If you applied the old adage “behind every great man there’s a great woman” to Wisconsin’s Vollrath Company, you’d be guilty of putting the cart before the horse. There have been plenty of great men, of course, but over the decades it’s the women who have sustained the company and now find themselves owning it.
Jacob J. Vollrath founded the firm, originally called Sheboygan Cast Steel Company, a century and a half ago. The men of the family led the company for generations after its founding, but since 2016 the multinational family firm has been women-owned and -directed, ably assisted by a non-family chief executive officer and senior executives of all genders.
At present, the company employs about 1,340 people, the majority of whom work in the United States, with seven manufacturing operations. Total annual revenues are estimated at $400 million. There’s also a plant in Spain and another in China, as well as three foreign distribution centers, two in Mexico and one in China.
Back in 1874, rapid advances in industrialization made mass production efficient and profitable. Sheboygan Cast Steel carved out a niche producing railroad equipment, small cast parts for the furniture industry, cooking ranges and agricultural implements. A few years earlier, Jacob’s granddaughter Lillie (daughter of his son Andrew), had married John Michael Kohler, co-founder of the eponymous plumbing fixtures and faucets company that still bears his name.
Lillie died in 1883, leaving behind six children. Four years later, John married Lillie’s younger sister Minnie. This sequence of marriages established a link between the Kohler and Vollrath families, weaving a complex tapestry of family dynamics and business decisions that would influence the company’s trajectory for generations.
With the baby business booming in the extended Vollrath household, the direction of the firm also was changing. By 1900, the family decided to focus exclusively on cookware in its many forms, and the rest, in terms of dominant market niche, is history. The family story, of course, is a bit more complicated.
Why Is Vollrath Owned by Kohlers?
Until the 1930s, Lillie’s descendants headed the Kohler Company, not the Vollrath Company. But after Walter Kohler Jr. (grandson of Lillie and John Michael) returned from distinguished service in World War II, it was clear that there were no leadership opportunities for him within the Kohler Company, then controlled by his uncle.
Walter Jr. divested his shares in Kohler and acquired all outstanding shares in Vollrath, reclaiming his generational Vollrath heritage and doubling the profits along the way. Walking in his father’s footsteps, Walter Jr. later served as a multiterm governor of the Vollrath family’s beloved state of Wisconsin.
As the Vollrath Company transitioned through generations, Kohler men sought to carve out their own distinct paths. Terry Kohler, Jacob J. Vollrath’s great-great-grandson, steered the company as CEO for a decade. His tenure was marked by dedication, but his deep passion for sailing eventually led him to pursue new ventures. Terry left the firm to own and operate North Sails, a leading sailmaker, marking the first time that the Vollrath Company would be helmed by professional managers rather than family members.
Terry had hoped his three daughters — Leslie, Michelle, and Danielle — would “marry well,” bringing a suitable male successor into the fold. It didn’t happen, and the Vollrath legacy and the Kohler name were left in the hands of his daughters. Their late introduction to the responsibilities of ownership, shaped by their father’s closely held approach, posed unique challenges and a steep learning curve. It also instilled a determination to improve stewardship of the family firm.
Thus, explains seventh-generation owner Torri Hawley, one of Leslie’s three daughters, “The Vollrath Company has transitioned from generations dominated by male heirs to a group of women committed to safeguarding the family’s legacy. This commitment — shared with my sisters Winter and Hilary — not only honors the family’s history but also sets the stage for a future where leadership and ownership embrace inclusivity and innovation within the family business.”
Transitioning to an Independent Board
Terry’s assumption that his daughters would marry well meant that, effectively, he had no real succession plan. When he pointed his sails elsewhere, it was time to seek a new solution. Enter Paul Bartelt, the third non-family CEO of Vollrath.
Prior to the appointment of Bartelt, two other non-family executives served in the top executive post, first Paul Rohling and then Tom Belot, who succeeded Terry Kohler as CEO. Belot served Vollrath for 31 years, joining as director of management systems in 1978. He was named president and chief executive of the company in 1989. During his tenure, Belot helped grow Vollrath from $90 million in sales annually to more than $200 million. Belot resigned at the end of August 2009.
“I came from a family business that was much larger and much more mature in its governance process,” Bartelt remembers. “I was hired as CEO into a clear ‘family and friends’ board situation, with Terry having no interest in changing the status quo in terms of board makeup or generational change management. While he was healthy, and things were chugging along, it really didn’t impact the business. I didn’t see my job as managing the family side of the business.”
The transition point in Vollrath’s approach to governance came just a year or two before Terry died.
“I looked past the status quo and started to understand how the ‘business of the family’ could impact the ‘business of the business,’ realizing that the lack of planning could result in quite the dumpster fire,” Paul Bartelt says. “There were limited things we could implement, but Leslie and Danielle worked with me to do some fundamental basic planning for the ‘in case of fire, break glass’ scenario.”
Paul and the owners knew that an independent board was going to be key to helping the family oversee the business. “It takes time to develop effective generational shareholder education, independent fiduciary board best practices, coherent generational planning, transparent setting of shareholder expectations, integrating long term family objectives with business objectives, and so on,” he notes.
“The list is long,” Paul says with a laugh, “but with the patriarch not wanting to change, there really wasn’t going to be much traction. Terry essentially said, ‘You guys will need to figure it out when I’m gone.’”
Non-family CEOs Make Their Marks
Succession planning in a mid-market company is always a challenge because talent isn’t going to sit around for years waiting for elevation to the next level, Paul counsels. “In a larger company, you have enough organizational space to keep a couple of top candidates ready for key spots at all times. One of the downsides of the culture we have built at Vollrath, if you can call it that, is that folks really don’t want to leave, so spots don’t open up as much as they might at other companies.”
Paul had made plans to retire, and then the pandemic hit. “I committed to myself, the employees, the board and the shareholders that I would see the business through the crisis. Little did any of us know how long, how hard and how taxing that was going to be. If you tack on supply chain disruption, the whole crisis lasted nearly four years. Throw in a cyberattack and a strike, we had even more fun.”
So, the search began. “We wanted to lead with culture first to identify candidates with cultural fit and then make sure we hired the skill sets we needed.”
Erik Lampe joined last April as the second — and current — non-family CEO of Vollrath Company. Paul agreed to remain on the Vollrath board and make himself available for coaching, information and idea bouncing. The two meet every few weeks to brainstorm.
“Both Erik and I have done a lot of transitions in our professional lives, so we were in pretty familiar territory and started to build the plan as soon as he accepted the job,” Paul says. “The largest issue in the transition was the board’s decision to keep my plans and the search process confidential from the executive team, with the exception of HR leadership. The board was concerned about executive flight and market reaction, so they made their choice.”
Erik says it’s been an exhilarating ride so far: “The circumstances of Vollrath and its family shareholders provide a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on people and think with a long-term view.” he says. “A 150-year legacy amplifies that notion significantly. When thinking of all those that have come before you, it does give an even more serious feeling to my responsibilities as a leader, but it is primarily a sense of inspiration that comes to mind. As a non-family CEO, I have been truly fortunate to feel a deep personal connection to the family that I feel has developed quickly through our time together. “
Reflecting further on the company’s 150th anniversary, Erik adds, “Reaching such a significant milestone strikes me each time I think about it. I think about how different the world was 150 years ago and how much has happened during that time, and it really puts things into perspective.
“That legacy is that much more special when considering that the company has been held by a family that entire time, ushering it through seven generations to today, while having an important impact on those who count on us throughout those years — customers, employees and communities.”
An emphasis on sustainable growth is an important cornerstone of the company’s plan fir the future, Erik says. “Our strategy is balanced to include both organic and acquisitive growth. Vollrath has a strong history of acquisitions, and we believe we have the opportunity to continue creating value with responsible acquisitions. Meanwhile, we see acquisitions as a tool to add to the growth we seek to drive organically.”
G7s Take a G3 Approach
While Erik and other non-family senior executives steer the ship at Vollrath, the five owners focus on the culture of the business and the ongoing role of the family.
“My generation, G7, is effectively G3,” explains Torri. “We are disconnected from the original wealth creator and are grappling with how to continue to build on an existing legacy and connection to a growing enterprise.” For generations, adds her aunt Danielle, women were told that family members are a threat to the business rather than the soul of the enterprise and a unique differentiator.
“When leadership looks to us for our vision for the future, we are looking back to what our predecessors laid out for us and forward to all the possibility of what we can do as a unified family,” Torri continues. “If one thing unites us across generations, it’s our love for the Sheboygan community. As a next-generation owner, I have a deep commitment to remaining the best employer we can be for all of our people, in all the communities where the Vollrath, Pujadas, and Stoelting family of brands operate. We are looking at a legacy that we are not necessarily a part of, but we now own together — as siblings, as women and as the next generation.”
How did this change happen? Danielle, Leslie and Michelle, who passed away in 2018, all lived well into their adult lives before ever being schooled as future owners. Terry finally brought his daughters into the fold via the family office/holding company when they were in their forties. Even so, there was a strong objective to insulate the enterprise from the influence of the family.
“Growing up, we never heard about Vollrath,” Torri says, “but we were quite familiar with North Sails, despite it being a much smaller enterprise. In fact, I never really knew much about Vollrath until we moved from Florida to Wisconsin when I was in high school. We had our very first family meeting in 2008, which ended terribly with most family members swearing off further attempts. But this is where the seed of NextGen education and family involvement started.
“My attending Stetson [University] as a family enterprise major, kind of accidentally, and getting pulled into [Family Business Magazine’s] Transitions conferences is really what took family engagement from idea to action,” Torri recounts. “We started doing family meetings in earnest as my grandfather aged, and it really began to dawn on us that we needed to figure out what family ownership looked like without him to be the guiding force.”
For a while, the future owners tried to do this collaboratively with Terry, but he was not particularly interested in grooming anyone. “For the better part of the decade, we were basically biding time to take emotional ownership once Terry passed,” Leslie says. Ownership was split equally among sisters Leslie, Michelle and Danielle. Estate planning turned out fine and went without a hitch, but the cascade of emotional issues and unforeseen unfinished business was quite challenging.
Shortly before Michelle was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Leslie and Danielle purchased her shares. Danielle has no children, so once again Vollrath will pass to one branch.
Building a Foundation Based on Governance Best Practices
Ownership was transferred via a generation-skipping trust by Walter Jr. to Terry’s three G6 daughters. Fifty years ago, few women held leadership positions in business, and the G6 girls were not encouraged to join the company at any level other than high school internships at lower levels of the company.
In the mid-1990s, Danielle started the journey back to her roots in Sheboygan, with regular travel to learn more about the family business and family connections. “During this time,” Danielle remembers, “there were increased opportunities to participate in learning about the family business, financials, all culminating in my sisters and I participating on the Vollrath board of directors. I took as many opportunities as practical to learn more about the family business, connecting with our sales team and executive team.”
Danielle eventually became chair of the Vollrath board after Terry’s death in 2016. “Discussions of transitions and future management of the family office and Vollrath board began around 2015, and before our father’s passing, I had been designated for the opportunity of taking over the chair position on the Vollrath board, and my sister Leslie to manage as CEO the family corporate office, also known as Windway Capital Corp.
“One of my first goals after taking the chair position at Vollrath was developing a truly independent board of directors,” Danielle says. “Up until then, it was what I called the ‘friends and family’ board. We now have four independent directors, the CEO and three family directors. It has been quite the journey.”
What About the Future?
“I nurture my relationships with our CEO and leadership team and take opportunities to meet with stakeholders as appropriate for my position,” Danielle says. “As we transition to the next generation, we are a small family of shareholders, all of whom participate on both boards, so everyone gets information mostly as first-hand communication.”
It’s that high level of trust, family values, commitment, and communication that will carry Vollrath forward through the years, the five owners agree. Given their passion — and their ages — the company appears set for another half-century of enlightened ownership by these dedicated and knowledgeable women.
And no one knows what the next generation will bring.