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From Coast-to-Coast
to Corporate Suite.
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By Pam Droog
Pam Nicholson
Senior Vice President/North American Operations,
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Pam Nicholson always knew she’d like to be a manager. So she managed
a branch of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, then groups of branches—working
her way up from the counter to the corporate suite. Today she’s
senior vice president/North American operations at Enterprise, overseeing
more than 45,000 employees, 500,000 rental cars, 100,000 fleet services
vehicles and 4,500 locations.
Nicholson’s association with Enterprise began before she graduated
from the University of Missouri in 1981 with a degree in consumer
economics. She interviewed with Enterprise on campus, “and I liked
what I heard, that I could make this a long-term career,” she says.
“Running a branch was like running a small business, and that was
exactly the career path I had in mind.”
Starting behind the rental counter at a St. Louis location, Nicholson
moved up to assistant branch manager within nine months, and soon
after moved to Orange County, Calif., to help Enterprise become
established on the West Coast. She remained there six and a half
years. “The company was very young. No one had heard of us there
when I arrived,” she says. “But it was a lot of fun, watching us
grow from 10 cars to more than 50,000.” She also helped build the
company from six offices to more than 300, boosting the region’s
position to Enterprise’s biggest market.
Her California success brought Nicholson back to St. Louis as a
corporate vice president, overseeing 10 operating groups. Working
with manufacturers, she helped set up the first national preferred-provider
rental agreements between Enterprise and several top automakers.
The result is customers at dealerships across the U.S. have the
option of (a ppo means they can get one of our cars, but it doesn’t
mean they have to) drive Enterprise cars while their vehicles are
being serviced.
After two-and-a-half years in the heartland, Nicholson continued
her eastward journey, landing in the New York area as general manager/vice
president, where she directed rental car, fleet services and car
sales operations. “The challenge intrigued me,” Nicholson says.
“We saw the area as a potentially huge market, and grew it from
20,000 to 30,000 cars in two years.” Today the region is Enterprise’s
second-largest market.
Again, Nicholson’s success was rewarded in 1999 with a return trip
to St. Louis and a promotion to her current position. She has overall
responsibility for all Enterprise rental, fleet services and car
sales operations and employees in the U.S. and Canada. Because of
her background in California and New York, “I was experienced in
every facet of the business,” she notes. “That’s been very important
here at corporate, to provide good support and training to the field.”
Still, there are days she’d like to be back at the branch. “A field
person after 15 years will always miss the field,” Nicholson says.
“But the corporate level presents a whole different set of circumstances.”
Nicholson says her management style depends on giving people a lot
of autonomy. “That’s our company style, to guide employees when
necessary,” she says. “Also, I have an open-door policy and people
do come in.” She takes most of her paperwork and reading home so
she has time to spend with her staff and other employees.
But communicating with 45,000 employees can be tricky. Technology
helps, of course, but mainly Nicholson sends her messages through
Enterprise’s corporate vice presidents, to the general managers
and out to the field.
Enterprise is the largest car-rental company in North America, with
more than $6 billion in revenues. It was named one of the “100 Best
Companies To Work For” by Fortune magazine, and ranked highest in
customer satisfaction by J. D. Power & Associates for rental car
companies operating at or near airports (it serves 99 of the top
100 airports in the U.S.). Besides North America, the company operates
in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland.
Closer to home, Nicholson believes Enterprise has had a real impact
on the St. Louis region. “We employ 2,500 people here and buy and
sell cars locally,” she says. The National Reservations Center employs
700. In addition, Nicholson cites the generous contributions of
the Taylor family to numerous local organizations, as well as the
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, which provides employees and customers
with an opportunity to give back to the community. “The majority
of the gifts are requested by and donated in the name of individual
employees,” she says. “The Foundation helps St. Louis become stronger
and that attracts other companies to set up here.” Nicholson has
served on the Foundation’s board for nine years.
Nicholson also is a board member of the Humane Society and the RCGA.
In that capacity, she hopes to encourage regional businesses and
organizations “to continue working to make the economic mainstream
accessible to all of society,” she says. Away from the job, Nicholson
and her husband, Cal like to travel to exotic lands like Australia,
Asia and the Caribbean. “We have been all over the world to dive
and to shop,” Nicholson says.
Looking ahead, she believes “the future looks very bright for me
and for Enterprise. Chairman and CEO Andy Taylor always said, ‘If
we treat our customers and employees right, we’ll be a success.’
So I expect the growth of the past 45 years to continue,” she says.
“It’s a ton of fun and a great success story.”
Pam Droog is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer. |
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