Ed Carpenter
Corporate Human Resources Director
Superior Van & Mobility
Louisville, Kentucky
Southern Indiana SHRM President-Elect
HR Indiana SHRM 2017 Chapter of the Year
2017 & 2019 Pinnacle Award Winner
2016, 2017 & 2018 Platinum Excel Award Winner
After years of working for large corporations, Ed Carpenter chose to make a move to a smaller, family-owned business where the company values of serving others matched his own. Currently, Ed is the corporate director of human resources for Superior Van & Mobility based in its corporate office in Louisville, Ky. Superior Van & Mobility is an industry leader providing state-of-the-art mobility solutions for the consumer and commercial transportation industry and a proud member of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association. Here, Ed delivers full support for all human resources functions for the company’s 10 locations. Ed attended Indiana University Southeast and has been working in the HR field for more than 30 years.
Ed’s journey as a volunteer leader began in 2007 when he became president of his recently established local SHRM chapter, Southern Indian SHRM. In 2008, Ed became SHRM-SCP certified. Through this certification, he was able to serve as an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech College, where he taught the SHRM Certification Prep Course for seven years in addition to being a study group facilitator for his chapter. For several years following, he served as the chapter certification director and workforce readiness director. In 2017, the chapter celebrated its 10th anniversary, and its success and growth as a chapter won it the Chapter of the Year at HR Indiana’s State Conference – making this celebration that much more memorable. This momentum engaged and challenged members to make HR fun again, resulting in the chapter receiving its first Pinnacle Award that same year.
In his motivation to help others, Ed became driven to learn more about the work of the SHRM Foundation. He sought out information to help educate his local members on opportunities offered by the SHRM Foundation. The SHRM Foundation provided scholarships for HR professionals to prepare and achieve SHRM certification or to attend conferences for professional growth development. By creating an environment where events were fun and engaging, the chapter was able to gain visibility and help raise awareness of the SHRM Foundation’s work. The money that volunteers raised at the State Conference in 2018, helped the Indiana state council achieve recognition as the second-highest contributors that year.
In 2019, Ed became the worthy recipient of the Edie Goldberg scholarship to attend the SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition. At his first SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition, in Las Vegas, Nev., he was able to network and gained invaluable knowledge that helped him strengthen his ability to lead as an HR department of one and become a stronger volunteer leader. Ed actively supports the SHRM Foundation’s Veterans at Work initiative and has been a strong advocate of the new Employing Abilities @Work initiative.
Currently, he serves as president-elect of his local SHRM chapter, is joining HR Indiana as the State Council’s SHRM Foundation director, and will be chapter president for 2020 and 2021.