Family Unify Industry - April 1, 2002

The seafood community relies on family businesses for leadership and strength

By Steven Hedlund

Family businesses are the heart and soul of the seafood community, tying together an otherwise fragmented industry.

Families possess the work ethic needed to run a labor-intensive business, the loyalty essential to maintain long-term relationships with customers and suppliers and the devotion required to ensure the sustainability of a wild resource.

Around 90 percent of U.S. businesses are family owned or controlled. But only 30 percent survive into the second generation, and a mere 10 percent make it to the third. Based on those statistics, by 2004, no post-World War II company founders will still be running the family business.

Passing ownership from one generation to the next isn’t easy. No matter what type of business it is, there are many questions that come into play when family is involved: Who’s going to lead the company? When does the predecessor step down? How do the successors pique the next generation’s interest in the family business?

Just 20 years ago, family business leaders had to figure out for themselves how to hand the company over to their offspring. Today, around 130 university programs and dozens of organizations specialize in helping family businesses address the tough issues they face and plan for the future. And an increasing number of family-run companies are seeking these experts’ advice.
Successful family businesses have a lot in common. The parents involve their children in the family business, but aren’t overbearing.

The children go away to college and work elsewhere before returning to the family business.

Once hired, the children work their way up the ranks and are treated the same as other employees.

The parents step away from the company’s day-to-day operations when the time comes.

Moreover, the family members are willing to ask for outside help, change with the times and grow the business.

Many high-profile seafood companies are family owned or controlled. In several cases, their involvement in the industry stretches back 100-plus years.
The Gortons of Slade Gorton & Co., the Blounts of Blount Seafood and the Taylors of Taylor Shellfish have been harvesting and processing seafood since the turn of the century.

The Ghios of Anthony’s Fish Grotto and the Patronises of Capt. Anderson’s Restaurant have been serving some of the world’s best seafood since World War II.

These families represent only a fraction of the seafood community, but their values encompass all that’s good about the industry.

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