As the old saying goes, you can take the man out of the small town but you can't take the small town out of the man.

Jim Thorpe born and raised Micheal McArdle can attest to the cliché."In Jim Thorpe you drive down the road and you see 10 people to wave to, here you could drive an eight-hour day and no one waves back to you," McArdle said about his 13-year residence in North Carolina.McArdle, 42, is a Carbon County Area Vocational-Technical School, now CCTI, graduate with an associate degree in applied automotive science.In 2000, he left the car dealership he worked for, eventually finding Pirtek in a newspaper classified ad.He started with the company as a mobile sales service technician, moving to the Lehigh Valley to work for the nationwide automotive company.After two years of hard work, McArdle won one of the company's biggest competitions, MSST of the year. Following the win, he was offered a technical sales representative position for the company's head office in Florida.He was sent to Charlotte, North Carolina, first to help an underperforming store."I packed my truck and left a house, a girlfriend and family. When I moved I didn't know a soul," McArdle said.McArdle never suspected he would have to move out of the small coal region town."I was at a point in my life where I knew if I stayed I'd miss out on opportunities."He found courage to stay the course from his mother while he wrestled with the decision to relocate."I never expected to ever move. I had a hard time, but my mom said to do it for her because she never got a chance to move or grow outside the small town."The first six months he wanted to go home, but his parents encouraged him to stay.McArdle never made it to the Florida home office. He stayed in Charlotte, where he has lived for over a decade.Working his way up to operations manager, he held the position for three years before purchasing his first Pirtek franchise in 2008."I loved being in the mechanical field, but I wanted to grow and get outside the realm of servicing vehicles and to service larger equipment."The franchise grew quickly, allowing him to purchase a second store."I went to vo-tech and now own two franchises. Not a lot to people get to do that," he said.Along with running two stores, McArdle works with a "Coffee Ministry" called The Climb. "They share the building that I'm in. We support them however we can, buying coffee, referring customers, donating time and extending a hand or van.""I wanted to give back to my Jim Thorpe community, but I just didn't know how," he said.He hopes to start a program for automotive students. In the meantime his father told him he could help his hometown by sharing his story."I thought if there was someone people could read about, or heard about it would be easier for them to branch out."The best advice McArdle says he can give to a young professional is to take a chance."Don't be scared. So many people hesitate and think 'I'll do it later,' they get married and have kids young and put things off and never get around to it.""The small-town feeling and roots come with you. That stuff doesn't change, the person you are doesn't change because you move," he said.Even though he relocated over 13 years ago, he still considers Pennsylvania his home."People tell me all the time I can't call it home because I've lived here so long now, but the small town never leaves you."