Robert Carleton has been named Union Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year.
Carleton said there have been many people who have helped him along the way and have paved the way for the success he has experienced in his life.
“There have been a lot of great people who have come before me, and to be included in that group of people who have been named Citizen of the Year, it is such a great honor,” Carleton said. “I enjoy reading Teresa Blount’s column in the Newton County Appeal, and I see names of people have contributed to the success of Union through the years who have come before me. A lot of great people have influenced my life.”
Carleton is a 1988 graduate of Union High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Mississippi State. He later returned to Mississippi State University in Meridian and completed an accounting degree and obtained his certified public accountant’s license in 2011.
He is the son of Wayne and Betsy Carleton, and when he returned to Newton County in 1997 to join Carleton Oil, he was a third generation businessman in the family business.
Carleton married the former Melissa Thrash of Decatur, and she currently serves as a deputy attorney general for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. They have a son, Robert “Hob” Carleton III. Carleton has two sisters, Amy Williams, who lives in Madison with her husband Todd and their two children Carlee and Blayne, and Lee Anne Walsh, who lives in Carlsbad, Calif., with her husband Tim and two children Annabelle and Josie.
Carleton never imagined that he would come back home and join the family business, but decided to come home in 1997.
“My family never pushed me to be a part of the family business, but I decided to come back to Newton County and became a third-generation part of Carleton Oil,” Carleton said.
After Carleton Oil and the Spanky’s business was sold, Carleton wanted to find a way to utilize the knowledge he obtained from working in the family business.
“I wanted to use it as a platform to help people,” Carleton said. “I started in accounting way back when I was first at Mississippi State, but changed my major to pre-med and eventually finished my degree in industrial engineering.”
So after the family business was sold, Carleton wanted to redefine himself. He obtained his real estate license and broker’s license. After he completed his accounting degree and obtained his CPA, he opened the Carleton Group accounting and tax firm and later opened Carleton Realty.
Since opening the real estate business, Carleton also owns the Union Tobacco gas station and convenience store, a couple of ice vending machines, Spanky’s Self Storage and Mosquito Joe.
He credits his success due to loyal employees and employees that care and take care of the business. And he credits his success to his uncle Harold Carleton.
“He’s the person who really taught me how to treat people,” Carleton said. “He was still around the Carleton Oil business when I came back and was around him for five years before he retired. I saw how he treated people and respected people. He showed me how to give people the respect that they deserve. And that is something that has helped me in every business that I’ve been a part of.”
Carleton said he wanted to thank the citizens of Union for their support over the years.
“My family has been in business in Union since 1935,” Carleton said. “The people have been very generous to us. Thank you for trusting me over the years.”
He also encouraged everyone in business to give back to the community.
“We have always tried to give back, and I hope that we will continue to do that over the years,” Carleton said.
