Article by, bizjournals.com
General Pattern Co. Inc. CEO Dennis Reiland is training his daughter to take over the family business, which is just one reason why the 90-year-old company’s succession plan this time around will be far smoother than its last one.
When Reiland took over General Pattern from his father in the early 1980s, there was little planning and not much hope: The company’s focus at the time, making tool patterns for foundries, was crumbling as the industry moved overseas.
“Dad said to me, ‘The business is failing, I’m going to go golfing,’ ” Reiland said. “He didn’t really have a succession plan in mind.”
But Reiland righted the company, refocused it into rapid prototyping and lean manufacturing, and built its work force from 8 people to 125.
The company expects to fully rebound from the Great Recession this year with projected revenue of $18 million to $20 million.
Its survival, both in the 1980s and again in recent years, has been due to its ability to adapt to the times, Reiland said. He lives by the motto, “Change or die.”
Today, General Pattern is a one-stop shop for design and production tasks, helping make products like toys, automotive gear and medical products. Customers come in with an idea for a new product, and Reiland’s designers translate that idea into a tangible design. Injection molding and 3-D printing equipment mean that the company can deliver a part in hours, instead of days.
The Great Recession was actually the company’s third economic crisis. Reiland’s grandfather had steered General Pattern through the Great Depression.
The most recent downturn left a mark. General Pattern saw its 2008 revenue chopped in half, to $8 million. Instead of laying off people, Reiland had his employees build Christmas displays. He continues the tradition and displays them throughout the office.
He also credits the company’s survival to the U.S. Small Business Administration, which allowed him to expand via financing when loans were hard to find elsewhere.
Last month, the SBA sent some credit back — it named General Pattern its Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year, an honor Reiland had been hoping to get for a long time.
Reiland said running a family-owned business allows him to make decisions faster. He can decide to buy a company in an afternoon, rather than wait weeks for approval. He’s also dedicated to keeping it a fun place to work, organizing events like company canoe trips and the annual Cinco de Mayo party.
It hasn’t been a walk in the park staying family-owned, though. About one-third of family-owned businesses make it to the second generation, and about one-third of those make it to the third, said University of St. Thomas’ Family Business Center Academic Director Ritch Sorenson. (That’s less than 12 percent of the first-generation companies.)
In a few years, General Pattern could be in its fourth generation: Reiland’s daughter, Staci Thill, was named president last year. He’s put in place a five-year succession program to immerse her in the workplace and operations, ensuring that the company’s culture and fortunes stay intact once she takes over.
