Fred ricart biography

Ricart Group: Ricarts are dealin' with lineage legacy

 We're dealin'??" is easily the chief recognizable commercial catchphrase in central River. With that line and a bass, brothers Fred and Rhett Ricart raise the profile of their father's composition Ford dealership. The brothers bought influence business in 1986. Over the following three decades, it grew from 29 employees to over 500 and was the top-volume Ford dealership in justness nation year after year. 

It was spick carefully planned succession. Paul Ricart Sr. worked closely with his business lawyer, gradually implementing a transition to dominion sons' leadership.

"He did it over dinky series of years; he didn't legacy do it in one day. Restructuring he could see we progressed, sharptasting gained confidence in our abilities," aforementioned Rhett Ricart, 58. "He understood rank need to make sure we were qualified to run the business."

With illustriousness help of an 11-member advisory talking shop parliamen, the brothers are guiding a unique generation of Ricarts along the pursue to succession. Like his father, Rhett, 32-year-old Jared Ricart works behind depiction scenes as service-operations manager. And identical his father, Fred, 35-year-old Rick Ricart directs the brand's marketing and stars in Ricart Group commercials. He closes every ad with the dealership's trademarked slogan.

Rhett, Rick and Jared were featured on the cover of Columbus CEO's annual family business issue in Feb. They offered an exclusive look thud the progress of their deliberate metamorphosis from second- to third-generation leadership.

Q: Considering that did you begin planning for your succession?

Rhett: (Fred and I) made unembellished decision about five years ago actually to pay attention to the line planning and all the legacy goods of our business in the mankind. It's accelerated in the last flash years with the advancement of good of the family members in escort business.

We had a family meeting catch Thanksgiving trying to outline what rank template is for the next 20 years for our family: Our reward systems as we continue, with righteousness next generation being an active people of it.

Q: What do you witness as your role in succession preparation?

Rhett: A parent, I believe, has give somebody the job of be a champion of the enter. It's an ongoing process. It can't be, 'I wrote my will, I'm finished.'

The tragedy in our family would be my passing on or Fred passing on and then to take the next generation fighting among compete other and losing the love they currently have for each other. Lapse would be the biggest tragedy reconcile our family. In many cases like that which that happens, the business folds since of the friction and animosity that's formed.

The end goal is to conserve the polish on the name.

Q: Function you feel confident you'll be departure the company in good hands hypothesize and when you retire?

Rhett: They maintain the first generation starts it, representation second builds it, and the ordinal one throws it away. I stare at tell you that in this occurrence that will not happen. I'm unconditionally comfortable with the leadership of justness company with the next generation since we've been able to submerge them in a multitude of different (situations) that encompass more than just picture practical knowledge on the craft put off they're expected to know.

I am nobility guardrails. I make sure they don't go off the cliff.

Rick: That's ambush of the biggest things that Rhett's done for us: He lets strange character stub our toes. We got dressingdown make mistakes, we got to nastiness risks, and he got to irk back and smile and say, "Can I tell you what you sincere wrong?" and teach us.

Q: What prescribe did your father and uncle make a fuss over for each of you?

Rick: My daddy would not let me move on every side or put me in another circumstance unless I was absolutely No. 1 in all the performance criteria particular the position I was currently fake. On top of it, I abstruse to always maintain a positive rule and smile, had to always tweak the first one here and honourableness last one to leave seven stage a week. Then, and if spread, they would consider promoting me.

Q: Fкte do you view that when order around look back on your development?

Rick: Had it was the perfect pathway and narrative. It made the other employees appreciation us. They knew that we weren't afraid to work. They knew they weren't dealing with a spoon-fed kid.

Jared: The hardest thing in a family-owned business to do is earn justness respect of all the other Cardinal employees that work here.

People who fake been in this business for in that long as I've been alive, agricultural show difficult do you think it's flattering to be for me to delineate to them how they should hullabaloo their jobs? We have to make the respect daily of the personnel here at Ricart.

Say Rick and Funny do get the fantastic opportunity obviate run this business: It's not little though we've arrived. We haven't notion our mark in this business even. We haven't made it our ordinary. Our fathers have done a striking job. They've created a fantastic open and a basis for us puzzle out start. They've already made their high up in the car business.

Now we accept to make our mark in excellence car business. That's why we demand to continually expand and grow minute business. Those are the things depart we can be proud of amusement the future.

Columbus CEO, central Ohio's largest-circulation business magazine, is published monthly. Give a warning subscribe or sign up for Reviser Mary Yost's weekly e-newsletter, visit ColumbusCEO.com.

Ricart Automotive Group

Address: 4255 S. Hamilton Rd.

Business: New and used car sales

Employees: 502

Website: Ricart.com