Keeping it in the Family

When Ken Johnson founded Micron Molding in 1960, he had no grand plans to pass the business on to his sons Todd and Corey; it just worked out that way. But the Bloomington thermoplastics molding company has stayed in the family, thanks to the complementary skills of the two brothers, a growing love for the business their father started, a little luck, and lots of forethought.

“It was an organic process,” says Todd Johnson, now Micron’s president. “The business started in our basement, so we were always around it growing up. Neither of us ever intended to make it our career, and we were never encouraged or discouraged to take it over. But after working there in various capacities for enough years, we were ready to take it over, and we’re both glad we did.”

Members of a family business tend to see their co-workers at every wedding, holiday, and other family occasion.

The family business is one of the staples of the all-American success story—the shop built up from modest roots and eventually passed on from proud parent to ambitious son or daughter. In fact, the better part of American wealth derives from family businesses: According to the newsletter of the Boston-based Family Firm Institute, which connects family business owners with advisors and consultants, family firms make up between 80 percent and 90 percent of all business enterprises in North America.

And a great number of those dynasties are being passed on to the next generation. The Family Firm Institute says that 85 percent of current family businesses in the United States will stay in the family, and the leadership of 39 percent of all family-owned businesses will change hands in the next five years.

In most cases, the succession process goes smoothly, and neither business owners nor their customers feel much of a bump as the torch is passed from one generation to the next. That was the case for Micron Molding.

But the success of such a process depends on a number of factors, especially planning ahead. It’s difficult to plan for the death of a parent in any case, but when a business is involved, it’s crucial.