Charles Barker Profile

Mr. Charles G. Barker

Charles G. Barker was born in Norfolk, VA in 1945. He married his high school sweetheart, Susan, and has two children, Mark and Cindy. He also has a granddaughter, Alexis. He resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Charles Barker is a Princess Anne High School graduate, Class of 1965. He has also attended many undergraduate colleges including Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, Mundelein College, Emory University, and Old Dominion University. He has also attended General Motors Institute as well as courses in leadership and management for business and the automotive industry.

Charles Barker has an extensive professional profile to include boards and offices he's held, special automotive training achievements, and an award-winning professional career. For detailed information regarding Mr. Barker's professional profile, please see the links below.

Charles Barker has over 40 years experience in the automotive industry along with other business endeavors and community leaderships. He cites "good corporate citizenship" as a primary goal in his companies stating, "good corporate citizenship is an important goal in my companies because we believe in giving back to the community." Through corporate citizenship he strives to make Hampton Roads a better place to live with a major focus on our youth. Contributions from his foundation, Champions for Kids, over the past 21 years has reached over three million dollars and benefit many different youth programs in Hampton Roads. For more information, to donate or sponsor an event for Champions for Kids visit our website or call Teresa Reyes at 757.499.3771 ext. 2323.

Charles Barker's dedication to his craft and his community has been awarded with an array of accomplishments, too many to list on this page. He has been selected as Newsweek Magazine's Top Dealer of the Year in 2004 and won Time Magazine's Quality Dealer Award (TMQDA) for Virginia in 2005, both representing his commitment to exceptional business performance, involvement in industry affairs, and distinguished community service. In continuing support to athletics, Charles Barker also supplies a vehicle to the Old Dominion University Athletics Department and the Virginia Wesleyan College Athletics Department, and has done so for 35 years.

The Charles Barker Automotive Scholarship

Perhaps Charles Barker's proudest achievement would be establishing a scholarship program for the high schools of Virginia Beach City Public Schools listed below. Every school year two college bound high school students in Virginia Beach are selected each month with primary emphasis placed on volunteer work and community service. Each student is presented a $500 scholarship and selected to compete for one of two additional $3,750 scholarships at the end of the school year. To enter, each student completes an essay explaining the importance of giving back to the community and what they are doing specifically to help others. Winners have their picture and the college or university they will be attending posted in the newspaper. Each one and their respective schools receive a copy as well.

View the 2014-2015 Scholarship Recipients.

Charles Barker says the letters and phone calls he has received since establishing the scholarship program have been some of the most satisfying experiences of his career.

Charles Barker has a veritable mountain of accolades to include the following:

• 1978-1984 Received Service Supremacy Awards from Chevrolet
• 1984 Received Top 10 Award from Chevrolet Baltimore Zone (Top 10 Largest Parts Operations in the Region)
• 1988 Received Top Dealer Award from Chevrolet
• Received Special Recognition as one of the Top 50 Chevrolet Dealers in the Nation
• 1989 Received Top Dealer Award from Toyota
• 1992 and 1994 Received Presidents Club Award from Infiniti
• Received Presidents Award from Toyota Motor Sales - 13 Years
• Received the Infiniti Circle of Excellence Award - 3 Years
• 2004 Newsweek Magazine Top Finalist for Dealer of the Year
• 2005 Time Magazine Dealer of the Year
• Received Lexus Elite Award the last 10 Years in a Row for Lexus Virginia Beach
• Received Lexus Elite Award the last 6 Years in a Row for Lexus Newport News
• 2011 First Citizen of Virginia Beach
• 2012 Toyota Presidents Award Winner
• 2012 Lexus Elite Award winner 12 years in a row to date

For a list of Charles Barker's other notable accomplishments please see the link below:

• Remaining Accomplishments
• First Citizen of Virginia Beach 2011

Charles Barker is also proud of he and his companies involvement with United Way. He has successfully ran the campaign internally at Charles Barker Automotive for the last 35 years thus becoming one of the leading companies in our area in terms of giving per employee.

When you purchase from Charles Barker Automotive you aren't just purchasing a vehicle; rather, you become a part of our family and give back to our community through your purchase. Charles Barker strives to make Hampton Roads a better place to live one step at a time. #RidingWithCharlie

Charles Barker Automotive is a proud sponsor of the 11th Annual Kids Fundango Festival in Virginia Beach, VA. We understand that children are our future. We are so happy to help sponsor this program. We believe in what they are doing and its a growing / fun way to educate our youth.

Sponsor Contributor to the Access College Foundation

The ACCESS College Foundation is committed to the betterment of our students and to providing them with the tools necessary to be successful in their educational endeavors. Our goal is to ensure they are able to make informed decisions about post-secondary education and to provide academic, financial, and personal support while in college. ACCESS uses a collaboration of human and financial resources to help students realize their dream of becoming a college graduate. Please get involved.