The Manthei Family
Bring up the topic of a
family business and you better be prepared for raised eyebrows, perhaps even
blatant guffaws. Sure, the Mars family
has done nicely making candy (and many other products) for the world since the
1920s. They held the title of the
richest family in America until the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame displaced
them. But in spite of all that financial
success the family has experienced more than its share of internal conflict including
an estranged father and son, and a battle for control of the family business
empire (the company has 70 divisions).
There are certainly many
family-run companies that survive and thrive with all relations concerned
working together harmoniously. More
prevalent are the stories of family member greed, petty struggles for power and
even internal thievery committed by the brother-in-law a wife insisted would be
a true asset to the company. Yes, almost
every business experiences at least one of these situations at one time or
another, but imagine going through it with your son, cousin, brother, or even
your mom. Just imagine the nightmare.
The family I interviewed
for a first season episode of Secrets Of Success in October 1999 falls into the
“working together harmoniously” category.
Well, all of them admit that every once in a while there is a modicum of
discord but most of the time they work together with productive results. They are brothers Tom, Dan, and Tim Manthei,
and their cousins – brothers Ben, Mark, and Jim Manthei.
The Mantheis are something
of an unusual family - unusual because in spite of dramatically different
personalities and individual perspectives, they’ve discovered the key to
working together. And they’ve worked
together to effectively bring growth to their substantial company. It’s a company built on a foundation of
principles handed down by their parents.
The Manthei Corporation is
headquartered in Petosky, Michigan, a resort community located in the upper
mid-western region of the United States.
Most of the town’s commerce is seasonal depending on tourists attracted
to the area’s lakes during the summer months, and snow mobile and skiing
enthusiasts in the winter. The Manthei
Corporation, however, operates year round and includes a veneer mill, a
construction company with three Ready Mix plants and gravel crushing facility,
three resort parks, and a land development business. Since their original interviews the Mantheis
added two companies manufacturing concrete blocks with decorative faces, one
for construction and one for the landscaping industry.
I remember the initial
interviews being rather daunting. Up to
that point each of the Secrets Of Success shows had focused on a single
business leader. With the Manthei show I
had six key executives to speak with, each with a unique perspective on their
company. It wasn’t easy keeping it all
straight, but with all that input no detail was left from the story.
© 2012 Philip Kassel
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