Giovis It was a sheer joy to put together this Family Business Focus edition of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Many family-owned businesses in our region are flourishing in today’s challenging economy. Their stories are inspiring and offer lessons that can be applied in any business. Our centerpiece story on Page One shows how the next generation of an established family-business can take that company forward with the support of family. Under the leadership of father and son duo Sam and Sepand Samzadeh, Valley Recycling’s revenues are expected to exceed $6 million this year, compared to $800,000 in 2001. Also on Page One is an article that illustrates the importance of careful succession planning. In that story, we touch upon the tragic story of a brilliant engineer, Allen Davis, who founded two local successful Valley companies — Hydra-Electric and Custom Control Sensors Inc. — and is now embroiled in disputes with his children. The story goes straight to the heart of the succession planning and just how thorny it can be. In this edition, Jeff Pink, CEO and president of ORLY International, tells us that one of the joys of being a family business is being able to call your own shots. Pink said freedom and innovation have been instrumental in the company’s continued growth. Whatever the formula is, it seems to be working. The Van-Nuys-based company is expanding its operations this month and launching some brand new products next year. Then there’s W Machine Works, which hit a plateau after seven years of consistent growth — in part due a tough economy and the loss of a major client— but rallied under company leaders who were determined to expand. They went back to the drawing board and came up with a strategy to grow the company’s machining capacity, and now they’re eyeing other aerospace assembly companies for future acquisitions. We also give you a colorful Q&A with the father and daughter duo at Andy Gump Inc., talk to the Sit ‘n Sleep President and Co-founder Larry Miller, whose commercials you can hardly ignore, and introduce you to the family connections at NAI Capital. At our Family Business Awards event, held Sept. 14, we honored 14 outstanding companies, which you can read about in the cover wrap of this edition. We received nominations for 55 family businesses. Twenty of those families were already in their second generation and 12 are in their third. And many of them have wonderful stories that can be found on these pages. I hope our Family Business Focus edition has you all reading cover to cover. It had me thinking back to my own experiences working for my family’s business. I don’t miss pumping gas on hot summer days, but I’m thankful for all that I learned along the way. Business Journal Editor Jaclyn Giovis can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected]
