Washington, D.C. - Larry C. Tate, a Caterpillar product manager who has led the introduction of more than 50 company products to the worldwide marketplace, has been elected 2009-2010 chairman of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The election was announced during the association's national convention, held October 6-9 in Charleston, S.C.
Tate first joined Caterpillar Inc. in 1981 as a pricing analyst at the Peoria, Ill., headquarters. During the 1980s, he held various positions in Peoria, the nearby Mossville Engine Division, and Decatur, Ill. In 1992, Tate moved to Durham, England, where he became the site manager for Articulated Trucks manufactured in Peterlee. He was promoted to the site's managing director, and provided leadership to the development of Caterpillar's 700 Family of Articulated Trucks and Caterpillar's acquisition of Brown Group Holdings Ltd.
In 2001, Tate was named president of Caterpillar Global Paving, based in Minneapolis, and was responsible for paving facilities in Italy, France, Minnesota and a start-up in China. Currently, he is the worldwide product manager for Quarry & Construction Trucks and Wheel Tractor Scrapers in Decatur.
"We want to congratulate Larry on becoming the first Caterpillar chief elected officer in ARTBA's nearly 108 year history," said Jim Owens, Caterpillar chairman and CEO. "Caterpillar truly appreciates all that ARTBA does to represent the construction industry in Washington and to improve our nation's transportation infrastructure."
At the core of his agenda as ARTBA chairman, Tate will lead the push for a significant increase in highway/ transit investment as part of the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs.
His roster of ARTBA volunteer leadership positions includes serving as: senior vice chairman, first vice chairman and central region vice chairman. He also was co-chair of the 2007 Long Range Planning Committee, which developed expanded programs and services that today are benefiting ARTBA members.
Tate is active in the local community, serving on the board of directors for the Macon County Economic Development Corporation and Macon County Court Appointed Supervised Advocates. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from Goshen College. He also completed an advanced management program at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Tate, and his wife of 34 years, Cheryll, have three adult children and two grandchildren.
Established in 1902 and headquartered in the Nation's Capital, ARTBA represents more than 5,000 public and private sector members of the transportation design and construction industry before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, news media and general public. The award-winning association is a "federation whose primary goal is to aggressively grow and protect transportation infrastructure investment to meet the public and business demand for safe and efficient travel."
