Corporate Culture

What’s in it for the management of a business unit?

How the members of management retire is a primary concern and holds a high level of importance for the holding company. We intend for management to pay the prices necessary to build their business or line of business in a way that it will be as strong long after they are gone, as it was under their direction. In order for this to happen there are some Principles that need adhered to that increase the difficulty over just growing a strong business. i.e. – Hiring Bench Strength, Delegating, Building the Correct Working Climate to include depth in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This additional burden doesn’t exist in the majority of businesses where management doesn’t really need to care what happens to the business once current management vacates.

Cranberry Crossroads in Cranberry Township, PA - Home of Peterson Brothers, Inc.

For paying that additional price the management team creates the ability for themselves to exit in a gradual way if they want. Sometimes this is called "soft retirement". The management replacement process could be a clean and short transition from one to the next or a gradual one. The Holding Co. structure provides for the option of a many-year connection by top management to help train and integrate incoming Management. There is a responsibility of the Holding Company to keep a connection to the business unit which can be filled by an exiting leader of the business unit. These conditions allow for wide variation for top management to continue providing value through a scaled back yet valuable and engaged connection to the business.

Retiring well requires a minimum level of personal asset accumulation. Many business owners expect to get a living out of the business while they are working and rely on an equity cash-out in order to live well in retirement. Our focus is on healthy growth along with increasing dividends paid out of the business. This creates a mechanism to get assets to the people running the company so they can build their retirement nest egg during their career with us. They won’t have to hinge all their hopes on the ending circumstances of a sale that may or may not go in their favor. There is a slightly different mindset in creating wealth over time. Some people would rather not depend on a roll-of-the-dice for securing their retirement.

We prefer partners that are willing to pay the extra price of discipline to create the stability in continuity of management and are happy to sign up for creating wealth over time.