Falter Aims to Expand AOCA's REach

by Tammy Neal
NOLN Staff Writer

“You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.”
­–T.S. Eliot

Imagine being a corporate executive with a steady paycheck and comfortable home for your family. Sounds pretty nice, right? Now, imagine trading all that to take a risk on opening not one, but two, lube shops halfway across the country.

Bob Falter is not a man afraid of taking risks. He was that corporate executive who decided to try his hand as a lube operator, and he is also the latest operator to be elected to the board of directors for the Automotive Oil Change Association. Here’s his story.

Falter was raised on the East Coast where he attended Pfeiffer College in Misenheimer, North Carolina, and then Loyola College in Baltimore. After starting a family, Falter wanted to stick close to home and began looking to join a company headquartered in Maryland.

“In 1986, I saw an ad for a company called Jiffy Lube International, Inc. (JLI),” Falter said. “They were looking for a director of Franchise Finance to work with their treasury department. I interviewed for that job and was hired.”

JLI was fully acquired by Pennzoil in the early 1990s, so Falter moved his family from Maryland to Texas, the new corporate headquarters of JLI.

“I left Baltimore in 1992 and went to Houston, where I worked for JLI in the Pennzoil Towers as their vice president of Franchise Operations,” Falter said. “At this position I was in charge of all the franchisees in North America.”

In 1995, Falter decided to take one of the biggest risks he’d ever make.

“My family and I decided that we were born and bred East Coasters, and I had done my stint in corporate life,” he said. “So when my wife, Trish, gave her blessing and support, we made the decision to become entrepreneurs. I cashed out my 401K, sold all my stock, took the equity out of my home and bought my first two quick lubes with my future partner and good friend Dick Tracy: one in Hanover, Pennsylvania and one in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.”

Now the shoe was on the other foot. Falter no longer managed Jiffy Lube franchisees, he was one.

Flash forward 16 years, and Falter’s risk paid off.

“Right now we own, operate or manage 52 Jiffy Lube service centers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware,” Falter said.

During his time as a lube operator Falter has been active in industry associations. He is a past president of the Jiffy Lube Association of Franchisees (JLAF) and is currently on the JLAF executive committee. One of his newest accolades, thanks to an old friend, is the aforementioned AOCA board member.

“I’ve known Pat Wirth for many years,” Falter said. “Pat was a Jiffy Lube franchisee when I worked at JLI. She told me that someone was moving off the AOCA board of directors and asked me if I’d be interested in running for the board. She knew my background was in treasury and finance and thought I could bring a different perspective to the board.”

There are a few goals Falter has for his time on the board.

“It’s interesting to see how much AOCA has done for our industry by themselves,” he said. “They have a government affairs agenda that they finance 100 percent, but it benefits everyone in our industry. I don’t think many operators outside of AOCA really understand how much money, time and effort AOCA puts into governmental affairs and lobbying that benefits the industry as a whole.

“Part of my goal is to try to help raise awareness of just what AOCA does for the industry and try to create a membership drive to let others in the industry know what the association does for them and their future in the industry.”

The future of the industry is something on operators’ minds. With customers holding on to their cars longer but driving fewer miles, how does Falter predict it will affect the fast lube industry?

“It’s going to be interesting,” Falter said. “There are a number of members of AOCA who are already starting to transition from an oil change and preventive maintenance business format into a repair format. I don’t know if the writing is on the wall, and I’m not sure if that is the future of the industry.”

Finally, what advice did Falter receive that has helped him get to where he is today?

“My parents were both blue collar, and they worked hard to send me to a private, all-boy high school where I got a great education,” he said. “They taught me to make a plan, work the plan, work hard, don’t lose sight of who you are and believe that your goals are achievable. That’s what my parents told me, and that’s what I try to do.