MANAGEMENT
One of the pros of being involved in a family business is working with your family . But one of the cons is working with your family . Family firms that endure share several common traits like long-term orientation , institutional memory , smart diversification , and a balance between tradition and change , according to The Economist . Overall , they are more successful than their non-family counterparts , but each generation must step up . And the transition from one executive to the next generation can be a challenging one .
The oft-cited statistic that some 70 percent of family businesses fail or are sold before the second generation can be daunting , but several Capital Region family businesses have defied these odds , with some tracing their roots back more than a century and through five generations . These companies show how they ’ ve endured .
Diversifying wisely
Former Pacific Coast Building Products president and CEO Dave Lucchetti worked for the company for 51 years before stepping down from the top post in July 2021 . “ They gave me a small office without a window and cut my pay ,” jokes Lucchetti , who passed the baton to son Ryan Lucchetti , the thirdgeneration family member to run the building products company based in Rancho Cordova . The senior Lucchetti still plans to retain his role as executive chairman of the board .
“ He ’ s going to be more than a board member because it ’ s impossible for him not to be involved ,” Ryan says . “ It ’ s not even like a job to him . It ’ s just kind of what he does .” The older Lucchetti does not dispute that . “ When you ’ re involved in a family company , you never really retire . It ’ s part of your family ,” Dave says .
Ryan ’ s ascent to the top post was more tortoise than hare . He started his career as the operator of a front-end loader in an aggregate pit in Nevada . “ At times , I thought maybe it should have been different , but as I reflect back on it now , I ’ m extremely thankful because I think it provided me with a greater understanding of various aspects of the business and it created long-term relationships with people in all different roles and positions ,” he says . Even as the boss ’ son , Ryan had to earn his way , cutting lumber loads , stocking wallboard and loading roofs . His dad ’ s tenure started the same way .
Pacific Coast Building Products — which acts as the parent company to several operating subsidiaries — originally began as a lumber company in 1953 by Dave ’ s father-in-law Fred Anderson . The company expanded into manufacturing , contracting and distributing building materials by the time Dave took over as president and chief operating officer in 1979 . He added the CEO title in 1989 . Today , the company employs 3,500 people and tops $ 1 billion in business , spread across 13 states and British Columbia . Dave is modest about the company ’ s success , crediting the good people that work for the firm and noting they were opportunistic in purchasing failing businesses at the right time . “ Our expansion has been at our choice ,” he says . “ We are making long-term decisions , unlike public companies where they have to show certain growth every few months .”
Ryan agrees . “ We work in an industry that is extremely consolidated these days , so remaining relevant with the products and services we provide is the goal . But it ’ s really about basing our decisions on the values we ’ ve established as an organization , and being able to plan for long-term versus making decisions quarter to quarter . This is something we would like to perpetuate from one generation to the next .”
Taking the long view
Sacramento-based family business Fischer Tile & Marble has been in business more than a century , celebrating its 115th anniversary in 2021 . The commercial and residential tile , stone and solid surface company has won numerous awards and gained national acclaim for its part in the restoration of the famous minton tile in the California State Capitol rotunda , and its tile and counter work at the Golden 1 Center .
This year , the fifth generation of Fischers are poised to take over the business , but that was not always a sure thing . “ If my kids , Taryn and Trent , didn ’ t want to work in the family business , I wasn ’ t sure what I was going to do , because I didn ’ t have anyone else to transition it to ,” says Jay , a fourth-generation Fischer who started working for the company full time in 1970 . Jay had to bide his time before becoming president , waiting for dad Harry to retire . Harry retired at 70 and then worked for a few more years part time . “ He didn ’ t like it very much when he wasn ’ t the boss ,” laughs Jay .
Now in his early 70s himself , Jay let his kids decide if they wanted to join the family business , with both ultimately finding their place at the company . Daughter Taryn Fischer , who manages the tile side , describes herself as a big personality and a little more assertive than her dad , and says she did not feel pressure to work in the family business , but joined her father and brother at the company three years ago after working for a different tile company for a decade . “ I got a lot of really good experience having that under my belt ,” she says . “ But this business is my family , it ’ s my life and I absolutely love it , probably because it means family to me .”
Trent , who has been with the company for nine years and is in charge of the solid surface division , says he ’ s learned a lot just by watching his dad , but is a little more open to getting different opinions . “ I like to bring in as many
42 comstocksmag . com | October 2021