Elon alum, MBA candidate honored as one of the '40 Under Forty'

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Reed LaPlante, a member of Elon’s Class of 2003 now pursuing an MBA at the Love School of Business, was recently named one of the “40 Under Forty” by the Triad Business Journal, a regional business news outlet. 

​The 36-year-old LaPlante, a senior relationship manager for Wells Fargo in Burlington, was recognized by the Triad Business Journal as a young leader who has seen success in the world of banking, Since joining Wells Fargo in 2012, LaPlante has seen his career progrees to where he is now responsible for Alamance and Rockingham counties. He has seen his portfolio grow by 121 percent each of the past three years on average, and has been recognized twice by the bank as one of the top performers in the Carolinas, four times as a “Star Performer” and has three times been named to the Triad Presidents Club. 

Beyond Wells Fargo, LaPlante is a member of the Boy Scouts of America’s Eagle Scout Board of Reviews in Alamance County, is a United Way campaign coordinator for Wells Fargo, serves as a member of the Twin Lakes retirement community board, is a past president of Graham’s Rotary International Club and is a board member for the Phoenix Club at Elon, among other activities. 

“I am very honored and humbled to be recognized by our community this way,” LaPlante said. “Giving back is in my blood. In Scouts, when backpacking, the goal was to leave the woods better than you found it. That holds true in all aspects of life.  For me, if I have to leave a community I would like to do my best to leave it better than I found it.”

LaPlante, originally from Pennsylvania, said Elon’s Service Learning Community made the university “the perfect choice for me” and allowed him an opportunity to become involved in the community he continues to call home. “It was the engaged learning through the SLC that strengthened my feelings to be involved and see how I could help,” LaPlante said. Other groups he was involved with, including his service fraternity, his socia fraternity (Pi Kappa Phi) and Elon’s Cheerleading Team, of which he was the captain, “all did their part to give back to the community.”

LaPlante isn’t the only Elon alum in his family. His wife, Katherine Wicke LaPlante ’03 works with The Elon Academy and is deeply involved in the surrounding community. “We both agree that giving back in any way we can is important and those values were reinforced as part of our Elon Experience,” Reed LaPlante said. 

LaPlante was one of three members of the Triad Business Journal’s 2017 class of 40 Under Forty with Elon backgrounds — David L. Morrow II ’07 L’10, special adviser to the President and assistant chief of staff at Elon, and Gwendolyn Lewis ‘L13, alumni director at the Elon University School of Law were also honored for their dedication to their professions and their communities.