“If I didn’t care for him so much, I’d let him go,” said the late Vivian Hollinshed about an aspiring young designer, Chuck Rogers. Chuck knew nothing about trusses when he came to Vivian’s company, Comtech in Fayetteville, NC. And now, nearly 20 years later, thanks to Vivian, he’s lifted his family out of poverty and found a great career.
This great truss man named Vivian passed away last week at age 85, and was memorialized in a packed church under trusses that he helped design. Over his 50 years of hard work in this business, Vivian showed us the key to success. According to Chuck, “Vivian cared about people. He ran a meritocracy. If you worked really hard for him he recognized it … he was hard to work for and wonderful to work for … I have never worked for anyone I respected as much.”
Comtech continues to thrive under Vivian’s star “pupil,” his son Tom, who has nearly doubled Comtech’s business since Vivian turned it over to him.