Larry Morgan is the Chairman of Morgan Family Ventures, a high growth group of companies spanning multiple industries.
From humble beginnings on a farm in Northeast Missouri, Mr. Morgan worked his way to and through the University of Missouri where he graduated with a BS in Business Administration. After graduating, he served, was honorably discharged from the US Army, and accepted a position with The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company where he flourished until 1972. For the next 18 years Mr. Morgan built a small 7 store tire dealership into a 137 store chain. In 1990 he developed his own tire company, Tires Plus. Within a 10 year period, Mr. Morgan built his business to 603 locations in multiple states. He was inducted as a Member of the Tire Industry Association’s Hall of Fame in 2008. He also served as President of The Tire Industry Association.
In 2000 Mr. Morgan sold his Tires Plus business and began dabbling in the automotive industry with a 50% interest in a dual Honda/Volkswagen dealership. Embracing this industry, Mr. Morgan began building his automotive empire with the purchase of Toyota of Tampa Bay in 2005. To date he has amassed 20 franchised dealerships under the Morgan Auto Group umbrella located from Lake City to Sarasota selling Honda, BMW, Ford, Lincoln, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Lamborghini, Mini, Buick, GMC, Chevrolet, Cadillac, KIA, Volkswagen, and Mercedes Benz car lines. In September 2015, a KIA store was added in Columbia, Missouri. Recent acquisitions include Sun Toyota in New Port Richey, FL in February 2016, the Rountree Moore dealerships in June 2016 which include five locations in Lake City, FL, Mercedes Benz of Gainesville in December 2016 and Naples Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram and Mazda in February of 2017. Highly recognized in the automotive industry, Mr. Morgan was named Florida’s 2009 TIME Dealer of the Year by the Florida Automobile Dealers Association. His stores have been separately honored as well for their individual positive performance.
Morgan Family Ventures also owns Morgan Construction Mgmt Services, a building contractor; Beth Ingram & Associates, Inc. and Integrity Therapy Solutions which are large therapy providers; Compark 75, a warehouse and office Commerce Park; Creative Sign Designs, Inc.; and HR Hernando, LLLP, real estate holding entity. Mr. Morgan serves as a member of the Board of Directors of USAmeriBank and is a Board Member of SunTrust Bank of Tampa Bay. He has been honored by the Tampa Bay CEO Magazine as CEO of the Year and 100 Most Influential Business Leaders. In 2004 he was inducted into the Tampa Business Hall of Fame, in 2012 received the Golden Flame of Philanthropy Award and in 2014 won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Mr. Morgan takes an active part in our community and is past Chairman of the Board of Directors of BayCare Health Systems, Inc. and The Florida Automobile Dealers Association. He is the Past Chairman of the Board for Morton Plant Mease Health Care where he also contributed 5 million dollars to build the new Morgan Heart Hospital. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Council on Economic Education, past Chairman of The Valspar Championship, the annual PGA golf tournament played at Innisbrook each year for the benefit of area charities and is a member of the Pasco Economic Development Commission.
Mr. Morgan’s hobbies include golf, travel and philanthropic activities. He has two children, Brett and Lauren and lives in Clearwater Beach.
