Bart Warner: champion of inclusion.

• Author: Bagley, Judd
• Position: People

THE STORY behind the building of Warner Truck Center includes all the elements of an Og Mandino novel: an eager entrepreneur, a wise mentor, a secret--and of course, success beyond all expectations.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Bart Warner's youthful yet normally subdued eyes brighten when he talks about the day in 1982 when he learned the "secret of running a dealership," which Warner credits for his success.

Warner had recently become general manager of Truckland, a dealership then owned by his father, Rick Warner, only to encounter a bitter rift between labor and management. A labor attorney deemed the situation the worst he'd ever seen. Consultant and mentor Harry Prichard told Warner the only hope of averting a successful union vote would be to create a new workplace ethic of inclusion and empowerment--the secret to a successful dealership. "He taught me to treat employees like true partners," Warner says, "and that mediocre people will kill you--so find the great ones and treat them right. It's really paid off for us."

Truckland did not go union, and in 1983, the American Truck Dealers named Rick Warner Dealer of the Year. Soon Bart Warner took charge of all heavy truck operations, including a newly-acquired Freightliner dealership. By 1990, Warner and partner Jerry Zmyslo bought the elder Warner's Freightliner, Ford and Mitsubishi dealerships, with visions of creating something bigger: Warner Truck Center, the region's foremost hub of heavy and light commercial truck sales and service.

After 20 years of managing sales for Warner, Russ Castleberry is more than qualified to start his own dealership, but he wouldn't think of it. "Bart's [leadership] style and the opportunities for growth here make it hard to even consider...