Adams Industries Entering Third Generation of Family First

Some legacies develop not so much from design as from priorities, priorities that include what motivates a person to work long hours and weeks.

In the early 1960s, Robert "Bob" Adams started "Bob's Water Service." It was a service supporting the oil industry during his boom days. Bob's Water Service supported drilling rigs throughout Colorado and Nebraska in the 1960s. His son Don started "Don's Trucking" in the early 1980s to support Bob's Water Service. The two companies merged and became Adams & Son Trucking, Inc., in 1987.

It has grown from a small company supporting a much larger industry, to an industry of its own name with interests in several areas. Meanwhile, the company continues to hold onto its roots of family first, now into its third generation.

Don worked for his dad Bob during the World War II time when men, business owners and managers, frequently had a hard-set philosophy: "my way or the wrong way." The wrong way frequently resulted in returning to the unemployment line, according to Don.

"My dad was a challenge," Don says with a smile.

He said the business started with two trucks. Bob's Water Service, now Adams Industries, still has one of the employees from the Bob's Water Service days on the payroll, now in his 39th year.

"We're in an industry where turnover is extremely high," Don said. "Ours is very low."

Don's son Zack is now running the business. Don is in the transition stage, admitting that it is a point in time where he makes suggestions but the decisions belong to the current generation. Zack returned from college and went to work in the family business. He has worked his way up from the warehouse to the board room, learning from his dad Don and the legacy of his grandfather Bob.

Having a family owned and operated business comes with its challenges, however. Among the challenges is knowing when you're "off the clock." Recognizing the difference between the clock and home life is a never-ending challenge for the family.

"Sometimes you don't (see the difference). Sometimes there's carryover," Zack Adams said.

They agree that frequently their wives keep the business-family equation in check, when to keep business at the office and when to spend time with the family.

Their outlets, time away from the business, is family and sometimes the expanded family. And, sometimes the board meetings spend as much time talking about family issues as about the direction of the company.

The family first approach spills over into how and who the company hires. Their focus is on not just skilled workers, but "the right people, people I would almost consider family," according to Zack Adams.

The company has grown from the two water trucks to multiple locations and industries, from trucking and truck repairs to auto sales.

"We get a lot of our ideas from our employees, our operations team," Don said.

He said when researching new enterprises, the company also asks if the concept fits the vision of Adams Industries.

"We've had other opportunities we just flat said 'no.'" Don said.

Don managed the company for about 15 years. Zack returning to the business relieved a lot of the stress, Don said.

"When Zack came back, it made it a lot easier," he said.

Easy doesn't mean there aren't complications. The younger generation and its senior do not always see the business from the same perspective.

"I've done it for so long its hard to say 'here. Its yours,'" Don said.

The company is family, and in a lot of ways the family is company. Dividing the two is the task when the lineage from father to son, and son to his son is so apparent. The growth of the company is thought to be how it values its employees as well its corporate vision. While the number of enterprises has increased, the baseline is still about transportation and employees taking care of their families.

"The family dynamic that we've grown up with is now part of the business," Zack said. "We try to take the family perspective and what is important to them."