OSU Family Business Award Nov 2017
Myers Container LLC 2017 Family Harmony Finalist
Oregon State University, Austin Family Business Program
Harmony is the ‘secret sauce’ at Myers Container LLC
There is no such thing as a bloodline trust at Myers Container. Since the steel drum manufacturing company was founded in 1917, each generation has had to buy in. And that’s what’s kept the company going strong for a century. Company CEO Kyle Stavig’s great-grandfather started Myers Container. It was sold by his grandfather to Kaiser Steel in 1968, then reacquired by his father and other partners in 1984. Kyle went to work for the company after graduating from Oregon State in 1986. By 2007, Kyle had worked his way up to president and was implementing lean manufacturing when he and the owners had a disagreement. They told him it was too much change. “We want you to stop,” they said. Kyle believed he had turned the company around, and he was ready to walk away. But before he could leave, his father, who was still a partner at Myers, suggested he and his brothers buy it instead.
“Why don’t you guys find a way to scrape together and buy the company?” he asked.
At the time, brothers Christian Stavig and Cody Stavig and brother-in-law Dan Roth all had stable and successful positions at Intel. Kyle, the oldest, proposed the idea, and the brothers agreed they would go in together. An offer was made and accepted, and a highly effective and focused fourth-generation reacquired the family business. “We had to raise capital. Nothing was handed to us,” Kyle said. “It’s probably why our company has been successful.”
The first test of the new partnership came quickly, and the efficiency practices that Kyle had insisted on were soon tested when the recession hit. By 2009, things were dismal. “We went a year and a half without an income as all the money was going to the bank ,” Kyle recalled. “I thought we lost everything.”
Kyle felt bad because he had encouraged his brothers to join him. At one point, Kyle confided in his brother, Christian.
“I’m really concerned,” Kyle said. “I’m sorry about this.”
Christian replied paraphrasing Winston Churchill: “When the going gets tough, you keep on going.” The family was united by distinct competency-based roles, articulated expectations and resilience. They fed off each other’s optimism. “It brought us together,” Kyle said. “Nobody was walking out.”
Everyone made sacrifices. Kyle’s wife, Kerrie, worked in human resources without pay. “I need you,” he told his wife. “It’s an emergency.”
Though each brother had come from a higher position, no one was above the work. Youngest brother, Cody Stavig, took over financial services, and ended up doing the work of an accounting clerk. By 2010, Myers began to rebound. The company took advantage of lending offers to grow. It acquired General Steel Drum in North Carolina, doubling the size the company. Other acquisitions followed.
In the 10 years they’ve been together, an ill word has never been spoken between the brothers. “We respect each other’s capabilities,” he said. “We come together for decisions … Harmony is our secret sauce.”
“My father, when he had to buy the company, he taught that value to us,” Kyle said. “It made all the difference for me.”
http://business.oregonstate.edu/familybusinessonline/myers-container
About Myers Container
Myers Container LLC, along with its sister company Container Management Services LLC (www.containermanagementservices.com), is a leading manufacturer and reconditioner of industrial containers in the United States. With facilities in Oregon and California, the companies are able to manufacture, recondition, recycle and reclaim hundreds of thousands of steel drums, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and millions of pounds of plastic each year. The same ownership of Myers/CMS also owns and operates General Steel Drum LLC. www.containermanagementservices.com or www.generalsteeldrum.com
