Worrell
January 2010 // Interviewed by Allie Fendrick
Worrell is a
Minneapolis-
based,
industrial-design
firm.
One take on an unlikely start: i never wanted to be in the family business. i had
my own successful landscaping business until one quiet winter, my dad asked
me to come in to help out with sales calls. –Kai Worrell, vice president
The other take: he loved the sales environment; one thing led to another and
eventually he came on board and now he is basically leading the company.
–Bob Worrell, president
An esoteric need to transition: i was able to take the company to a certain level
but beyond that i was stuck. kai has been able take my vision and our values
and reach beyond that to grow the business internationally. it is fun to see what
he is choosing to do and i have nothing but support for him. –Bob Worrell
Positives of a family business: there are really positive things about a family
business—when you are ready to make those sacrifices and those investments,
we have the trust it requires. –Bob Worrell
FROM THE 2009 MNFBA FINALISTS
November 2009 // Interviewed by David Gee and Drew Wood
We’re proud to bring you some words of wisdom from the eight finalists for the 2009 Minnesota Family Business Awards.
MOST BUSinESSES, but in particular family
businesses, believe in my grandfather’s philosophy
that business is pretty simple [and that] if you take
care of your people and take care of your customers
everything else will take care of itself.
–Mike Fitterman, fourth generation, president and
CEO of Liberty Diversified International
THir TY YEArS AGO it wasn’t very popular for
women to start businesses, but my mother did,
along with my sister Carrie.
–Richard Brown, second generation, owner and CEO
of JNBA Financial Advisors
i T’S A PrETTY BiG BUrDEn. When you start
understanding what goes into it, and how dependent on it
so many people in the family are, whether they work in it
or not, it takes on a whole new meaning. And it’s a source
of tremendous pride in one regard but it’s also a burden
that I don’t know that, unless you shoulder it, you can really
understand it. –Noah Wilcox, fourth generation,
president and CEO of Grand Rapids State Bank;
Legacy Award Finalist
OUr ViSiOn FOr our family is to facilitate the growth
of each individual, whether or not they are directly involved
with the company. –David Olson, first generation, CEO,
founder of Life Innovations
BEinG A FAMiLY business provides the ability to
take a long-term, visionary approach to the business as
opposed to a short-term, tactical one. This allows us
to make decisions with the bigger picture in mind and
in a sustainable fashion, versus looking for short-term
results to please public investors. –Michael Helgeson,
third generation, CEO of Gold’n Plump Poultry
WE FinALLY GOT the two brothers to realize that, yes,
even though you’re Irish, you are going to die. So we got my
dad, who got his brother, to start gifting the stock.
–Richard Murphy Jr, fourth generation, CEO of Murphy
Warehouse Company
i WAn TED TO do it, but I wasn’t sure the
company was going to survive. I mean, when I kept
the checkbook, the company was always minus,
never a plus. –Don Oren, second generation,
chairman of Dart Transit
THE ‘FAMiLY’ PAr T of this business means so much
more than just the Doherty family. The much larger picture
is how our company has provided meaningful and rewarding
jobs for our employees and how this has impacted their
families. –Tim Doherty, first generation, owner and chairman
of Doherty Employer Services & Doherty Staffing Solutions
