Roads To Success 3.4

Beyond The Mill

The Manthei brothers, cousins and uncles successfully rebuilt the veneer mill started by Ted and Ernie Manthei.  Conflict existed during that process and, as might be expected, it still exists in the company today.

“We fight regularly,” Tom admitted during his interview.  “Fighting isn’t a bad thing.  What keeps us together is everyone in our group knows and is committed to the fact that we need each other.  We don’t necessarily always think alike.  We don’t always have the same idea on how we’d do something ourselves.  But what we do know is that we need each other and there is a commitment to the team concept.”

“We are as different as night and day,” Ben contributed.  “But to work as a team we’ve developed a deep respect for one another because we see what each of us add to the team.”

Rebuilding the company from the ashes served to strengthen the family—although some of the older family members eventually left the partnership to pursue their own interests.  Their departure created openings for the other brothers who, at the time the partnership was originally formed, were too young to participate.  Those who remained have expanded the company considerably beyond the original veneer mill.

“Six of us are left in the business,” Tom explained.  “The core businesses are the veneer mill, we have three mobile home parks in the Palm Springs area, and we have a construction company.  And then we do a variety of land developments and different investments.”

“As a team through the years we’ve developed eight different businesses and combined we do approximately $50 million in sales a year,” Ben elaborated.

At this point in the original Secrets Of Success show we cut to something of a “who’s who” in the Manthei organization, beginning with Tim Manthei.  “I’m the director of the Manthei west coast operations.  I came out and started to build some RV spaces and it ended up being an RV and mobile home resort business.  We have about sixteen-hundred spaces now.”

Next up was Mark Manthei.  “I’m the president of the Manthei Development Corporation.  My responsibilities are the general, overall management of the company.  This company is really composed of three basic departments: the aggregate division, the Ready Mix division and then our contract division.”

“My role with the company is to develop the systems and the equipment in the plant so we stay as efficient as possible,” offered Dan Manthei.  “We want to make it as easy for the employee as possible, run as much veneer through the plant as possible, and get the most wood out of each log as possible.”

“I’m the President of Redi-Rock International,” Ben Manthei explained.  “And we are presently marketing one of the new products we just developed which is a large retaining wall system that looks like natural, cultured rock.”

Jim Manthei was next in the lineup.  “I am the vice president of Manthei Development and I’m in charge of all the heavy construction.  I’ve been with the company ever since it started and through that I’ve developed the heavy construction end of the business as far as working in the field.”

And last but not least, Tom Manthei.  “I’m president of Manthei Incorporated and we make single-ply, fancy face quality veneers here.  We use maple, ash, cherry, walnut and some of the more exotic woods.  Our products are used primarily in the cabinet industry.”

The Manthei Corporation is clearly comprised of a group of strong, independent personalities, each with their own way of doing things, each with a unique approach to creativity and problem solving.  So, how do these businessmen manage to overcome their differences?  Stay tuned.

© 2012 Philip Kassel

Roads To Success 3.3

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Starting From Scratch

Ted and Ernie Manthei worked hard to build their veneer business, enjoying growth and success in a partnership of over twenty years.  But in late 1967 their veneer mill caught fire and burned to the ground.  The tragedy made a lasting impression on all the brothers.

“I jumped in my car and ran down there just in time to see the roof cave in on the place,” said Mark Manthei, President of Manthei Development.  “It was an emotional, dramatic time because I think all of us had a strong identification with the veneer mill.  My dad and my uncle both had a really strong work ethic and they had raised us with that same ethic.  And we all spent time working in that plant.”

Jim Manthei, now Senior Vice President of Manthei Development Corporation began earning his title as a young boy.  “I had worked in the mill since I was about seven or eight with my dad.  And when I was about ten two of my brothers and I bought a little sawmill.  We set it up out behind the veneer mill.”

“That was actually our own little business that we were running,” Mark added.  “And of course it burned along with everything else.”

“I remember very well when it happened and I thought this is going to change my life,” said Tim Manthei, President of Sky Valley Parks.  “Oh, no.  This is an awful thing.”

But once again Ted and Ernie found a way to turn a “negative” into something positive.

“They were both about at retirement age and decided they didn’t have the energy to rebuild the mill,” Ben Manthei told the camera.  “So they came to our generation and said if you guys would like to continue with the business we will help you rebuild but you’ll have to run it from there.”

It would be a daunting challenge but Tom Manthei remembers that all the brothers and cousins wanted to take it on.  “At that time ten of us started into the business,” he explained.  “It was eight brothers plus two uncles.”

Rebuilding the mill from the ground up turned out to be a formidable challenge.

Tom clearly described what the new beginning was like.  “None of us really knew how to rebuild a veneer mill.  We didn’t know a lot about how to do business.  Most of us were very young at the time.  So, it was a time of tremendous turmoil and conflict, and learning how to build a physical plant on one hand, and how to work with each other on the other hand.  There was a lot of physical and emotional struggle going on while we tried to figure out how to put all these elements together.”

“It was a very difficult time,” remembered Dan Manthei, Senior Vice President of Manthei, Inc.  “It was probably much more difficult for the older generation than for the younger generation.  We were a bunch of young kids coming in and telling our uncles, our elders how to do things, and they did not accept that very well.”

“Whenever you have a problem in life, it’s also an opportunity God that has given you,” observed Mark.  “I think when you look at it that way, this was an opportunity to rebuild the plant with all new equipment, and all new systems, and with all new ways of doing things.  We did have a little bit of a struggle with some of the guys who had worked in the plant their entire lives because they wanted to rebuild it just as it had been.  And some of us younger guys were thinking we should build a plant a whole lot better than the old one.”

With a mutual desire to work through all the issues of reconstructing the family business, and with unwavering persistence, the Mantheis felt their way through those early years to eventually build a viable, thriving business.  The conflicts they encountered along the way and the methods devised to solve those conflicts would play an important role in shaping their future business.

© 2012 Philip Kassel

 

Roads To Succes 2.3

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Short On Strawberry Crates

My first interview in the family lineup was with Tom Manthei, President of the Manthei Corporation since 1979.  We spoke in the company boardroom located in an upper level of the veneer plant.  The large window behind Tom’s chair overlooked the main floor of the plant.  Tom is an amiable guy, and like his other family members, proud of his family heritage.

“It really began with our fathers, Ted and Ernie Manthei,” Tom began.  “They were brothers who happened to meet two girls who were sisters.  So, the two brothers married the two sisters.  They were dirt poor when they started out, doing any kind of work they could find to get by.  After awhile they formed a partnership growing beans.  With a lot of hard work the bean farming became successful.”

Ben Manthei, President of Redi-Rock International, added to Tom’s narrative.  “Ted and Ernie eventually left the bean-growing business and began raising strawberries,” he explained.  “And God began to bless them in such a way where they couldn’t even buy enough boxes to package all the berries they were producing.”

The shortage of packaging for their product, quite unexpected, would eventually lead Ted and Ernie in a surprising direction.

“They decided that making their own berry boxes was the way to go,” Ben continued.  So, they went looking for and eventually found equipment they thought would do that,” Ben continued.

“They bought a piece of equipment, a type of lathe,” Tom elaborated.  “But after Ted and Ernie got the lathe home, they discovered they couldn’t use it to make crates; it was the wrong kind of machinery.  So it just sat for a while in a barn and they continued buying their crates.”

The equipment sat in storage for almost two years.  It was business as usual for Ted and Ernie during that period until their story took a turn that many would describe as just plain old good luck.  The Mantheis would probably describe their fathers stumbling across a man named Mr. Metzelburg as divine intervention.  Mr. Metzelburg sold veneer for a living and he recognized the lathe the brothers had purchased.

“He told them they had purchased some of the best veneer equipment in the industry,” Tom explained.  “Metzelburg also had a friend in Wisconsin, a man named Simon, who was a retired veneer lathe operator.  He had Simon come to Petoskey and in about a half-hour Simon had the machine adjusted, and had beautiful veneer flowing off it.  So Metzelburg told them that if they could keep turning out runs like that he’d buy all the veneer they could make.”

“They set up the equipment and started running the veneer mill.  That was back in the mid to late forties,” Tom related.

Ted and Ernie Manthei put their veneer machinery to good use, and their business quickly grew.

“My dad was a visionary and he had always had a lot of ideas,” Tom explained.  “My uncle, Ernie, was more of a manager type so he could put wheels on the visions my dad came up with.  As a team they worked well together.”

The old machinery generated enough money for the brothers to equip the veneer mill with newer, more modern machinery.  The business continued to grow and the brothers ran it for more than twenty years.  They might have operated the mill even longer if it was not for an unexpected tragedy. 

© 2012 Philip Kassel

Roads To Success 1.3

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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

Roads To Success 10.2

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Epilogue:  Jerry Caven

Regrettably, Jerry Caven was not available for the “follow-up” interview that would bring his story up to date for this series.  There is really no mystery in his lack of availability, though.  He is just a really, really busy guy.

Jerry still actively serves as Chairman of the Board for the Royal Fork Restaurant Corporation and is President of States Realty.  He is also President of First Consultants, Inc., a company he established in 1978 supplying wholesale restaurant equipment to the industry he knows well.

Jerry is, of course, actively involved in growing his latest restaurant venture, Mongo’s Grill.  A bit of internet detective work revealed that these restaurants are receiving predominately glowing reviews with their “healthy” menu selection, excellent service, and cleanliness being just a few of the attributes singled out in numerous posts.

One thing is for certain, a follow-up interview is not required to know that Jerry Caven still fervently pursues his faith daily.  He lives his personal life and life as a business executive according to biblical principles, and he serves God regularly with his time, money and resources.  He does all this actively and deliberately with great purpose.

Thank you, Jerry, for permission to use your story.  It is truly a great example of how to journey through life.

© 2012 Philip Kassel

Roads To Success 9.2

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The Man In Charge

Jerry Caven credits his employees with making possible something that he and Muriel consider a priority in their lives - ministry work.

“I don’t have to worry that they will lose their motivation or that they need to be challenged to do their jobs every day.  They have done it for ten, fifteen, thirty or forty years,” Jerry explained.  “That gives me a great deal of confidence then that I can leave to do ministry work.”

Jerry and Muriel have dedicated their time and resources to ministry work in Central America, India, Pakistan, Africa, Bangladesh, and of course, the United States.

“I explain to our people, when my wife and I go to do ministry work, each time before we leave, that they are as important to the ministry as we are.  We are the ones who go, but they are the ones who make it possible for us to go,” Jerry told the Secrets Of Success camera.

Jerry and Muriel’s ministry work is not confined to just writing checks.  Shortly before production began on their Secrets Of Success television episode Jerry and Muriel had spent six months in India.  They were “hands on” in distributing food to the hungry, meeting with local church pastors and educating anyone interested in learning about the Christian faith.

Faith obviously plays a key role in the Caven’s interest in ministry, and as already mentioned it holds a primary position in Jerry’s varied businesses.  Jerry may own the company but he will be the first to tell you that God runs it.

The Royal Fork Restaurant Corporation Chief Financial Officer, Jim Chambers, illustrated it this way, “Jerry basically does everything with prayer.  He prays about whatever it is he is about to do, and the first person he asks about anything is God.”

“The way we do business, in terms the way people are treated, in terms of the expectations of what goes on in any of our businesses, it’s obvious that faith makes up a huge part of it,” Merlyn Knight added.  “And then we’re challenged to do more than just make money.  How do we change people?  How do we make a difference in people’s lives?

Before Jerry Caven decided he wanted to spend less time at work, his combined businesses were producing annual revenues in excess of $100 million dollars.  Even now, with Jerry focusing more time on ministry work, and his 5 children and 14 grandchildren, his businesses produce in the ballpark of $75 million annually.  These are impressive numbers attached to a man whose early ambitions were downright mundane.

“I’ve only had one conscious asset goal,” Jerry recalled.  “When I was fourteen or fifteen years old I determined that someday I would have a home with a fireplace.  That is the only financial or material goal I can ever remember having.  I have just worked hard and it just seemed like you should do your best.  I believe that a person who is in business just for the money, and then does not give back either some of his money or his life in the process, he is missing out on a huge blessing.”

“Jerry’s been so successful because he thinks through what he’s going to do,” Muriel said of her husband.  “He just seems to have a knack of picking the right businesses and the right people.  Honesty and integrity and his reliance on what he feels like God would have him do; it plays a big role in his decisions.”

And what is Jerry Caven’s opinion on his success?  “For some reason our success in business is that the Lord intended it; this is what He wants and desires and why that would be I don’t understand,” he told our camera.

Make no mistake; Jerry isn’t advocating that anyone relax while God takes care of business.  “From a human standpoint you can’t just sit and want to be in business and say that the Lord will bring success to us but not do our part,” Jerry expounded.  “From a human standpoint we have been consistent in the principles of business that we believe in.  We have represented the values and integrity [of the Bible].  I think that if a person was starting a business and wanted to be successful in that business, one thing I would tell him is to go to the Bible and to read and understand the concepts that are put forth there.  It tells us how to treat people and if you do that [practice the concepts of the Bible] you will be successful.”

© 2012 Philip Kassel

Roads To Success 8.2

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Beyond Family

Jerry Caven’s heartfelt concern for family extends well beyond his own family.  “As in any business, really the key to it is the people you employ,” he stated.  “In our other businesses and ranching we’ve been very fortunate to have good people.”

Juan Guitterez first met Jerry Caven on the Pitch Fork, a ranch Jerry owned prior to purchasing the Half Moon Ranch.  Jerry happened to be working on a fence that needed repair when Juan, in need of a job, approached him.  At the time the Pitch Fork didn’t need any additional staff, but when Jerry understood just how badly Juan needed a job he didn’t have the heart to turn him away.

“He cares about you, he cares about your family,” Juan told the Secrets Of Success camera.  “He’s making sure that when I get old I won’t just be sitting in a chair without any money.”

Juan Guitterez worked so hard that he eventually became the foreman of the Pitch Fork Ranch.  In a display of appreciation for his foreman’s hard work, Jerry requested that Juan sign a contract that would give him a percentage of the proceeds should the ranch ever be sold.  Juan signed and Jerry eventually did sell the Pitch Fork.

“When Jerry sold the ranch that percentage resulted in a six-figure profit,” Juan gratefully related.  “I put it in my savings account.”

Jerry has also joyfully paid for Juan’s children’s college expenses.  And many more of Jerry Caven’s twelve-hundred employees have benefited in a variety of ways from his faith-fueled generosity and compassion.

“Hopefully they are happy and paid well,” Jerry commented.  “But when life’s circumstances come up it is my job to be there for these people.”

Many business owners might be tempted to view Jerry’s extra mile approach to employees as unnecessary.  But no one can dispute that it has a long-term practical affect.

“It didn’t take me long to understand when I started in business that constant turnover was costing me a lot of time and a lot of money,” Jerry related.  “The best way was to find a good person that was willing to learn his job, and enjoy his job, and then to remunerate and challenge that person to stay long-term.”

Jerry consistently reminds his employees that they are a big part of the success of the company.  “That might not affect all of them but there are some that really take it to heart,” Jerry said.  “Our people know that I’m not concerned just that they do a good job, but that they know I’m concerned for them individually.”

Merlyn Knight, President of the Royal Fork Restaurant Corporation has been with the company for over forty years, Jim Chambers, Chief Financial Officer, eighteen years.  Diane, Jerry’s assistant, has been with him for thirty-five years.  Business experts might be tempted to question the approach, but there is no debating the results.  The proof here is in the people.

© 2012 Philip Kassel