Contact Information

Management

Gary Tolar, President
In 1970, Gary began his career in the fabrication business as a certified American Welding Society welder for Century Plastics. Over the next several years Gary expanded his knowledge to include operation of fabrication machinery, reading blueprints and architectural drawings and purchasing. Eventually, Gary became the vice president of manufacturing for a major Southern California fabricator.

In 1991, Gary founded Tolar Manufacturing Company as a California corporation focused on designing and fabricating bus shelters, outdoor advertising displays and street furniture to meet the needs of public transit passengers, government agencies/municipalities and the out of home advertising industry. Tolar Manufacturing’s first contract was to produce 300 bus stop shelters in the San Diego market for Gannet Outdoor, the nation’s largest outdoor advertising company.

Since its founding, the company has outgrown two manufacturing plants and now operates out of a 53,000 square-foot company-owned facility in Corona, California. Tolar Manufacturing remains focused on the design and fabrication of transit shelters for bus stop waiting areas, outdoor advertising digital and static display kiosks, solar bus stop solutions and related outdoor structure public space amenities to meet the needs of its clients across North America.

Patrick Merrick, Executive Vice-President
Patrick joined Tolar Manufacturing in 2001 bringing with him a diverse resume that included four years’ experience in public transportation marketing and passenger amenities. He also spent time working with non-profit organizations that work cooperatively with public agencies. Additionally, Patrick’s career includes 15 years in retail management.

A member of Tolar’s executive team and a direct report to the company president, Patrick is responsible for Tolar Manufacturing’s sales, marketing, customer service, engineering and product development functions. His primary focus is serving both clients and prospective customers by openly listening to their needs and communicating their visions in a clear manner across all company departments.

George Golden CPA, Controller
George joined the Tolar team in 2013 and has over 30 years experience as a Certified Public Accountant. He has been a partner in a local CPA firm and previously owned an accounting firm for 20 years. Prior to joining Tolar, George spent 14 years as the Controller/Chief Financial Officer for companies in the automotive and collections industries. George holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with emphasis in accounting.

George currently leads the accounting, purchasing, document control, human resources and information technology (IT) portions of Tolar Manufacturing and is a member of the company’s executive team.

Gabriel Guzman, Operations Manager
Gabriel joined Tolar Manufacturing’s production floor in 2001 and has continually progressed within the organization.

With a can-do attitude and a commitment to delivering only the highest quality products to clients, Gabriel is responsible for production planning and leads a team of committed employees who ensure that Tolar’s highly trained craftsmen have the appropriate tools and best quality materials required to fabricate best-in-class products.

Scott Williams, Business Development Manager
Scott joined the Tolar team in 2015 bringing with him extensive public transit and public procurement expertise. Prior to joining Tolar, Scott served as Vice President, Business Development at Keolis Transit America where he developed long term customer relationships, managed the public procurement compliance process and implemented solutions for transit agencies across the United States. His experience providing proactive and responsive service especially helps Tolar’s public agency clients to achieve a positive public image through out the purchase, design and production of public transit shelters and passenger amenities. Scott has earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration at California State University, Long Beach and obtained his undergraduate degree in Political Science at University of California, Irvine.

Scott is responsible for sales and project management for new and existing Tolar clients in the public transportation and public agency marketplace within the eastern United States.

Eli Meza, Engineering Manager
Eli joined Tolar Manufacturing in 2007 as the company’s lead designer. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience in engineering, systems and design. Eli’s experience, in addition to being an award winning transit shelter designer (Auto Desk IOM 2012) includes 15 years in the automotive industry in the area of aftermarket accessories. Eli is also a City of Los Angeles certified quantity control inspector.

An AutoCAD user since high school, Eli has grown his resume while at Tolar to include being responsible for the design and development of many distinctive outdoor street furniture projects. In the fall of 2012 that experience, including his unique ability to mentor and grow the engineering team, led to his promotion to engineering manager. Eli now leads a six-person engineering and design team that is responsible for product integrity, creating work orders based on customer specifications, and R&D. The team also supports the sales, operations and purchasing departments.

Importantly, the engineering team, in support of the company president, manages the extensive quality control process at Tolar Manufacturing.

Sergio Cortez, Quality Control Manager
A 16 year veteran of Tolar Manufacturing, Sergio has worked across all Tolar departments, most recently serving as a welding supervisor. He reports that his job satisfaction comes from seeing a product through the production pipeline, reviewing engineering documents through to reviewing sheet metal and welding processes and overseeing the quality of the shipment prepared for valued clients across North America. Sergio is also a City of Los Angeles certified quantity control inspector and AWS certified welder.

On being promoted to Quality Control Manager Sergio said, “I recognize the importance a quality product contributes to helping riders across the country feel comfortable, safe and secure while waiting for their bus or train. As I travel through my own city, I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction seeing riders use our shelters in their daily commute or wherever their travels are taking them. I’m excited about my new role, as I continue to work with the Tolar team connecting communities through our products.”

As Tolar’s Quality Control Manager, Sergio is responsible for ensuring that all departments adhere to the company’s Quality Control Manual, including overseeing Tolar’s quarterly self-audits and its annual outside audit. He also is responsible for leading Tolar Manufacturing’s rigorous Clark County Fabricator certification while maintaining relationships with outside consultants and auditors. Additionally, Sergio is responsible for quality inspections, quality control, routine quality training, and compliance of all departments with the Tolar Quality Systems Manual. He is a direct report to company president Gary Tolar.