Despite their age differences, backgrounds and business models, Rob Arnold, BJ Cayce, Kathryn Ison and Wayne Hunt have scores in common.
Pillars and leaders for Christian County in their own ways, each come from and help maintain a multi-generational, family-owned business. And while favor may fortune the bold, answering to blood lines — especially when it comes to money — brings its own special rewards and unique challenges.
These were the lessons of Thursday afternoon’s Christian County Chamber of Commerce CEO Luncheon in Hopkinsville’s Ag Expo lobby, which saw the quartet engaged in open, honest dialogue about fitting fiscal and family together.
Part of a fifth-generation business at Cayce Mill Supply and a lifelong Hopkinsvillian, BJ noted he’s always been “one of many hats,” never unwilling to do a required job, and yet gathering from all departments what it takes to smoothly operate.
Underneath the third-generation petroleum jobber giant Max Arnold & Sons, Rob ushered forth some of the difficulties in separating work from family.
Naturally, conversations about business can metaphorically bleed away from the workplace. So, for Rob, it’s all about “time and place.”
Daughter of former UHA teacher and “The Peddler” founder Ann C. Poe, Ison returned to work directly for her mother in 2005.
This created a second generation for the weekly advertising print publication, which began in August 1983.
As Poe’s health declined, Ison said a “quiet switch” in power and responsibility occurred in the Hopkinsville office — shifting more to her as time passed.
Her mother, even up until her 2022 death, stayed right at Ison’s side. Sometimes uncomfortably.
Founder of the $600 million third-generation family-and-worker-owned H&R Agri-Power, Hunt’s beginnings are a bit more humble than this price suggests.
A bit more of a self-described “dreamer,” he said he only wanted to farm and raise a family.
But one $3 million adventure became another. And another. And another. And now, his company employs more than 600 people.
Chris Jung, of Jennie Stuart Health, served as Thursday’s moderator. Citing a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau, Jung noted that roughly 90% of American businesses are either family-owned or controlled, but it “remains rare” for a business to pass on to further generations. Just 30% of such companies are passed successfully to a second generation. It’s 12% to a third, and 3% to a fourth and beyond.
