Baseball Alum Goershel Has Great View of Truist Park from RaceTrac Office
When Chris Goershel peers out his office window, he sees Truist Park. He works for RaceTrac, an Atlanta-based convenience retail company that jockeys with other big-name companies for the title of largest privately held revenue generator in Georgia.
Goershel majored in business at Piedmont and interned as a broker representing companies seeking industrial space. That later became a “real job” for him at Colliers International, and he did it for a couple of years. It was long enough to get to know the members of the RaceTrac team when they were looking for office space.
“‘Right place, right time,’ was a part of it,” Goershel said. “I always knew I wanted to get into real estate development. I lead the Southeast for the real estate team, which is focused on new-site acquisition. I oversee the site selection in each market & the real estate negotiations.”
Seven years have now passed at RaceTrac. Goershel leads a real estate team of about eight people for the Southeast region at RaceTrac. The company operates more than 800 stores in a dozen states.
“In addition to finding & negotiating the real estate, we work with our engineering and construction counterparts throughout the permitting process until the real estate closing, and then construction goes and builds it,” Goershel said. “A large portion of my role is implementing the macro strategy of the site selection, providing guidance throughout the real estate negotiations & prioritizing the growth goals RaceTrac has annually.”
RaceTrac’s office overlooking the home of the Atlanta Braves is poetic from an alum perspective. Baseball — and the attitude he picked up on from the coaching staff — brought him to Piedmont.
“It was about finding a school that would offer a strong education and also the ability to actually play and contribute to a team. That was important to me. And when I visited, I really liked the human beings they were. I felt like they really showed that they were invested in me and cared about me.”
Looking back, Goershel appreciates the discipline Piedmont coaches instilled in their players. At the time, maybe it wasn’t so fun.
“The best thing for me was that we had to be at a workout at 6 in the morning, at class at 8 a.m., and breakfast before — and I rarely missed a class. That work ethic really helped me out, helped me grow at Piedmont as an individual and as an adult, and then it continued into adulthood.”
Ten years after leaving Piedmont, Goershel still hears from professors and coaches.
“I’ll get a text from (Head Baseball) Coach (Justin) Scali because something happened that reminded him of when I was playing at Piedmont, or he will just check in to see how everything is going,” Goershel said. “A few of my best friends today were on that team. It’s the fact that I get a text from Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jim Peeples every year wishing me and my family a Merry Christmas. It’s the relationships you build. That is one of those benefits you get from a small school.”
