2015 BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
DONALD “HULK” GAGNON, ROCHESTER TRUCK, INC.
The Business Leader of the Year award is the Chamber’s most prestigious business awardcelebrating excellence in business leadership and community involvement. This award recognizes a Chamber member who has demonstrated leadership and provides support for the betterment of the business community and the greater Rochester area.
Based on several nominations received, the Chamber is pleased to present the 2015 Business Leader of the Year award to Donald “Hulk” GagnonofRochester Truck, Inc.
Hulk was born and raised in Rochester, is a graduate of Spaulding High School, and is a true Rochester native.
Hulk first opened Rochester Truck on June 1, 1986, with only one Ford pickup truck and a 30’ x 60’ garage bay. In his first year, Hulk did $186,000 in sales.
This was accomplished by working hard seven days a week, 365 days of the year, and being accessible to his customers 24 hours a day, in Hulk’s words, “because we care!”
It has always been Hulk’s belief that it is an everyday job to achieve customer satisfaction.Today, Rochester Truck has grown leaps and bounds and is now a multimillion dollar company and employs 45 hard working individuals. Gone were the days of having a one bay garage. Today there are 16 bays across 21 acres of land and over $2.7 million in inventory.Hulk also ensured that the dealership was eco-friendly. It recycles all of its metals, paper and cardboard, the heating system is even fueled by recycled oil, and solar panels have recently been installed. Hulk is always looking for new ways to make his business a little bit greener.
Because of this great success and the hard work and dedication given by Hulk and his staff, Rochester Truck is the number one Hino dealership in New England, third largest PJ Trailer dealer, and number one Eager Beaver dealer in the country. In addition to being the “top dog” in these three categories as Hulk says, Rochester Truck has also received numerous awards.
Rochester Truckreceived the Yokozuna award from the Hino headquarters in Japan. This prestigious award is given only to dealerships that excel in all aspects of daily business including new truck sales, parts, service and overall customer satisfaction. Hino also honored Rochester Truck with Hino’s Outstanding Dealer Performance award. Rochester Truck was one of eight recipients of this award out of the 180 dealers nationwide.
Hulk is president of the Hino Dealer Council and has been a member since 2009. Rochester Truck had such a great impact on the company, executives in Japan changed their bylaws to allow Hulk to remain the president longer.
Because of his expertise, Hulk was also asked to sit on two additional Dealer Advisory Councils, the PJ Trailer Manufacturing Co. out of Texas and the Hino Truck Sales USA of out Michigan.
In 1999, Hulk was a founding member of Tow Masters, a non-profit organization set out to improve the towing and recovery industry by educating and training over 300 members from across New England.
Hulk isn’t just a business man though. Over the years he has sponsored and given his time and assistance to many organizations and events. It has been said Hulk likes to “fly under the radar” and is not one for taking many opportunities for photo-ops with the organizations he helps. He has been a long time sponsor of NH’s first family-oriented bass fishing club, Bass Fanatics and has been honored by the Rochester Veteran’s Council with a certificate of appreciation for transporting the WWII combat vehicles to Rochester for the Memorial Day parade.
He has provided financial support to numerous local organizations such as the Spaulding High School Music Boosters, Cornerstone VNA, Howie’s Field of Dreams, Dream Team Relay for Life, and the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce to name a few.
For years,Hulk has and still continues to donate his trucks and flatbedsfor organizations to use to display their floats in both the Dover and Rochester Holiday Parades. The Chamber would not be able to provide film coverage of this annual holiday event as Hulk also provides the flatbed for the commentators and MetroCast to use to tape the parade. And he generously provides the sound system to use at the annual Tree Lighting.
When Hulk isn’t working or helping out in the community, he is an avid motorcycle enthusiast and family man. Hulk resides in Rochester and enjoys spending time with his familyand simply relaxing. His daughter, Nikki; son-in-law, Mike;his beautiful granddaughter, Delia, and another grandchild on the way, keep Hulk busy and enjoying the little things in life.
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