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A manufacturer of electronic testing and control equipment, a leading brick maker, a provider of warehousing and moving services, and the nation's largest builder of pipe organs make up the Northeast Ohio companies who were inducted into the Weatherhead School of Management's Family Business Hall of Fame's Class of 2000.
This year's inductees are Avtron Manufacturing Inc. (Independence), Belden Brick Company (Canton), Peoples Services Inc. (Canton), and Schantz Organ Company (Orrville).
The inductees -- along with 20 "Family Firms of Distinction" (see accompanying list) -- were honored June 7 at a dinner and ceremony at Severance Hall.
Hall of Fame inductees must have demonstrated a lifetime of achievement, with at least one succession of generational control, and be headquartered in northeast Ohio. A company is considered a family business when the family has controlling interest, and at least two family members are employed there.
Avtron Manufacturing makes electronic test, measurement, and control equipment, and counts among its customers most Fortune 500 companies. Avtron exports about 30 percent of its products. One of the company's drive systems was on the boat that found the wreckage of the Titanic.
Belden Brick traces its roots to the nation's centennial celebration in 1876. That's when Henry S. Belden became intrigued with a brickmaking machine he saw on display at the Centennial Fair in Philadelphia. In 1885 he and four associates organized the Diebold Fire Brick Company. Since then five generations of the family have worked in and owned what is now Belden Brick.
Today the company operates seven plants employing more than 500 people. It is building a new facility in Sugarcreek, Ohio, which is expected to become operational in the third quarter of this year. The company is led by William H. Belden Jr., who became chief executive officer in 1983.
Peoples Services, founded in 1914, provides warehousing, distribution, transportation, and moving services nationwide. It has doubled its revenues and increased employment by 25 percent during the past five years. The company is led by brothers Ron and Don Sibila, and many of their relatives are active in the business as well.
Schantz Organ Company manufactures, installs, and services custom-designed organs, mainly for churches. The company was founded in 1873 by Abraham Tschantz, who had no previous experience building organs.
In addition to building organs, Schantz restores and rebuilds them, and services pipe organs and blower units. It has about 90 employees, more than 50 of whom are involved in woodworking, and annual revenues of about $7 million. Two third-generation family members and one fourth-generation family member are involved in running the company.
Companies may self-nominate to the Family Business Hall of Fame or be nominated by others. Nominees are selected for induction by a committee that includes Weatherhead staff, is chaired by the dean, and receives input from sponsoring organizations.
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