Larry Garatoni

Mr. Garatoni is a graduate of Purdue University (BSCE 1961) and completed the Owners/President Program of the Harvard Business School. Larry served in the Army Reserve attaining the rank of Captain. He and his wife Judy have four children and 13 grandchildren.

In 1966 Larry and a partner built and operated one long-term care facility. He later bought the partner’s interests. Larry continued building healthcare related facilities and companies up to 1994.  Larry founded and operated several companies under the Health Quest Group name. These businesses included the Health Quest Corporation, Health Quest Development Corporation, Achievement Rehab Corporation, Long Term Care Pharmaceutical Services Corporation, and Health Quest Infusion Therapy Corporation. In 1994 he made a strategic decision to sell all of these companies.

From 1994 – 2007, Larry started or acquired and served as the CEO of three software and internet sales companies:  Achieve Healthcare Technology, FurnitureFind.com, and Winesource.com. All of these companies, in addition to his healthcare related real estate were sold in 2007 and the Garatoni Smith Family Foundation was established.

In 2007 Larry founded HQ Investments which later became the Garatoni Family Office. Larry wanted to help improve the economy in the region and became aware that economic growth can only be accomplished by a skilled workforce. In 2011, he and his wife Judy founded the Career Academy. This developed into the Career Academy Network of Public Schools which includes two high schools, an Intermediate School, and two elementary schools with a total enrollment of almost 1800 students. Larry also established the RISE entrepreneurship school, the IT Sector Partnership, the Garatoni School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Ivy Tech and the Garatoni Scholars Program which provides scholarships to Career Academy Graduates.