Running the show at Larry's AutoWorks Running the show at Larry's AutoWorks (March 05, 2004)

Co-owner Laurie Moore wins Athena award for women in business

By Grace Rauh

Auto repair shops can be male-dominated, greasy garages that rarely have a woman's touch.

But at Larry's AutoWorks in Mountain View, Laurie Moore tries hard to change that image, and her efforts appear to be working.

"Over 75 percent of our customers are women," Moore said. "I wanted women to feel comfortable coming into our business, not have to worry about getting dirty. ... I wanted them to feel like they had someone on their side."

While the tireless business owner tries to keep the wheels running smoothly at the shop she and her husband Larry opened in 1972, she manages to find time to stay active in several business organizations -- including the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce's Women in Business group.

On March 9, the chamber and Bank of Los Altos will honor Moore with the 13th Annual Athena Award. The distinction is given each year to a professional woman who excels in both business and the community and who promotes the goals of other women in business.

"Laurie really exemplifies what we are looking for," said Astrid Thompson, director of communications and programs at the chamber. Moore is committed to "helping others succeed in their businesses and sharing her advice, her business tips."

At the chamber's monthly Women in Business luncheons, Moore is always quick to welcome a newcomer and bring them into the fold. "It just helps businesses in so many ways to make more contacts, and she's helped to promote that," Thompson said.

Moore wasn't expecting the award, she said, but this certainly isn't the first time she has been surprised by life. The award-winner never imagined she would own an auto shop, but Larry is mechanically minded and worked at a garage before they opened their own, she said.

The duo first met at a Beach Boys concert when Moore was 15 and her husband 18. They started dating on her 16th birthday, restored cars together and discovered they loved working as a team.

Larry's AutoWorks officially became a women-owned business in 2003 when Laurie and the Moores' daughter Tiffany took over 51 percent of the company. Larry owns the rest.

The shop ranked 39th in the top 60 Silicon Valley Women-Owned Businesses, named by the San Jose Business Journal in 2003. Moore is also one of less than 50 women nationwide to earn an Accredited Automotive Management certificate by the Automotive Management Institute.

As a successful business owner, Moore has inspired other women to succeed in their own endeavors. When Tiffany was in high school, Moore hired several of her daughter's girlfriends for jobs at AutoWorks and taught them many aspects involved in running a business -- from customer service to accounting. Today, one former AutoWorks employee owns a bakery in the East Bay, another is a Certified Public Accountant, and Tiffany is an operations manager for a jukebox firm in San Francisco.

"It has been an interesting journey," Moore said.

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

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