“A lot of guys were saying that it was just my connections that put me at Webber, but I was old enough and savvy enough to know better.  As far as I was concerned, I was lucky I had a great opportunity and I was going to do the best I could.”

“There was a lot of carryover value from my background in sports and coaching.  One of those was the ability to make decisions.”

“They say good decisions are the result of experience and experience is the result of bad decisions.”

“My decisions at Webber were always based on one question, ‘Is it good for the company or not?’”

“I made it a practice to tell my management people three important things: Number one, don’t be afraid to say, 'I don’t know.' Number two, don’t be afraid to say you’re sorry. Number three is being able to say 'I made a mistake, I was wrong.' These three things are hard for a lot of people, but life gets easier when you get out of your own way.”

“I also believe in the Maine work ethic.  I was brought up with it.  Webber Oil exemplified it.  This work ethic is the ability to solve problems, not through sophisticated rhetoric, but through the discipline of routine and the philosophy that man does not lose his dignity through hard work.”

“It takes a tremendous amount of courage to run a family business, especially if there's two sides of the families. And you’ve got to be prepared not to compromise your principles.”

“I thought the thing that helped me the most when I came to work for Webber Oil Company, even though I had a degree in economics, I had had a career in coaching, which really served me well.  I learned to understand people.  I understood what it took to motivate people.  I understood what it took to discipline people, and I understood the effort it took to be a winner.”

From various recent interviews with Larry, conducted by
Camden Writers, Bangor Daily News, Kathy Guerin Creative, Inc.