Biography – Robert E. Crabtree Jr . Updated August 2015 I was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on July 27, 1964. Although my parents just made it to the hospital, my mother often tells the story that my birth actually began in a 1964 Chrysler Imperial. I was destined to be in the automobile business. I am a third generation automobile man. My grandfather started in the business in 1928, and opened his own dealership in 1938 which marked the beginning of Crabtree Motors in New Rochelle, NY. After the untimely death of my grandfather, my father, only 26 years old, became the youngest Dodge Dealer in the Country, and continued for over 55 years in business with tremendous success until his death on February 9th, 2005. My father exposed me to the business as early as 11 years old, cleaning cars. He always told me, “we are not just in the car business, we are in the people business”, a philosophy I continue to hold today. During my high school and college years, I worked summers, and was exposed to all aspects of the business, from prep to parts, to service, then as a Salesperson and eventually a Finance Manager. My summer education in the automobile business rivaled my scholastic education. I knew from there that I wanted to be in the automobile business. After my graduation from Boston University on May 17th, 1987, I spent a year in the Chicago region as a management trainee for Toyota Motor Sales, then went on to sell cars at Crabtree Ford, and quickly became the Sales Manager. After the Dealerships in New Rochelle were sold in 1989, I came to work at Colonial Toyota. I began selling after-sales and soon became the used car Manager, and was eventually promoted to General Sales Manager. Two and 1/2 years later, I earned the General Manager Position. The Dealership was not healthy, but due to the dedicated young crew, we soon became Connecticut’s #1 volume Toyota Dealer. As early as 1993, I began to assist my father in our other operations which included Toyota of Westport and Lexus of Westport, the C.O.O position was created. In 1994, I became a 25% partner in Colonial Toyota. After my younger brother Michael’s tragic death in 2003, with tremendous emotions; my father and I increased the role of the C.O.O. position and it was here that I learned the most. In 2005, I became the President, C.E.O. and Dealer Principal of Crabtree Automotive Group, which included Toyota of Westport and Lexus of Westport, as well as 100% Owner and Dealer Principal of Colonial Toyota in Milford. As President and C.E.O. of the Westport Dealerships, my responsibilities were not only limited to the day to day operations, but I was also appointed the lead man on our decision to sell the operations. We closed in March 2008. This was the largest transaction of two dealerships in the State of CT, and the timing could not have been better. In 2007, I earned the Presidents Award, and I began a massive renovation and re-engineering of the former Colonial Toyota which is now a one of a kind, state of the art Dealership. The year 2009, was a monumental year for me in many ways. The newly constructed Colonial Toyota, made its debut, along with my "No Haggle; One Associate" sales approach. That same year, I received the Businessperson of the Year Award by The Milford Chamber of Commerce, where I currently serve on The Board of Directors. In addition, I received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2009 from the American Business Defense Advisory Council. My wife Carolyn, of 25 years and I have four daughters, Sarah 21, Morgan 20, Emily 18, and Maggie Mae 11. Most recently, I am in the process of adopting my late older brother Joseph’s twins, Michael and Kathryn, age 10. I was raised and continue to raise my children with a strong Christian value and spirituality which expands much further than just church on Sunday. We pray every evening and I consider us to be a very close knit loving family.