Larry Connor

Education

Connor graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1972 from Ohio University in Athens, OH. As a freshman, he was Treasurer of the Student Government. Later he was elected President of his fraternity. Connor was a member of Who’s Who of College Students and was one of 22 students out of a class of 4,500 undergraduates selected to the Ohio University J Club.

Orlando Computer Corp.

From 1983 to 1990, Connor owned Orlando Computer Corp. The company had operations throughout central Florida and Cincinnati, OH. It was the second largest re-seller in the state of Florida for IBM microcomputers and a pioneer in Local Area Networks (LANs) providing hardware and software solutions to businesses.

The Connor Group

Founded as Connor, Murphy & Berman in 1991, Connor successfully bought out his partners and established The Connor Group, A Real Estate Investment Firm, in 2003. Over the next twenty plus years, The Connor Group grew from $100 million in assets to $2 billion with luxury apartment communities in 11 markets – Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Minneapolis, Nashville, and Raleigh Durham – in the United States.

Awards

The following constitutes a sampling of awards won by Connor and The Connor Group over the years:

Headquarters

As The Connor Group expanded into new markets and the company grew in size and assets, so too did the company’s central support staff (accounting, finance, recruiting, IT, marketing, training, etc.). By 2010 the rented office space in Centerville, OH had reached capacity. Rather than leasing more office space, Connor elected to embark on a different path.

Connor, along with Senior VP Chris Mullins and the nationally renowned architecture firm Moody-Nolan, set out to build a distinctive, award-winning, and innovative structure where employees were excited to come to work. Even before the building was completed it won an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum, and has since won additional national and international awards. Employees moved into the $18 million facility in the summer of 2014.

The Connor Group Partner Program

The Connor Group Partner Program provides employee ownership in both the managing company (The Connor Group) as well as the individual properties it owns and manages. Initiated by Connor in 2004, the program is designed to provide long-term financial benefits to top-performing employees, regardless of position, as well as a long-term incentive to remain with the organization.

What sets The Connor Group Partner Program apart from other incentive and retention programs is the fact that the program is completely funded using Connor’s own net worth.

Today the program has 32 Partners from every level of the organization and expects to hit 75 – 100 Partners within the next decade.

The Connor Group Kids and Community Partners

In 2007, Connor founded The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners. Its basic premise is to be a philanthropic investment partner which helps develop good causes—primarily those that serve disadvantaged youth in communities where The Connor Group operates—into great programs. The goal is to make a significant impact in the lives of 3,000 children annually.

Connor believes in more than writing checks, and that fundamental approach cascades throughout The Connor Group. Associates routinely provide their knowledge, skills, and experience in business and strategic planning, recruiting, communications, operations, physical facilities, vendor management, and more to the partnered organizations.

These programs can benefit from other Connor Group resources including strong business relationships which can pay dividends in the form of special pricing from vendors, pro bono work from professionals in various fields of expertise, networking opportunities with other organizations, and more.

Like The Connor Group Partner Program, Connor’s own net worth funds The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners.

Dayton Children's

In June 2016, The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners initiated a $1 million challenge grant to benefit the Dayton Children’s new patient tower. The Connor Group committed to matching, dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million, every gift pledged to the Reaching New Heights campaign through June 2017. The gift will support a special lounge for families whose children are being treated for cancer or blood disorders at Dayton Children’s, allowing families to celebrate holidays and birthdays with their hospitalized children.

McLean Hospital

McLean Hospital is a leader in psychiatric care, research, and education and has been ranked the country’s top freestanding psychiatric hospital for 14 consecutive years. It is the largest psychiatric teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School. Connor has been a member of its National Council since 2008.

The Mayo Clinic

The acclaimed Mayo Clinic is a non-profit organization with major campuses in Minnesota, Arizona, and Florida. Connor works as a strategic partner with the organization on initiatives to combat problems associated with aging worldwide.

Heartland Regional Power

Founded in 2004 by Connor, Heartland Regional Power provided billing solutions to the multi-family industry with software that was designed, built, and developed in-house. It was acquired in 2012 by First Billing Services.

First Billing Services

Co-founded by Connor in 2012, First Billing Services is a technology leader in online payment platforms and bill processing. It provides services to more than 800,000 customers representing utilities, government, multi-family, and service industries. Its flagship offering, FirstCloud^TM, is one of the first cloud-based solutions for outsourced billing.

Off-road

Team C Racing was founded by Larry Connor in 2014 to join the off-road racing scene. Connor is a two-time class winner of both the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000. He began competing in SCORE International Off-Road Racing in 2014 and in 2015 he completed a perfect season by winning all five races in the SCORE International Off-Road Desert Racing series in the Trophy Truck Spec class. It’s an accomplishment only two other drivers have achieved in 48 years.

Auto Racing

Connor has won more than 60 Formula and sports car races throughout the United States. He is a multi-time winner of the U.S. SCCA Formula Atlantic championship and has also won the Petit Le Mans in the LMP2 class. Connor still holds the lap record at multiple tracks in the United States in various classes.

Aerobatics

Connor is a private pilot with multiple ratings, and a former participant and winner in aerobatic competitions where he progressed from entry class to the unlimited category within three years. He was a multi-time competitor in the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship as well as numerous regional competitions.

Rafting

Connor has worldwide rafting experience including the Zambezi River in Africa, the Futaleufu River in Chile, and various rivers throughout the United States. In 2009, Connor participated in the first descent of the Drangme Chhu River in the Himalayan Mountains.

Mountain Climbing

In 2007, Connor successfully summited Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,308 ft. above sea level) in Tanzania. A year later he successfully summated Mt. Rainier (14,416 ft. above sea level) in Washington.

Other

Connor also enjoys free diving, spearfishing, wake boarding, squash, and snow skiing.