Name: Gunter, Gary R.
Title: Cofounder of Lone Star Overnight
Texas A&M Class: 1981
Inducted: 2008
Gary Gunter received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Texas A&M University, both in the Department of Agricultural Economics. Beginning his career with the credit-training program at Texas Commerce Bank – Houston, he became a member of the Regional Commercial Group, making loans to a variety of industries in Texas and Oklahoma.
In 1990, he became co-founder of Lone Star Overnight, designed to compete regionally with FedEx, UPS and DHL. He and a friend wrote the business plan, assembled the initial investor group, and began operations in 1991.
Mr. Gunter co-founded Lone Star Overnight with the financial support of many individual investors located throughout Texas. During its history, the company has been fortunate to work with senior lenders and successive mezzanine and private equity sponsors.
During Mr. Gunter’s tenure with Lone Star Overnight, it maintained the highest on-time reliability in the overnight industry, and pricing was typically 20%-45% below published prices of the national carriers. He was involved from the idea stage to implementation of processes that transported more than 12,000 packages per night and employed over 500 people in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
In 1994, Gary R. Gunter was recognized by Ernst & Young as the Entrepreneur of the Year for service category in the central Texas region. In 1996, the company was recognized in the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies. Even today, employees continue to benefit from a quarterly profit-sharing plan. Headquartered in Austin, the work environment stresses safety and is known to be respectful and positive. Gary served as the Chief Executive Officer of Lone Star Overnight for 17 years until selling his ownership equity in 2007.
Mr. Gunter has been and continues to be a fervent supporter of the Department of Agricultural Economics, serving as a Prof-for-a-Day in various classes and as a mentor to students preparing their Rural Entrepreneurship business projects. He emphasizes a company culture based on honesty, integrity, and hard work.
Gary Gunter is married to Elizabeth and they have twin children, Grayson and Johanna. The couple is active in their church and community.
