Keeping growth humming challenges a fourth-generation boss at one of the state’s biggest private enterprises.
Amanda Weisiger Cornelson knows better than anyone that she has big shoes to fill after becoming a fourth-generation CEO at Charlotte-based Weisiger Group.
Her father, Ed Weisiger Jr., took over as the family businesses’s leader in 1991, when Carolina Tractor and Equipment had annual revenue of $75 million and 175 employees in four offices. The company, which was renamed CTE then Weisiger Group, was founded in 1926.
Thirty-four years later, the business has annual revenue of $1.3 billion, 2,300 employees and 30 branches in five states. “My father has done an astronomical job,” says Cornelson, who became CEO and president in February. “I can’t overstate the high bar he has set.”
Some of that growth reflects the company’s diversification into various businesses. But the main affiliation remains as a dealer for Caterpillar, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling and other equipment manufacturers.
The formal succession process for Cornelson started 2½ years ago when the business promoted Matt Nazarro to the chief operating officer role to help bridge the gap between generations. He had joined the business in 2016 as chief financial officer. Irving, Texas-based Caterpillar is serious about maintaining strong management amid generational change at its franchises.
Cornelson says her path to the CEO job started as a teenager, when she enjoyed hanging around her father and learning about the family business. The company bylaws required that family members work at other companies to “get perspective outside of our bubble,”
she says.
So after graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2012, she worked for several e-commerce companies in New York and Nashville, Tennessee, and started her own online retail company that was acquired in 2018.
She then joined Carolina Cat intending to become the leader. “I started earning my stripes, and we were thoughtful as I was having increased responsibilities for [profit and loss],” she says. Working through a variety of departments would help her win “hearts and minds” of colleagues and engage with the community, she adds. “It’s been a special experience in which I’ve done a little bit of everything.”
Those assignments included learning to pull parts to fill customer orders; assist technicians and field service coordinators; run a rental store in south Charlotte; work on the finance team; and most recently, lead the sales organization. Those experiences “make a big impact when problems bubble up,” she says. “Having that foundation gives me a lot of confidence.”
And, she’s learned how to juggle business and family obligations. She and her husband, Shaw, are parents of a 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.
Cornelson’s father remains chair of Weisiger Group’s board. He is also chair of the NC State University board of trustees and co-founder of Charlotte-based Beacon Partners, one of North Carolina’s largest commercial real estate companies. “My dad has been my biggest role model,” she says, including encouraging her to work outside the family business. “I wanted to put in my time to explore my own interests, and that was great for me. I learned to succeed and fail on my own without the microscope.”
Cornelson’s two sisters, Marshall Weisiger Rodman and Grace Weisiger, share in the company ownership and will rotate as board members.
While construction equipment may have once ranked as among the most male-dominated businesses, Cornelson notes that women now lead Caterpillar franchises in Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and other regions. “You couldn’t say the same thing 10 years ago,” she says.
The CEO shift occurs with the construction business on a roll in Carolina Cat’s markets, bolstered by population and economic growth and the response to Hurricane Helene. “There is an enormous amount of cleanup needed in western North Carolina. Countless dealers have helped us on [the Helene response],”
she says. “It’s been amazing to see how resilient those folks have been because the region has been incredibly devastated.”
Research shows about one in 200 businesses survive into a fourth generation of family ownership, and Cornelson says she’s committed to sustaining the tradition. “We realize how rare that is,” she says. “We will embrace a lot of change in the digital space, and we are very dialed into our service offerings in addition to our `big iron’ business. We’re extremely committed to Cat and Hyster and that won’t change.” ■
