Changing of the guard

According to recent figures provided by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, about half of the gross national product comes from family-owned businesses, and roughly half of America's work force is employed in family firms. Yet most family-owned and operated businesses are seldom seen as having

issues of any significant difference than other sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. The truth, however, is that family-owned businesses are unique in many ways. They are generally closely-held companies with firm convictions about keeping the business forever under family ownership. The family business is also viewed as an extension or representation of the family's values and personalities which are all expressed through the way the business is run. In addition, the dynamics of partnerships within a family-owned business are an entirely different, especially when the partnership is suddenly and unexpectedly severed - a circumstance a Roanoke business owner can identify with all too well.

Last year at this time Gary Fry, a partner and owner in Blooming Gardens and Changing Seasons, was realizing utopia. He had a wonderful family, business was great and his dad and partner for 10 years was by his side helping their Roanoke nursery thrive. Life was good. That was last year; today, the landscape at Blooming Gardens and Changing Seasons has changed dramatically.

On July 4th, 2002, Gary's father Dale suffered a massive heart attack and died at age 62. The unanticipated death left family and friends devastated. So sudden was Dale's passing that he had worked at the nursery the entire day before and later attended the "Patriotic Pops Concert" with his family in downtown Roanoke. Fireworks blazed and the orchestra played, and no one could predict that within the next 12 hours Dale would leave this earthly world and Gary would lose his beloved father, business partner and best friend.

"We were approaching our l1th year in business and my dad was the catalyst behind it," says Gary. "We were partners in this company, and when he died it was like getting hit by a ton of bricks. The hardest thing I had to deal with on July 5th was walking in here at 6:45 a.m. and telling our employees that Dale had died the day before. We had to send all of the trucks out, and we had to open the nursery. I knew that's exactly what my father would have wanted me to do. We worked hard to build this business and his words echoed in my ears ... 'don't close the business just because I am not here."'

For a while business was interrupted, but Gary was not defeated. While Dale had concentrated on the Blooming Gardens side of the company, Gary had always focused on Changing Seasons, which involves landscape and design for residential and commercial customers. Suddenly the entire scope of the business changed. There was no one to take over the reins of Blooming Gardens except Gary.

"The first thing I had to do was learn how my dad was running Blooming Gardens," Fry says. "Our trust in each other's abilities was so strong that we each just concentrated on our own areas of the business. My dad also handled a lot of the day-to-day business aspects of the company, and right away I had to start calling people, explain to them what happened and tell them they had to come to the office. That included suppliers, National City Bank and our lawyers. I had to say 'OK, I know that I am the president of the company, but you need to tell me what you were working on with my dad before he died.' Legally, people don't understand what you go through when a partner dies. That person's name may be on the title,, the mortgage, the bank accounts ... the bank no longer wants that absent partner's name on their documents."

There's little time to mourn after losing a business partner. That comes later, after reorganizing and signing mountains of paperwork, attending legal hearings and acquainting yourself with the details your partner contributed to the business.

A friend and highly regarded client of the Fry's, Pete Eshelman, president and CEO of Roanoke's famed American Specialty Companies Inc., describes Dale and Gary's partnership succinctly. "Here was a guy [Dale] with a great attitude about life," says Eshelman. "He would come to work when the sun came up and work all day. He and Gary made a great team, and I believe that Dale was able to teach Gary a lot of wisdom about how to deal with people and see the big picture. He was a tremendous mentor and never let the little stuff get in the way."

When a partner dies it's quite different than when a partner decides he or she is no longer interested in being involved in the company. Generally, terms are agreed upon to buy one or the other out, creating a solely-owned company. In Gary's case, it was a heart-wrenching process. "I could have said I don't want to do this anymore, but when you and your partner have worked so hard to build the business and you are finally realizing the benefits from that it's tough to just walk away," Gary says. "Instead, we agreed many years ago that we would always remain a familyowned business. The shock comes when you lose your partner who is also your father. Three months after my dad's

death, I had to walk into our attorney's office and sign the papers that made me 100 percent owner of the company. What was traumatic was the realization that we were no longer a family-owned business. We suddenly became individuallyowned. That was the saddest day in my life. It means a lot to us to be familyowned. It means there are multiple owners within the family and we are handson running the company."

Losing a family member, combined with losing a trusted partner, is something Gary has to deal with each time a periodic customer comes into the nursery. From time to time, especially immediately after his father's death, it became overwhelming.

"I found out very quickly what an impact my dad had on a lot of people," Gary says. "There were friendships that I knew absolutely nothing about, but when dad's friends would stop by the garden center it actually made it a little easier for me because I had to talk about it a lot. There were days however when it just became too much. By 3 p.m. I would have to go to my office, shut the blinds and tell the employees that I just wasn't there. You can only talk about it so many times."

Gary has a good outlook on life and the business. He's managed to pick up where his father left off on the Blooming Gardens side. He's also upgraded the parking lot, doubled the tree holding area and continues to operate and manage

Changing Seasons. However, if there is one thing he misses most, it's talking to his dad about future plans for the company.

"I would talk to that guy seven days a week about a particular project or what trees and shrubs to stock, or how his end of the business was going," Gary says. "He was my partner and my best friend, and suddenly he isn't here any more. Thank goodness I have a wonderful family, employees and friends. Without them this would be impossible."

"I think Gary is going to do great," Eshelman says. "The reason I know that is because a couple of days after the funeral Gary came to visit us at our farm. His father had built our organic garden and put his heart and soul into refining it. My wife Alice and I were walking through the garden and we were quite solemn ... you could feel Dale's spirit everywhere in that garden. Gary started talking about how much that organic garden meant to his dad. It had to be tough for him to be out there but he looked me in the eye and said, 'My dad would have wanted me to be strong because of his death. He would have wanted me to put to good use all of the things that he taught me. He wants me to be successful and that's what I intend to do."'