David Karangu Gift for Disadvantaged Students
David Karangu David Karangu, Class of '87, recently gave $20,000 to Morgan State University for its endowment fund for scholarships to help disadvantaged students. “When I went to school in the 80s,” said Mr. Karangu, “the federal government cut Pell grants significantly. Morgan lost lots of students at the time and many of them were my friends. I’ll never forget that. When I have the chance to offer the opportunity of education to someone else, I want to do so.” Karangu was born in Atlanta, GA in 1967 and moved with his mother to Kenya when he was about 5 years old. They returned to the U.S. when he was 17 and trying to decide upon a college. Because his father had been a long-time professor at Morgan, and still is today, the search for the right college was not a long and drawn-out process. It became a simple choice. Selecting a major was a difficult undertaking for Karangu. He was not sure what he wanted to do. Initially he wanted to be a lawyer but he always had an interest in business. After switching majors several times, he found his niche and graduated in 1987 with a degree in marketing.
Like his major, Karangu's career in the auto industry was not pre-selected. While attending Morgan State University in Baltimore, General Motors came recruiting at the school. As an “A” student, he was selected for an internship at a Baltimore dealership. He enjoyed it enough to continue in the industry and after graduating went to work for Ford as a Zone Manager, a customer service representative to dealers in the region. During this time he also attended the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Dealer Academy in McLean, VA. Subsequently, while working for yet another dealer in the area, he saw the opportunity to become an entrepreneur when one of Ford’s dealerships was available for purchase. In 1997, although he was only 30, he took a giant step and bought his first dealership. It satisfied a long-time dream of owning a business. Today, Karangu owns two Ford dealerships and employs 100 people. His businesses are Fairway Ford of Augusta, GA, and Freedom Ford, which he operates under the corporate entity, Kenya Auto Enterprises. When he purchased the first dealership it was earning approximately $10 million in sales. In 2003,
under Karangu’s supervision, dealership earnings shot to around $72 million. Karangu’s dealerships have earned the designation as one of Black Enterprise’s top ten growth leaders and was rated as 41st out of the top 100 black-owned auto dealers in the country. He attributes the phenomenal, seven-fold growth primarily to his education in Kenya and at Morgan. “Education is very important to me. It gives you discipline and a sense of responsibility,” Karangu said. “I use everything that I learned in college in my business today. I oversee all the advertising and marketing myself, since without it there is no business.” He also attributes his success to his business philosophy: hire good people, train them well, and offer an open-door policy for employees and customers. From here, Karangu says he looks forward to concentrating on maximizing the potential of his two dealerships in a rapidly growing area.
DONOR PROFILES: SPRING
2004
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