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Spotlight: Tom Andrade ’92

Mary K. Pratt

At any given time on any given workday, Tom Andrade ’92 is watching international precious metal markets and the global economy, using the information to set sales strategy at his family’s business.

Everett’s Auto Parts has grown from modest roots in Brockton, Mass., to become a major supplier of platinum, radium and rhodium, as well as scrap metal, to overseas markets. In 2018, the company that Andrade’s grandfather established processed 37,000 cars, placing it in the top 5 percent of salvage yards in the United States.

“If someone had said 25 years ago that I’d be sitting around a junk yard watching these markets and the world economy, I wouldn’t have believed it,” says the alumnus, who runs the company with his father and uncle. “But because of the volume we do, we play in that arena.”

Andrade knew as a teenager that he wanted to be part of the family business. He studied finance at Bentley and worked as a financial systems manager before rejoining Everett’s Auto Parts in 1996.

From the start, Andrade focused on management, infrastructure and equipment, technology, and inventory processes — areas he calls the “building blocks for growth.”

For example, the company refined its business model and management practices as a hybrid yard with both self-service and full-service options. It developed strong inventory practices, which include sorting parts by vehicle make and model (a differentiator in the industry). It reinvested profits to minimize long-term debt. Other investments: staff training, state-of-the-art salvage equipment and robust IT infrastructure.

Today, Everett’s Auto Parts employs 85 people and generates gross annual revenues between $22 and $25 million.

“My goal is to leave the company in a better position than when I got here, so it continues for a fourth generation,” says Andrade, himself the father of three.