He spoke as a part of our C-Suite Perspectives series.

Greco joined the company in that role in 2016 after serving as the CEO of Frito Lay North America, a unit of PepsiCo, Inc.

When he first joined Advance Auto Parts, Greco said the company was experiencing a large amount of turnover.

“It was a difficult time frame,” he said. “We live or die by what happens in our stores. When you lose someone who works in our stores, they go to our competitors.”

Greco set out to change the company culture.

“The first thing I did was I hired a head of HR and we went to work to find a leadership team to do what we needed to do,” he said. “I’m very proud of my leadership team. The first thing you have to do is have people on your leadership team who can get the job done.”

In the area of people, Greco talked about the importance to his company of “championing inclusion,” referencing how Advance Auto Parts has hired talented female executives.

Other aspects of the company’s value and mission include accountability, acting with urgency, growing talent, and, as Greco’s mother once told him, moving forward.

Greco said the turnover rate has dropped significantly and the company is growing.

In November 2018, Advance Auto Parts announced it would move its corporate headquarters to Raleigh, bringing 435 new jobs and marking the first Fortune 500 Company to call Wake County home.

“It’s so attractive to live here because we have great schools and such a strong technology base to tap into,” said Greco.

We want to thank him for sharing the story of Advance Auto Parts and his perspectives on the importance of company culture.

If you would like to read more about the discussion on social media, check out our C-Suite Perspectives Twitter hashtag, #CSuitePers.

We also want to thank our event sponsors for their continued commitment and support. Their partnership with us makes our C-Suite Perspectives series possible.
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Our next C-Suite Perspectives will be on Aug. 23, also at The Umstead Hotel and Spa. We will hear from Martha Frye, senior regional vice president for the Southeastern Regional Operations for Nationwide Insurance. Register today to discover what she has learned on her corporate journey.

By Felicia Woodard
Business banking market manager for the Carolinas at Bank of America

In the past 20 years, Wake County has grown by more than half a million people. That’s a gain of 90 percent, which is a much larger increase than the national rate of 18 percent.

To improve as a community, growth is inevitable. We must advance in a strong and sustainable way. At Bank of America, we call that responsible growth.  It’s growing with no excuses but growing the right way.
For this reason and others, we were proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Raleigh Chamber’s Economic Development Forum and be part of this important discussion. We are keenly focused on responsible growth. Our environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles help define how we deliver responsible growth to our clients and to our communities.

During the forum I highlighted two of Bank of America’s strategic initiatives related to responsible growth. First, our enterprise-wide capital deployment initiative helps unlock the necessary financing to address local challenges related to affordable housing, healthcare, education and other critical areas. A recent example of this was a $1.25 million capital loan to our good friends at Habitat for Humanity in Durham.  At a 1% interest rate, they will utilize the capital to fund some much-needed infrastructure in response to their affordable housing needs.  We work with local CDFI’s through the Tory Burch Foundation to help female small business owners access the capital they need to grow their businesses.  As one of the world’s largest banks, we’re in a unique position to mobilize capital to drive global and local change.

We also seek to address issues fundamental to economic mobility, as we help build sustainable communities. Our economic mobility investments help move individuals and communities forward through workforce readiness, community development and basic needs. We develop partnerships with nonprofits and public sector organizations and support long-term pathways to success. In 2018 alone, we invested more than $1,000,000 and 6,200 volunteer hours into the nonprofit community here in the Triangle.  By bringing together our collective networks and expertise to help fuel economic and social progress, Bank of America can help further responsible, sustainable growth.

During the Raleigh Chamber’s economic development forum, attendees had the opportunity to hear from great speakers and other organizations who have joined this discussion about our future. Ted Abernathy, managing partner for Economic Leadership, delivered an excellent keynote and helped us explore the path of Wake County and the Triangle for the next 20 years. He shared his key trends of 1) acceleration, 2) disruption, 3) connectivity and 4) complexity.
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We all clearly see the trajectory of our market, as well as the work ahead to ensure we continue to advance responsibly.     

By Spencer Lazzari
​VP of Operations
Proforma BrandCentric Solutions
 
The message from the last Raleigh YPN event was clear: Raleigh continues to grow. While having more than 60 people migrate to Wake County every day has benefits, it also creates a logistical challenge. What exactly is the best way to transport all of these people? Several people from the transportation industry came to share some of the things currently in the works.

Andy Willard and Ashley Schultz from GoTriangle came to talk about all of the success of the bus program. From new routes to improved stops, there was a lot to discuss. One of the highlights was the Youth GoPass, which allows youth between the ages of 13 and 18 to ride the bus for free. There was a big focus on using buses to alleviate traffic, as well as planning for routes that make the most sense for riders.

Next Crystal Feldman, from the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority, spoke about the airport’s plan to accommodate all of the growth in our region—Vision 2040. From adding new gates to replacing the runway, the airport authority is committed to serving more than 10 million passengers annually. Additionally, Crystal took a sidebar to explain some keys to her professional success. As vice president of communications, government & community affairs, Crystal shared an important message about challenging yourself, being resilient, and leaving a positive impression on everyone you encounter.

We then heard from Natalie Griffith Ridout from the Regional Transportation Alliance. Natalie shared some of RTA’s priorities, including alleviating congestion along I-40, and accelerating the 540 southeast extension. She mentioned GoTriangle’s efforts to get around traffic, specifically the Bus on Shoulder System.

Finally, all of the panelists returned to the stage to answer audience questions, ranging from allocation of funds to the recent surge of scooter transportation. Combine all the knowledge with a fun, transportation-themed icebreaker and you have an event that was one for the books. Be sure to join us for our Young Professionals Network Social on July 16!

Sources:
http://www.wakegov.com/data/bythenumbers/Pages/default.aspx
http://rduvision2040.wpengine.com/
https://goraleigh.org/