On Monday, November 2nd, the Central Penn Business Journal honored Chip Cargas as the Entrepreneur of the Year at the 12th annual Business of the Year Awards. The event honors top companies and individual leaders for their outstanding contributions to Central Pennsylvania’s business community.
Chip Cargas, Founder & CEO
Cargas Systems
Business Software & Consulting Firm
Chip Cargas has come a long way. The founder and CEO of Cargas Systems earned only $1.25 an hour in his first job, but it was the springboard for learning about interpersonal dynamics in organizations. His parents were his most influential role models, teaching him about honesty, hard work and caring for others. Today these values are evident in his business software and consulting company through the shared success of employees, customers, owners, partners and community.
Cargas has experienced his share of failure, but he’s learned from it every time. His greatest mistake involved acting too slowly when his business was rapidly changing. He knew the company needed a major reorganization but instead of acting on his instincts, tried to build consensus among staff. His company rebounded when he finally forced the changed. He learned that while consensus can be good, a rapidly changing situation demands action.
The best advice Cargas has for other business-minded individuals is how important it is to be persistent. He appreciates Winston Churchill’s directive to “Never give up. Never. Never. Never.” He tells other top leaders to focus first on providing an awesome place to work for talent and team-oriented people. Attracting the best people will drive the creating of sustainable competitive advantage and will serve customers in a way that everyone wins.
For Cargas, the most meaningful part of his job is seeing his team be successful after years of persistent hard work. He truly enjoys handing out profit sharing payments and thanking each person for work that created profits for themselves and the team. He’s proud to tout his team’s accomplishments.
In the future, Cargas looks to see the one-person consulting firm he started in the corner of his bedroom at age 41 continue to grow. He sees transitioning from chairman and CEO to just founder (a historical fact, not an active job) in the future. He sees his philosophy of open, collaborative, employee-owned, sustainably grown and built-to-last business establish through his team and knows in the future Cargas Systems will stick to timeless concepts while expanding into new areas centered around its proprietary software.
Original Source: Central Penn Business Journal