Paul O'Regan: industry leader passes away
by Todd Phillips and Melissa Wilson
The Canadian automobile industry was saddened last week to learn of the death of Paul O’Regan, of O’Regan Automotive Group in Nova Scotia. O’Regan was a CADA Laureate and a major player in the east coast automotive industry. He was 67.
O’Regan got his start in the car business early, working for his family’s car business. After an eight-year teaching career following his education at St. Francis Xavier and Dalhousie universities, Paul returned to the car world to work at a used car lot in Dartmouth, later joining forces with his brother, Stephen O’Regan, to form the O’Regan’s Automotive Group, which grew to 15 new car franchises in Halifax, Dartmouth and Bridgewater.
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter expressed his condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Paul O’Regan. “Paul O’Regan will be remembered for changing the face of the industry he was so proud to be a part of,” said Premier Dexter. “He was a remarkable businessman and champion for his community.”
Rick Gauthier, President and CEO of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, also offered his condolences to O’Regan’s family. “On behalf of CADA, I would like to offer my condolences to Mary and Stephen and the immediate and extended O’Regan family. They are iconic in the industry,” says Gauthier.
“On a personal note I have known Paul since the mid-1980s,” says Gauthier. “I got to know him when he was just a single operator dealer. But I remember from the first time I met him that he was truly an entrepreneur and there were greater things waiting to happen for him.”
O’Regan became the first CADA Laureate ambassador in 2006, and set the benchmark for those who followed, says Gauthier. “When you have the Premier of a province stepping in and making a testimonial on behalf of a citizen that says a lot. It says a lot about Paul’s contribution not just to the communities that they served, but also to the overall health and well-being of Nova Scotia.”
Gauthier says O’Regan was a gentle man who remained humble despite his incredible accomplishments both as an auto dealer and business leader and as a community leader.
O’Regan was heavily involved with his local community, working closely with the Nova Scotia Automobile Dealers Association, and later becoming president of the organization and serving a term of three years (a normal term is two).
According to John K. Sutherland, executive director of NSADA, O’Regan was incredibly generous with his time, even though running a series of dealerships was no easy task. “It’s one thing for a dealer to become active in relation to his manufacturer. It makes good business sense. But I think it’s an example of altruism when you become involved in an association where your competitors are involved, in addition to yourself,” says Sutherland, in regards to O’Regan’s work with NSADA.
“He recognized that if the industry sector was good, if we could collectively improve the sector, then that would be good for everyone,” says Sutherland. “I really respected that initiative on his behalf.”
Sutherland remembers O’Regan as “the kind of person to encourage people to do things they might not otherwise do.” He tells the story of a time when NSADA wanted to take its annual convention offshore. It had traditionally been held on the east coast, and they wanted to host it in Bermuda. “Paul was the type of person to say, ‘We can do this, and we’re going to do this.’ And he said it in such a way that everyone else would just say, ‘Oh. OK then. Let’s do that.'”
“Paul had that type of presence with him. He had quite a sense of humour. He loved telling stories, but he also had the ability to inspire people to do things, and do things that they haven’t done before.”
Paul O’Regan passed away March 10, 2012 in Venice, Florida, following a brief illness.
You can read more about Paul O’Regan, including excerpts from his exclusive interview with Canadian auto dealer in our April issue.
