🔒Heirloom or asset? Multiple generations of family business owners navigate from past to future

In 1936, Harry Allen Mapes started H.A. Mapes Inc. in Springvale to deliver heating oil.

His son, Harry “Allen” Mapes Jr., entered the business in 1950 and expanded the company’s reach further into southern Maine.

In 1982, Allen’s son Jonathan formally joined the company and built the fuel distribution division. Following suit, Jonathan’s daughter, Saunya Mapes Urban, started in 2015 and today is general manager.

“It’s like a jacket you never take off,” Jonathan Mapes, the company’s president and CEO, says of the multigenerational nature of the business. “It’s a sense of security, pride, respect and identity.”

Sense of pride is a common thread with multigenerational firms. There’s a strong feeling of having a special role in the community. Today’s customer might well be the grandchild of the customer the company’s founder served. There are also considerations specific to a multigenerational company: How do you separate business from personal feelings? How do mixed generations incorporate new ideas without conflict?

We surveyed a number of owners and found there’s nothing sterile about the “family-owned business.”

After all, says Mapes, “Really, we’re a family that owns a business.”

Learning by observation

Mapes jumped into the trenches after graduating from college with a business degree.

Mainebiz: How did you learn the ropes?

Jonathan Mapes: It’s osmosis: You observe. My father used to say, ‘I’m not going to let you make a mistake big enough to ruin the company’ But you have to make mistakes. That’s what you allow the next generation to do. I had different ideas from my father; my daughter has different ideas from me.

MB: How do mixed generations incorporate new ideas without conflict?

JM: There’s always conflict. It’s probably natural in non-family-owned businesses, too. But there’s a greater degree of personal emotion.

MB: How do you separate business from personal feelings?

JM: I don’t think you do. You’re wearing both coats all the time.

MB: How do you ensure non-family employees feel valued?

JM: There are different ways to look at things. Is it an asset or an heirloom? My daughter and I can’t run this place by ourselves. Having a great degree of respect for the staff that actually makes it happen every day is very important.

MB: How do you set compensation and benefits for family members?

JM: I think that varies wildly. Your family takes the greatest degree of risk. Most non-family members get to go home at 4 or 5 o’clock and say, ‘See you in the morning’ The family member lives it. It’s like another child.

Separating family relationship from business relationship

Jules Dostie learned watchmaking in the military during World War II, when accurate timepieces were critical to army operations. Returning home, he expanded on that skill when he and his wife Yvette started J. Dostie Jewelers in Lewiston in 1947.

In 1977, their son Daniel started as a jewelry repair technician. In 1987, Daniel became a certified gemologist appraiser, the industry’s highest certification. He bought the company in 1989.

Daniel’s son Michael began apprenticing under his dad in 2003, then took over in 2006. Daniel remains involved in appraisals.

Mainebiz: How did you become involved?

Michael Dostie: I went to school for computer science and realized halfway through that I didn’t want to spend all day every day in front of a computer. I told my father and he said, ‘Great, I’m coming into the Christmas season. You’ll work for me.’ After Christmas, I just stayed on.

I’d bring it back to something my grandfather told my father that expressed his passion: ‘Can you believe we get to work with the most beautiful things in the world that were naturally created?’

I’m very much a people person. One of my first jobs was selling jeans for Levi’s. When you’re selling pants, you have no connection with the customer. With jewelry, it’s much deeper. In some instances, you’re working with a piece of jewelry that’s been in that family’s history for a hundred years. Jewelry tells a story: ‘This was my grandmother’s and it’s important to me because I remember her through it.’

MB: How do you and your father separate business from personal feelings?

MD: You have to separate the family relationship from the business requirements. A lot of heated discussions stemmed from when he elevated me to run the Lewiston location. When he had a new designer line, he’d say, ‘We’re going to carry this.’ I’d say, ‘It’s beautiful, but we’ve already budgeted for other things.’ If you’ve been the boss for most of your adult life and now you’re stepping back, that’s where the tension was. It was probably a good two years of difficulty with that kind of transition.

But my dad and I get along like drunken sailors. We’d have a heated discussion. A couple of hours later, we’d cool off and say, ‘How can we approach this?’ It was just kind of, walk away and spend an hour not talking.

MB: How do mixed generations incorporate new ideas without conflict?

MD: The irony is, my higher education background was in computer programming and website development. My father was adamant that we have an e-commerce site. I was the one against it. The quality of our product is of the utmost importance. When you’re talking about e-commerce, you can’t physically see or touch it. It’s difficult to educate people about the difference in quality.

MB: Why is ‘family-owned’ important to you?

MD: The standard my grandfather lived by, the reputation he and, by extension, the jewelry store had, has always been a point of pride for our family. J. Dostie Jewelers is known through several generations of Lewiston residents as a landmark. I see people who are fourth-generation customers.

Butting heads, but with a common goal

W.S. Emerson started in 1921 as a wholesale apparel company in Bangor. Founder Walter Emerson soon hired John Vickery, who helped grow the business. Vickery bought the company in 1952, expanded to Brewer and brought in his brother, Winslow Vickery, as a manager.

In 1982, Winslow’s sons, John and Russ, became president and vice president and grew the retail and wholesale divisions.

By the 1990s, big-box retailers forced many of W.S. Emerson’s retail accounts to close. Russ and John pivoted to branded apparel and promotional products.

In 2013, John’s son, John Vickery Jr., took over as president. His wife Betsy is vice president.

Mainebiz: How did your family work out the company’s succession?

John Vickery Jr.: My father could see that Betsy and I were heavily involved. He negotiated with his brother to help secure voting stock for us. That came with a price tag. The process took a couple of years.

MB: What’s your advice for people looking at succession planning?

JV: Start the conversation early and have a vision where you want to go. It’s definitely a challenge.

MB: What about the emotional element?

JV: My father and uncle always worked to make sure there wasn’t conflict: They’ve worked very hard at their relationship. They were fair with each other, everything was transparent.

My father and I might have butt heads a little bit, but we were both trying to achieve a common goal. We compromised. My father was very good at letting me make mistakes and learn and have successes.

MB: How do you ensure non-family employees feel included?

JV: We’ve been working on our culture. We had a consultant come in and look at how we do business and help us get to the future. We’ve worked on including and elevating our employees.

Working with a leadership coach

Chalmers Insurance Group was founded in 1857 by George Wight in Bridgton. Today, Dottie Chalmers Cutter, vice president of operations, and Jim Chalmers, vice president of sales, are fourth-generation owners.

Mainebiz: How do mixed generations incorporate new ideas without conflict?

Dottie Chalmers Cutter: We work with a leadership coach who has taught us productive ways to work through challenges. We have learned that staying humble, expressing gratitude often and setting clear goals has allowed us to thrive.

MB: What’s your approach to succession planning?

DCC: Setting up systems and sharing knowledge is one of the best ways to ensure success for future generations. In addition, when it’s time for a new generation to take over, we practice what we call ‘sitting in the balcony.’ The former generation is there for guidance, but no longer in the daily operational weeds.

Communicating through every crisis

Grasshopper Shop of Rockland is owned by Sierra Dietz, the daughter of Johanna Strassberg and Ken Schweikert, who founded the company in 1975.

Dietz grew up in the business, worked retail in Boston after college, then returned to Maine in 2000 to help her parents. Johanna became the owner of the Rockland outlet; when she retired, Sierra bought it. Johanna stays on part-time.

Mainebiz: What did you bring to the business?

Sierra Dietz: The biggest change was putting in a computerized inventory system at point of sale. That was something my parents never had. They were somewhat reluctant to go that route. I presented the costs and benefits, and they said, ‘Yes, we can give this a try.’ Now, both would say, ‘Definitely, that’s the way to go.’

Also, I went about writing things out in a procedures manual to create more robust training. They were more ‘fly by the seat of your pants.’

MB: What strategies do you have for working with a parent?

SD: I think we work best together when it’s not full-time. Sometimes we butt heads a little about how to do things. We’ve worked on that over the last 10 years. Communication is key. And being clear that it’s my store and I’m the one making the decisions.

MB: How did your mother transition the Rockland store to you?

SD: We sat down with our accountant and talked through what kind of structure would make sense for a buyout. It was helpful to bring in a neutral third party. It took place over a couple of years. The hardest part was coming to an agreement on value and an appropriate price. Once we came to that point through a third–party mediator, she was willing to finance it. We created a payment schedule.

If she had sold the business to a third party, she might have wanted more for the name, versus selling it to your kid. I think that changes the dynamic. But she also wanted to maximize her retirement. I wanted to treat her fairly and I also wanted it to be a number that was financially feasible for me.

MB: Why was taking over the shop important to you?

SD: I think it’s amazing that they started this business 46 years ago, from nothing. I want to see it continue.