Page 447 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong

her time making formula and washing out diapers in their motel room while the baby slept close by in a dresser drawer.
Perhaps one of the biggest boosts to Duane Sr.’s career was the day he met Ed Rapp. As Peterson’s new Cat district manager in 1990, a critical part of Rapp’s job was to get Duane Sr. over the finish line as Peterson’s next dealer principal. “Tradition- ally, Bill would take the new district manager for a branch by branch review so he could get to know them and they could get to know the territory. But since Peterson was at a critical stage of succession planning for the next generation, Bill and I agreed that I should take the trip with Duane instead,” explains Rapp. “So Duane and I piled into his Ford Bronco and traveled to every Peterson branch, for a week.That’s when Duane and I started to forge a relationship. We didn’t walk into the front door and into a conference room with the branch manager. We walked out into the shops and parts depart- ments, and Duane called people by name. On that trip, Duane went from hopping up on a customer’s wheel loader to check an intermittent power issue out in the field, to discussing the debt-to-equity and long-term outlook of Peterson with me. We also talked about family and faith. It didn’t take long to figure out that Duane was the real deal.”
Starting in the early 1990s, and still today, the Doyles and Rapps share family vacations, combin- ing business with fun and family. “On those vaca- tions between Christmas and New Year’s, I’d have my kids write down their goals and affirmations for the following year,” says Rapp, who retired as a Caterpillar group president in 2016. “And I took Duane Jr. through the same process. From an early age, he wanted to engage and to understand. He has always been very coachable. I felt I had to be very thoughtful in any direction I provided be- cause he was listening. I think the yellow blood transfusion for both these kids took place at the hospital. Duane and Sue never separated work and home. Peterson was just a part of home. They got the kids involved at a very early age.”
Celebrating Duane Sr’s succession at Trader Vic’s with executive team (L-R) Ernie Fierro, Jerry Lopus, Jeff Goggin, Jack Gallagher, Duane Doyle Sr., Bill Doyle, and Walt Perry, in July 1995.
It was, however, important to both Duane and Sue that their kids feel free to make their own ca- reer choices. “We tried to be very intentional not to create the expectation that they had to work in the business,” explains Sr. “We didn’t want them to feel obligated because a family business really takes dedication and desire. It’s more than just a job. It’s a commitment not only to the business but also to all the employees who work there.” Over time they developed a deep love for the busi- ness. “A lot of dealers put their kids in a job and move them around every six months to give them a lot of exposure,” says Duane Sr. “We didn’t do that. We gave them real jobs and they were expected to perform them just like everybody else. They had real accountability just like everybody else. They couldn’t just float around and learn by osmosis. They had to earn their way through the organiza- tion as opportunities presented themselves.”
At home, they spent quite a bit of time out in the garage working on cars. Duane Sr. and Sue bought each of them fixer-uppers—Erin’s, a cherry red ‘67 convertible Mustang; Duane Jr.’s, a blue ‘67 Shelby Mustang (kit) fastback. “They each spent a lot of time with me rebuilding their cars,” says Duane Sr. “They were interested and willing to roll up their sleeves and really dive into restoring a car. That’s a big endeavor, especially for a teenager.”
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