Where Bloodlines Meet Business
Several months ago, I had a conversation with the owner of a family business. There are a lot of family members in the business, so I asked: "How are you able to move the business along and remain a tight family? Doesn't it get a little dicey from time to time?"
The family members who are the leaders in the business have a weekly meeting to make key decisions. Even if there are disagreements within the meeting, they stay in the room. Once the meeting is over and everyone files out, the decisions have been made, there's no turning back, and everyone is still family.
His answer was rather simple, and it showed, at least in this one business, how the ego of one family member should never derail the family business from its mission or strain the familial ties that bind.
For every family business success story, there is probably one disaster. You're more apt to see the latter on TV because, well, conflict makes for great drama. But what each of this year's Central Massachusetts Family Business Awards honorees demonstrates, as you'll see when you read their stories in this supplement, is their commitment to not only good and profitable business practices, but also to each other and to the community at large. The owners of each of the six businesses profiled here have carried the mantle of leadership from at least one previous generation of family ownership and take pride in sustaining what has been built before them and placed in their hands.
So, it is with pleasure that we present their stories here:
Coghlin Electrical Contractors and Network Services
D. Francis Murphy Insurance Agency
Thanks To …
A special "thank you" to our three judges — Kate Salmon-Robinson, Terry Shepherd and Chuck Tidman — who took on the task of winnowing the large field of applicants. Turn to page 14 to read about them and how they contribute to the business community.
And another note of gratitude to the writers who helped produce this special section: Taryn Plumb, Sarah Rolph and Susan Shalhoub. And a "thank you" as well to our freelance photographer, Edd Cote, who took the images that grace this section from start to finish. n
— Rick Saia
WBJ Editor
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments