The Connell Company, founded in 1926, has been involved in several different industries over its five generations. Today, its more than $100 million in annual revenue comes from diversified businesses such as equipment leasing, finance, real estate and hospitality.
The company is entirely owned by family — a total of 11 people, eight of whom work in the business: two third-generation, two fourth-generation and four fifth-generation family members in various departments. While each owner holds a different amount of stock, older generations generally have larger ownership percentages.
For Shane Connell, fourth-generation executive vice president, the company’s most exciting initiative at the moment is the development of a 185-acre campus in Berkeley Heights, N.J., called The Park. The property started out with five office buildings and has grown into a mixed-use neighborhood with outdoor parks, hotels, entertainment venues and restaurants. A brewery, a bowling alley steakhouse and a pickleball sports bar are in development.
“We’re really trying to re-create this campus approach to work that will be a destination for the communities around our locations,” Shane says.
He sees The Park as a “beta test.” Elements that resonate with people could be introduced in other properties around the country.
So far, it’s a success. The Park has a 97% lease rate, whereas Shane estimates that other New Jersey office parks have about 30% vacancies.
One concept that’s been well received is Grain & Cane, a restaurant that celebrates the company’s early history trading rice and sugar. Legacy photos and original rice bags are on display. The name Grain & Cane is a nod to the initials of the company’s first two leaders, Grover Cleveland Connell and Grover Connell.
‘A Generational Mindset’
Grover Cleveland Connell founded Connell Rice & Commission Co., which traded rice and other commodities. Following his death in 1950, his 31-year-old son, Grover Connell, took over the business. By the 1960s, the company was known as Connell Rice & Sugar Co., and it started investing its capital in new endeavors such as importing canned goods.
In the 1970s, The Connell Company went into finance and began leasing locomotives. The 1980s saw the company venturing into real estate, buying property in New Jersey, leasing forklifts and selling parts and equipment to mining companies.
The Connell Company continued its focus on developing real estate through the 2000s, and in 2011, it exited the rice business.
“Over the years we’ve been in probably 20 different businesses, and each of them had basically a life cycle of being relevant to then becoming obsolete based on market trends, competition, business cycles,” Shane says. “And so, my grandfather’s philosophy was always, ‘Don’t spend your energy on things that aren’t going to be productive down the road.’ We always had a generational mindset, and so if something didn’t feel like it had a much longer life, [we’d] try and transition those employees into businesses that did.”
Shane appreciates that approach all the more thanks to the three years he spent working at GE Capital after college. He observed that while large public companies are attuned to quarterly results, a multi-generational family business can take a long-term view.
For many years, Grover Connell was the driving force behind the company’s new ventures. “His position in the company was to make sure that each family member had a role and felt relevant and had responsibilities, but then support them with a team of outside or inside staff that would help them be successful,” Shane says. “But then when the primary decisions were being made of whether to invest in a certain equipment type or real estate opportunity, it was a decision by executive committee. And we all waited for whatever he was going to say and vote and then we followed his vote. So, he was pretty dominant in it. But over time he then relaxed, allowing other members to have more of a position in directing the company.”
The executive committee — Shane, his brother and fellow executive vice president Duane, and their aunt Terry, who serves as senior executive vice president — now makes decisions by majority vote, though Shane notes that board decisions typically are unanimous.
Grover Connell continued working until age 100, stepping down just weeks before his death. The family describes him as a powerhouse who remained relatable and down-to-earth. He attended his great-grandkids sports games; he also enjoyed boxing and had a punching bag in his basement.
“He was very successful at a fairly young age, and it never changed who he was. And he still lived in his same house the whole time, never bought a second house, thought it was important that his kids went to public school, thought it was important that every employee be treated like a family member,” Shane says.
Future Coworkers
Shane’s daughter, Katie, who’s now The Connell Company’s PR, advertising and visual merchandising manager, remembers being introduced to her father’s work at a young age.
“He used to sketch some of the apartment buildings, and I would sit next to him and I would sketch them with him, ridiculous little kid drawings,” Katie recalls. “But I would sit there, and he would bring them in to work. And he would come home and tell me he showed everyone in the office my sketches.”
Shane wanted to prepare his children for the possibility that they might work together some day.
“I’ve always tried to let my kids know as they’re growing up that this isn’t just your sibling, this is also probably your coworker. And so that anything that you are doing to annoy each other now, you just need to put it in perspective that this could be your business partner, and that long-term selflessness is the most important thing. You really need to look at this as a team and put your egos aside,” Shane says.
Katie felt no pressure to enter the family business, though. Instead, her father encouraged her to find a career she was passionate about.
She discovered in college that she loved marketing and communications, and she had an internship at The Connell Company during the early days of the pandemic, doing social media work for Grain & Cane. She enjoyed the work, and it sparked her interest in hospitality. After college, she worked in marketing for a startup, then moved on to work for a boutique PR agency in New York City. She stayed there for two and a half years.
Shane told her that The Connell Company was about to start a big marketing push for The Park. Katie knew this would be an opportune time to contribute, but joining the family business would mean leaving the New York PR agency, where she had begun to establish deep connections.
“I was really close with the company. We were very small, and I saw them all as friends and practically family. So, it was something that I had put a lot of time into and cared for a lot,” Katie says.
She felt torn between the two, but after many discussions with Shane, she chose to assume a marketing role in The Connell Company. “It was a very hard decision, but I’m very happy I made it,” she says.
Welcoming the Fifth Generation
Business culture has evolved over the generations, and The Connell Company has adapted with it. The vibe is less formal than it used to be. “When I was growing up, my dad would come home in a suit every day, and now you can wear jeans at the office,” Katie says. In addition to the new dress code, the company has updated its benefits packages and vacation policies and adopted a flexible schedule.
The more relaxed work style appeals to the fifth generation, whose contributions are essential to moving the company forward. “Their perspective and their energy is a great transition because the things that we’re doing, especially on the real estate side, are really trying to create places that their generation would be interested in eating at, working at, staying at,” Shane says.
The family isn’t concerned with succession planning at the moment and believes that future leadership will emerge organically. For now, they enjoy working as a team and cherish their camaraderie.
“I am trying to appreciate every single day that I’m here and [my dad’s] here because it’s something that I don’t want to take for granted,” Katie says.