Not every career path looks the same. At Gregory Poole Equipment Company, career growth is decided using an employee’s interest and skillset, allowing room for growth in a multitude of ways. For Lane Crouch, Gregory Poole proved to be the best place to fulfill a childhood calling and discover a new career interest.
“I was a mechanical kid. I always took things apart. That was always what I was interested in,” says Lane.
When he joined Gregory Poole, Lane started as a technician due to his strong mechanical aptitude and passion for working on machines. As Lane’s technical skills grew more advanced, he realized he may want to work in sales.
“I come from three generations of salesmen. So, my grandfather was a car salesman. My dad’s in sales, and I was always a mechanical-minded kid. I always thought that’s what I would do. When I got into this industry, I really started to gravitate more toward the sales side, and I really love it all,” he says.
After rising through the different technician levels, Lane started working in the company’s Rental division, then product support, and then equipment sales. As a Corporate Account Manager, Lane is now responsible for machine sales in the company’s paving and waste accounts.
Lane has been with Gregory Poole for 20 years, and he is not the only employee with a long tenure. There are multiple employees who have worked at the company for over 40 years, and the average tenure per employee is over 8 years. Nationally, the average tenure per employee is only 3.9 years.
So why do Gregory Poole employees choose to stay? Because they can advance in their careers.
“Gregory Poole does a great job of promoting from within. We have good people; we like to hang on to them,” Lane says. “And so, there’s always a good path for growth. It might not always be a direct line as in my case, but sometimes it is. We do have those opportunities to try different things.”
On top of promoting growth for current employees, Lane was able to pivot roles without leaving the company thanks to Gregory Poole’s flexibility to explore other career paths.
“There are so many opportunities at Gregory Poole, and there’s really something for every skill set,” Lane says. “I think Gregory Poole does a really good job of picking out people’s strengths and finding out where they fit best in the company.”
Even though Lane does not work as a technician anymore, he still sees the benefit of pursuing a technician career. Thanks to the growth in eastern NC, becoming a technician offers a stable but exciting career path.
“For someone looking to be a technician today, I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to be a technician. That role has evolved. The resources are better, the tooling is better, the benefits, the pay,” Lane shares.
As trade skills become more sought after, Lane recognizes that learning to work on heavy equipment builds valuable and versatile skills. Those skills can be applied to advancement in a technician role or to different roles at Gregory Poole.
“I think the skills of being a technician can help you in a lot of different roles at Gregory Poole,” he says. “In my case, in sales, it really helped me with product knowledge to be able to speak to customers that I understand the equipment from a more technical level than maybe some other salesmen do. And I think that’s a huge value.”
Interested in building a career at Gregory Poole? Check out our careers page to view our open roles.