TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
BY TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE

The Guckenbergs share an entrepreneurial history.
After graduating from UMD as a business major, David worked at a small CPA practice and eventually bought it. He and his wife, June, invested in a small, regional fast-food franchise that Hardee’s later purchased. When this “side investment” became a full-time job, David sold the CPA firm to his employees. The Guckenberg’s philosophy, “Take care of the people,” resonated in the way they sold their CPA firm by giving employees affordable, no money down financing. That philosophy also held true as they ran their franchises. They operated by conducting business in an atmosphere of honest communication and profit sharing, which at the time, yielded one of the lowest manager turnover rates in the industry. “Take care of the people,” resonates today in how the Guckenbergs help others through their educational scholarship program, the LaMarche Creek Foundation. Founded in 2001, the LaMarche Creek Foundation helps two UMD first-year students each year. Students are from either the Labovitz School of Business and Economics, the School of Fine Arts or the College of Education and Human Service Professions.