Five decades at the helm of Autobell

More than 50 years after earning a bachelor’s degree in business, Chuck Howard ’71 still relies on lessons learned at UNC Charlotte.

The owner and CEO of Autobell Car Wash Inc., the largest family-owned chain of its kind, recently returned to campus to share wisdom acquired over decades of business leadership with students from the Belk College of Business for the spring 2023 C-Suite Speaker Series hosted by Dean Jennifer Troyer.

“Economics, budgeting, fiscal planning, and documenting and codifying company processes and policies were essential as we grew,” Howard told attendees. “Virtually everything I learned in the classroom I encountered in the business world.”

Howard was thrust into the position of Autobell CEO in 1986 after the death of his father Charles Howard Sr., the company’s founder. Established in 1969, Charlotte-based Autobell opened its first location in the 5000 block of South Boulevard. In college, Chuck Howard worked alongside his father as the chain opened additional locations, numbering 10 by 1986. Today, Autobell operates 87 locations in the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland, as Howard and his team continue to explore growth opportunities.

In his talk, Howard touched on the benefits of being a family-owned business, sustainability, managing culture and dealing with labor shortages, and defining success and his legacy.

Read more on the Belk College of Business website.