Back Talk
By Louis La Plante • Photo provided by Atlas World Group

Glen Dunkerson
Chairman and CEO, Atlas World Group

After an FBI recruit visited Glen Dunkerson’s junior class at Webster County High School in the early 1970s, the 17-year-old, who had always dreamed of becoming a police officer, decided instead to pursue a career as an FBI messenger in Washington, D.C. He landed the job but returned to the Tri-State less than a year later to earn a law enforcement degree at Eastern Kentucky University. He became an officer at the police department in Mayfield, Ky., and then began eyeing a position at the Evansville Police Department where his grandfather, Lawrence Grisham, once worked. The catch: Applicants were required to have at least one year of residency. To earn a living for a year, Dunkerson became a dispatcher for Atlas Van Lines in 1978. Then, “Atlas stole my heart,” he says. Thirty years later, Dunkerson was named the chairman and CEO of Atlas World Group, the holding company of Atlas Van Lines. In his first full year as head of the company, Dunkerson calls his success “humbling,” attributing it to support from his wife, Martina; daughter, Laura; and several former Atlas leaders.
FOR MY FIRST Atlas job, I’d come in early to prepare for the day, and at the end of the evening, I was doing things to prepare me for the beginning of the next day. One evening, I was the only one in the department working late. Our chairman was strolling through the building with the vice president of my department, and I think it startled him that I was still in the office doing work. I was introduced to our chairman at that time, O. H. Frisbie, who was kind of our founding father. I like to think that stood out in their minds: Here’s a guy who doesn’t have to be here, but he is still here late at night. I don’t know if that helped me, but it sure didn’t hurt me.

POLICE WORK TAUGHT me patience. Don’t overreact to situations. You have to be very calm. In the business environment, I think that means not going off prematurely in one direction or another. You have to weigh all your options. Hopefully, that’s what I’ve done in my career: listen to different points of view. I don’t think everyone has the right answers all the time. I know I don’t. There’s a lot of smart people out there, and if you keep your ears open, you can hear some good things and implement the right decisions at the right times.

I’M A VERY fortunate man. I work with some good people. There were groups I worked with in various areas of the company who helped me become what I am today. The people I work with here and around the country are just great people to work with.

I HEAR WHAT the national reports on the economy are — about bad things happening — but good gosh, for the most part, there is so much good. There are people doing the right things: working hard, providing good service. We don’t hear enough about that, and it’s evident throughout this country.

ATLAS HAS DECIDED, and I think correctly so, that Evansville’s our home. When we built this main facility in 2000, I think that made a statement that Evansville was going to be the home base for Atlas Van Lines. This is where we’re going to call home for as long as I can see in the future. We have a good workforce here, universities to select graduates from, and a good work ethic here. It has all the recipes that we want.

I’M BLESSED WITH a very understanding wife, who early on in my career knew I wasn’t going to be here for some special events and occasions. My anniversary is in March, and my wife’s birthday is in March. Well, March is a very heavily traveled time period in our company, so historically, I was always gone on our anniversary and/or on her birthday. We would always try to celebrate either before or after I got back. She never once pressed me: “You’re never here.” That helped out a lot. I tried to make it key to always be there for my daughter when she had her events in school. I’ve come in on a trip and been that guy who walked into the auditorium when your daughter’s up on stage. The thing that was important: I was always there, and I made it a point to be there. If you try hard enough, you can succeed in that.