Lawrence Behr was born in New Jersey to a Mexican father and a Hudson River Dutch mom, providing a culturally blended household. His dad was in management for Dupont, and a career move led them to Greenville when Lawrence was 8 years old. His mother was an artist, gaining her Master’s in Fine Arts at ECU and later serving on the faculty.
In 1956, Lawrence’s father sent him to Cuba at 13 to further his education and improve his Spanish. He took a train to Miami, befriending the conductor and learning about the engine. Then, he flew alone on Eastern Airlines to Havana. Fidel Castro’s move to power cut his trip short, but while Lawrence was in Cuba, he met the commander of a Cuban Navy electronics group who schooled him for two weeks in all things radio.
It was at this point where Lawrence got the “bug.” He returned to the US and immersed himself in the world of radio. At 14, he became the youngest person ever to hold the highest-level license the FCC offered for broadcast engineers.
Lawrence’s first big break came at age 15 when ECU hired him to be the chief engineer at their FM radio station. While in high school, he audited college courses at ECU, including physics, science, and math. He also assisted other radio stations across Eastern Carolina, making adjustments and checking antennas.
Lawrence officially launched his broadcast/technology business in 1963. LBA Group has maintained a pioneering role in the electromagnetic and RF industries while also evolving to include television, cellular, lightning protection, and more.
The company recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, a fantastic achievement and a testament to its success while continuing to serve clients worldwide.
Key LBA Group Achievements include:
- Working on several of the largest antenna systems in the country
- Providing low frequency communications for Polaris submarines
- Inventing patented antennas for US Navy Blue Eagle flying command posts
- Updating the US Navy Lake Kickapoo Spacetrack antenna, the largest of its kind in the world
- Designing one of the most powerful TV stations ever built in the US
- Consulting with Motorola to help shape the cellular industry
- Receiving the Kuwaiti Medal of Freedom for assistance after the Gulf War
- Developing an exclusive lightning protection system for the F-35 aircraft program
- Holding several patents on technical devices, antennas, and antenna systems
- Being named a Top 50 Hispanic Business in North Carolina numerous times
- Receiving the Inc. 5000 award several times
Lawrence had some unforgettable experiences over the years, like building an AM station tower in Minnesota with winter temperatures down to 40 below zero. All work was carried out between midnight and 6 AM. “It was so cold the trees would actually explode. You’d be working at the station, and you’d hear a sound like rifle shots all around you. There were trees just bursting in the cold!”
While consulting in Kuwaiti after the Gulf War, Lawrence needed bomb-clearing support to access transmitter stations. While organizations like CNN had sophisticated teams in blast suits, Lawrence’s team didn’t get that level of sophistication. He was embedded with a Bedouin tribe with a herd of 50 sheep who would walk the fields. If a sheep hit a cluster bomb, the tribe would keep it for food if possible and toss it onto one of the camels. This was truly his “Lawrence of Arabia” moment!
Outside of the office, Lawrence has always been an avid hiker and outdoorsman. He received the Great Blue Heron Award for his many years of service on the Board of Sound Rivers, which promotes conservation.
He also loves boats and lived for four years on a 1930s-era Maine Lobsterman boat docked in Little Washington, NC. Lawrence is also an experienced pilot and used aviation in his business to fly around the country. He loved having a breakfast meeting in South Carolina and a lunch meeting in West Virginia, a significant competitive advantage.
Lawrence’s son is a musician, touring under the name Lipbone Redding. One of his talents is simulating several instruments with his mouth. (Initially a trombone, hence the name Lipbone.) He tours the country in a converted van that houses a recording studio.
While Lawrence is still CEO of LBA Group, his daughter Jennifer Behr Cargile is now Vice President and has taken over the company’s day-to-day running. She relies on her dad’s smarts and experience as needed. Lawrence and his wife Libby live in beautiful Topsail Beach, but he also splits time between the Greenville office and a Little Washington home. He loves living in two places and enjoying all that these different environments have to offer.
We love having him as a client, and Greenville is lucky to have him as the owner of a thriving business.
Lawrence’s Recommended Reading List
Lawrence is an avid reader, especially enjoying historical books. Here are two recent favorites.
Men to Match my Mountains, by Irving Stone
A true historical masterpiece, this magnificent book tells America’s most colorful and exciting story—the opening of the Far West.
Rebels at Sea, Privateering in the American Revolution, by Eric Dolin
This book showcases how daring freelance sailors in a ragtag fleet of private vessels proved essential to the winning of the Revolutionary War.
