Larry Calhoun is celebrating 39 years working for Glass Doctor in Seattle.
“I don’t like a lot of change,” Calhoun says. “If I’m content with something I just stick with it.”
In 1973 the 26-year-old veteran was hired at the first Glass Doctor shop positioning him today as the longest-standing Glass Doctor employee. The company is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. He was honored with the Service Professional of the Year Award during the Dwyer Group’s 2012 reunion, which was held September 25 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.
Despite having been in the Navy and gone to college, Calhoun graduated into a depressed Seattle economy. “Jobs were hard to come by, but I saw an ad for a glazier trainee,” he says.
Former Glass Doctor of King & Pierce Counties franchise owner Michael Gai, who took over the franchise in 2003, says Calhoun is a “rare breed,” and he trusted him completely.
“I didn’t know the glass business, but with Larry there, it didn’t matter,” says Gai, current vice president of system sales at The Dwyer Group Inc. “I knew he had the knowledge, the character and the pride to always do a good job. Larry is the epitome of a truly professional tradesman.”
Calhoun says one of the highlights of his career took place on the day of President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. But his reasoning has nothing to do with politics. On that day, what became known as the Inauguration Day Storm, a huge windstorm with winds up to 105 miles-per-hour struck the Northwest causing a power outage for two to three days.
“It was awful, but it was one of the few times where everybody pulled together,” he says. “There wasn’t the griping about this or that. It was just get out there, kick butt and get the thing boarded up.”
During Gai’s ownership, he moved Calhoun out of the field and into the office. Calhoun accepted the challenge. “Larry adapted,” Gai says. “He was always willing to adapt to help the company. He is the heritage of Glass Doctor.”
