Larry King has been involved in MITS since the very beginning, even before there was a MITS.
Prior to MITS, Southeastern Trailways was subsidized by the city to provide public transportation. In 1980, Mayor Alan Wilson, decided that continuing the subsidy arrangement was not a sound financial situation and created MITS. Later that year the Muncie City Council approved an ordinance creating the Muncie Public Transportation Corporation and on July 1, 1981, MITS began providing Muncie with reliable public transit service.
In 1984, the new building for the newly re-invented MITS was set to be assembled and Larry King, recent graduate of Ball State University with a degree in urban planning, was set to serve as the project manager. “One of the responsibilities I had was overseeing and getting federal monies to acquire the private transportation system and convert it to a public operation,” said Larry. This particular job involved overseeing grant work to get new vehicles for the city to operate, finding facilities, and finding management expertise to operate the system.
After the new and vastly improved headquarters were built, he helped the employees to transition into the new building. Because of his involvement in acquiring the assets and the actual transition, he was offered a position as the Assistant General Manager in 1984. Then he was promoted to General Manager in 1992, where he continues today.
Over the years, Larry has had the chance to watch the company grow and prosper. While the old facilities had outdated and overused materials, now in the building he helped to create are new busses with new equipment such as radios, automatic video transmitting systems, and hybrid technology. “I have seen [this company] go from a very marginal service and transition into a system that has won two national awards for being the best public transportation system in north America,” said Larry. These improvements were made possible because of the combination of hard work from employees and leadership from administrators such as Larry.
As a problem solver and a proactive worker, Larry loves to get to the root of a problem as soon as it occurs. To do this, he seeks the help of his employees. “I trust and rely on my drivers and employees,” said Larry. “I believe in cooperation, trust and loyalty. Everybody has to work together and trust each other and each be loyal to get the job done.”
Larry has loved getting the opportunity to be a part of a growing company such as MITS. The thing he cherishes the most about his job is the fact that he has been a part of it since the very beginning. “It’s a great opportunity to be involved from the start; very rewarding,” said Larry King. “I have really enjoyed my time here.”