“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don’t do things right once in awhile…you do them right all of the time.” -Vince Lombardi
For the past 22 years, Rae McGarr has been a go-to guy at Ehrlich Pest Control. Through hard work and determination Rae has moved his way up through the company from the role of technician to management. McGarr’s problem solving skills, work ethic and affinity for teamwork has led him to his latest promotion, Area District Manager for the Reading, PA and Pottstown, PA service centers.
But to listen to Rae tell it, “It almost never happened.” Rae began his Ehrlich career in earnest back in 1991 as a technician. He explained, “I had some down-time, slow seasons, while employed as a welder; I was simply looking to augment my income to support my family.”
Slow periods are common in the construction industry. It’s not uncommon for laborers to seek work elsewhere during these employment lulls. Rae reminisces with pride as he shares the stories of his earlier working days as a welder on the New Jersey piers, “I welded the support structures that you see on the New Jersey piers, like Morey’s Pier.”
However, Rae ended up surprised at how much he had enjoyed working as a technician. “I really loved interacting with the people and I wanted that to continue.”
After his start as a technician he advanced to commercial and residential sales, for nearly five years before being promoted to the District Manager for the Vineland, New Jersey office in September 2002 until September 2011. Rae was then offered the District Manager of Reading, covering the region where Ehrlich was founded and the area where the company continues to be headquartered.
Rae is embracing the next challenge of taking on a lot more responsibility. “I now will have six operations managers reporting to me whereas I previously had three,” said McGarr. Rae’s ascendancy has been an equally rapid and remarkable climb up the Ehrlich corporate ladder of success.
Another old Vince Lombardi quote perhaps best encompasses McGarr’s work ethic and spirit, “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.” McGarr is the consummate team player and because of this, he ‘gets-it’.’
Rae credits his family as being fully supportive and behind him 100%. “Three of my four children are grown; but now I have a six-month old daughter.” His oldest daughter, aged 27, is married. He also has two sons, one aged 25 who is a salesman at Ehrlich in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and an 18 year-old son who just graduated from high school.
Rae is also quick to point out that, at Ehrlich, he is fortunate to have great people around him. It is evident that Rae understands the paramount importance of no man being greater than the sum of his parts.
Though his hands are filled with the increased responsibilities that accompany his recent promotion, he still manages to find the time to get to the gym five days out of the week and play a little golf.
Interested in a career at Ehrlich or another Rentokil company? Visit our careers page and review our job openings.
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