Larry Powers is always on a quest for a
new challenge or opportunity.
In 1979, as president of a small company, he turned the business around, which
led to an acquisition by Bairnco in 1983,
which created Genlyte Group Inc. in 1984.
Genlyte struggled initially and amassed
high debt while going
through five presidents until Powers
was appointed president in 1993.
Upon his appointment, he first met
with the board of
directors to create a
turnaround plan for the lighting company. He organized the company into
decentralized business units and gave
each division manager complete authority and responsibility for that division,
all the way down to the profits and losses. Each manager was also charged with
new product development and driving
those products into their appropriate
niches in the marketplace. This
approach has created a very entrepreneurial culture within the company.
Powers focuses the group’s growth on
expansion and acquisitions. Last year, it
introduced more than 20,000 new products in more than 380 new product families. It also released 80 new customer
catalogs and brochures.
As a result of Powers’ efforts, Genlyte
has been handsomely rewarded in the
marketplace. As chairman and CEO, he
has doubled Genlyte’s revenue. The
company has also made Forbes magazine’s Platinum 400 list of the best big
companies for the past five years.
Additionally, the magazine named
Genlyte the best-managed company in
the capital goods industry category last
year.
HOW TO REACH: Genlyte Group Inc., (502) 420-9501 or
www.genlytegroup.com
