When a closely held, family-owned company hires an outside CEO, many people speculate that the firm may soon be up for sale. Not so for the Corwin Beverage Company, which has been serving the local area’s bottled beverage needs for four generations.
“I want to be really clear. The company is not for sale and is not going to be,” stated Ron Lloyd, who took the CEO reins March 30. “Yes, the culture will probably change in ways that make sense, but I do not expect changes to the core values – empowerment, education, community, integrity and superior customer service – that got us here.”
Lloyd was born and raised in Aberdeen, graduated from the University of Washington School of Business, and has been living in Bellevue for several years. He’s a good fit for Corwin, as his background includes stints as CEO at Capri Sun, a family-owned fine wine company, and, most recently, a natural beverage company based in Los Angeles. Corwin seemed a natural choice for Lloyd as well.
“To find a Northwest-based company headquartered only 35 miles from where I’ve been elk hunting since I was 10 years old – that was very appealing,” Lloyd said. “Plus, it’s the type of company and people I want to be associated with.”
Motivations for hiring a new CEO, said Lloyd, were two-fold. Nancy Bjerkman, who stepped into the CEO role when her brother Kyle Corwin passed away in 2006, is now in her 70s, and felt it was time for her to pass the role into younger hands. Also, he said, the company has realized that the business is changing. They’ve been successful being a carbonated drink-driven company; now they need a new set of ideas to help the company service customers of today and meet changing buying patterns and needs.
Until recently, the company has been tightly tethered to the carbonated soft drink business. That business, said Lloyd, has seen some strong headwinds develop. In response, he said, the company needs to “work with Pepsi better and differently going forward,” and look for products that customers want.
“I was brought in to bring a global perspective; we want to think globally but act locally,” said Lloyd. “That is a mantra that will serve us well.”
He said that Corwin’s employees are already putting that mantra in motion.
“They’ve created an internal viral movement to take on an informal foraging role,” said Lloyd.
As they live their lives outside of work, such as at farmers markets or retail establishments, employees are constantly looking for products or brands that they think Corwin’s customers want or need. Team members then present new ideas to management.
“We’re already seeing a cultural shift – empowerment is coming to life,” Lloyd said. “We have an excited and motivated group of employees. It’s been really fun for the company. It’s a great example of how we’re staying true to our core values.”
Examples of “high growth” and “more relevant” products that Corwin has recently added to their product line include a line of salted snacks (potato chips and peanuts) and candies as well as “muscle milk,” jerkies and pepperoni.
“Protein is a big trend in the market place,” Lloyd said.
These sorts of products, he added, serve as an example of “solutions that help our customers grow their own businesses” because they fuel incremental sales at gas stations and convenience stores, which “often make the difference between whether you can pay the light bill or not,” said Lloyd.
Besides being asked whether the company is for sale, Lloyd said the other question he is asked most often is “what’s it like working in a family-owned company?”
“It’s not that different from working for any other well-run company. You’re dealing with people. People want to be respected, be heard, have the ability to provide input and feedback, and to know what is going on,” said Lloyd.
He added that “the family is and always will be involved in the company. My role is to grow the company as a local family business for future family generations to come.”
