UMI Co. and Lilja Communications
Headquarters: Hopkins (UMI) and Eden Prairie (Lilja Communications)
Inception: 1963 (UMI); 1988 (Lilja)
Family names: Carlsen, Lilja
What the company does: UMI: manufacturing holding company that processes metal and plastic components for industry. Lilja: strategic communications and content agency
Type of ownership: S corp.
Principal owners: UMI owners: Sam Carlsen and Wes Lilja; Lilja Communications: Kate Lilja Lohnes
Employees: UMI: Over 200; Lilja: 4
Family members in the business: 3
Family members on the board: UMI: 3; Lilja: 1
“One of the things we’re proud of as a family is we’ve had several successful transfers of ownership between generations.”
–Wes Lilja, co-owner and board chair, UMI
Two companies owned by members of the same family—UMI Co. and Lilja Communications—take pride in a low-ego stewardship approach that has made generational transitions easy rather than painful.
Third-generation UMI owners Sam Carlsen and Wes Lilja and second-generation Lilja Communications owner Kate Lilja Lohnes build on shared respect and comity. “One of the things we’re proud of as a family is we’ve had several successful transfers of ownership between generations,” Wes says. “I think it happens both because of the respect of the incoming generation and the grace of the departing generation.”
They say Ted Carlsen, UMI’s first-generation owner, said it best when he passed on the business to son David: “The younger people on the firing line … should be the ones who share in the growth of the business. And the only way to get to that point is to have the major stockholder phase-down.”
Building UMI into the company it is today began when Ted purchased Spantek Expanded Metal in 1963. That year, Spantek had lost $25,000, and it lost $46,000 the year before. But Ted believed it could be turned around with proper management. Soon, Spantek became profitable. Over the next 18 years, Ted built or purchased four additional small manufacturing companies before combining them to create Upper Midwest Industries (UMI), a manufacturing company that processes metal and plastic parts for industrial applications.
David Carlsen became UMI’s second-generation owner when he purchased it from his father in 1997. In the 19 years he owned the company, David bought and sold several more businesses, building UMI into the entity it is today. Cousins Sam and Wes purchased a controlling stake from David in 2019. Like the two generations before, the cousins look to continue acquisitions for growth. UMI has more than doubled its sales over the past five fiscal years, from around $30 million in 2017 to around $70 million in 2022.
Lilja Communications, a Twin Cities-based strategic communications and content agency, was founded by Ted’s daughter, Mary Carlsen Lilja, in 1988 (Mary is married to Mike Lilja. They are the parents of Kate and Wes). Initially known as Lilja Ink, a writing agency with an emphasis on “words that work,” it has since evolved into a public relations and publishing enterprise. It’s now owned and operated by second-generation owner Kate, Mary’s daughter, who joined the firm in 2016 as a senior PR consultant. Kate purchased it and assumed the role of president in 2020, never missing a payment throughout the pandemic. Revenue has grown 50% since Kate joined the firm.
Like many Minnesotans, Kate left the state for a while before returning to the family business. Getting to know her mother as a professional has been a meaningful experience. “I always knew Mary at home, Mary-mom. It’s just such a delight to better understand and appreciate Mary as a professional, Mary as the boss, Mary as the expert.”
Through 2022, Mary still worked part-time as a senior PR consultant, while Mike stayed on as CFO. Now, they have retired. Kate is running the business on her own, but she says her parents are only a call away if she wants their insight and advice.
Despite divergent business niches, UMI and Lilja Communications have worked together at times. Lilja Communications has provided public relations counsel to UMI, including helping it create campaigns and announcements, such as when it created the unique metal wrap for the 2005 Walker Art Center addition.
Though the two companies share no leadership, family remains at the forefront, such as when they jointly attend the University of St. Thomas Opus College monthly family business breakfasts.
“When I first started in the business, our kids were playing together a lot,” Sam says. “Then I was like, well, ‘I see Wes Monday through Friday, so we probably shouldn’t hang out on the weekends anymore.’ Then someone at the [UST] Family Business Center said, ‘What’s the point of having a family business if there’s no family?’ ”
That was the moment Sam says he decided “we should hang out on the weekends and our kids should play together because that’s the great part about family business, not the danger of it.”
