It all started with three friends…
LAZ Parking is a parking management, transportation and mobility company founded by childhood friends Alan Lazowski, Jeff Karp and Michael Harth, who grew up in a small town outside of Hartford, CT. In 1981, in his senior year of college, Michael decided to start a valet parking business in San Diego, CA. He shared the idea with his two best friends who took hold of this opportunity and started their own valet businesses. Michael began by serving three beach-side restaurants, Alan with a single location at a restaurant in downtown Hartford and Jeff with a nightclub and surface lot in downtown Boston.
Two years later, Jeff and Alan merged their Hartford and Boston-based companies to form LAZ Parking, while Michael continued to operate independently on the West Coast under the brand of Sunset Parking. Over the years, the three friends consulted with each other and shared their many experiences and philosophies, growing their companies side-by-side into leaders in their respective markets.
We're people who care about people. We don't just say it, we do it. Our company's mission is to "create opportunities for our employees and value for our clients" and, as you can see, employees come first.
It's one thing to give people a job. It's another to focus on creating opportunities for personal growth once people are hired. We consider every new position an opportunity for someone to join our work family or, for someone who is already part of it, to grow. Many of our company's leaders started in entry-level positions - if you ask Alan Lazowski (aka "Al LAZ") for his title, he won't tell you that he's the company's CEO; he'll tell you he is LAZ Parking's first valet!
Oh, and that part about our clients in our mission statement? Well, we believe in nurturing long-term relationships based on building trust and creating value for our clients and customers. Our formula is simple: step into the shoes of our clients and protect their best interests. More clients and more customers creates more opportunities for people to grow within (or join!) the LAZ family!
Our people-first mindset and service-focused philosophy differentiates us from other parking companies. LAZ Parking's continued growth, success and service to our clients are the result of living this mission. We call all of this "The LAZ Way" and it includes our mission, our values and our daily practices.
