Case Study: Third-Generation Family Business Seamlessly Transitions Leadership to First Non-Family CEO

In 2021, a family business advisor asked members of the Leef family to name the date when they would be “doing something different from what they’re doing now.”

As the third-generation owners and operators of ITU AbsorbTech, it was a question they had already been mulling for nearly a decade. The four siblings – Jim, David, Ann and Cathy – knew the business would eventually need to transition to the next generation of leadership – but the questions of when and who persisted.

After some thought, Jim, the company’s then-president and CEO, who would be retiring first, answered the advisor: “For me, the first quarter of 2025.” It was a deadline that was realistic but felt far enough away.

David, the company’s executive vice president, who is two years Jim’s junior, did not see the value in assuming the CEO position. Instead, the family concluded it would be best for David to remain in his role to support whoever would become the new leader. “We wanted to go through a long-term transition now,” he said. “Not an easy one now with a more complicated one later when neither of us are involved in the day-to-day operations.”

With no other successor in place, the family decided to engage an outside firm to identify and evaluate internal and external candidates.

The Problem: A Family Business with No Family Successor

The Leef family founded an industrial laundry in Minneapolis in the early 1900s and established a satellite operation in Milwaukee in the late 1920s. In 1930, the two operations formally split into separate business entities, and ITU AbsorbTech was born. Over its hundred-year history, the business grew from a regional operation that laundered textile products used in manufacturing plants to one of the largest family-owned industrial laundries in the country.

For the past 35 years, Jim and his younger brother, David, helmed the business, with Jim serving as CEO and president and David as executive vice president. Together, they furthered their father’s commitment to sound business practices and environmental sustainability, incorporated new technology into their operations, and expanded the organization’s geographic footprint. They were proud of what they had built and wanted to keep the business in the family.

They looked to the next generation.

Over the years, Jim, David, Ann and Cathy held many meetings with members of the fourth generation to discuss what both owning and operating the business entailed. They were clear about the day-to-day realities of running a business and outlined what would be expected of any incoming executive.

The family came to the consensus that, while the members of the fourth generation were good owners, they would look outside the family for their next president and CEO. Like many family business owners, the siblings found themselves at a crossroads: they wanted to preserve the legacy their forefathers had built but knew they would need to proceed cautiously and find a non-family successor who would not only run the business well but also honor the family’s values and people-first culture.     

The Goal: Preserve a People-First Culture

Like their father and grandfather, the family has always been deeply invested in the success and happiness of their employees. “A family value our dad instilled in us was, ‘treat all people well, especially employees,’” Jim said.

“He always emphasized the importance of surrounding ourselves with smart, motivated, trustworthy people who will help make the business successful,” David added.

The family worried that an outside hire wouldn’t share their employee-centric values and would fail to consistently invest in the people who have helped make the business a success.

But, while preserving what’s special about the company was their primary goal, it wasn’t their only goal: they also wanted to bring in a leader with a growth mindset who could help them capitalize on their reusable absorbents business.

“We’ve been on a twelve- to fourteen-year run of growth and have nearly doubled in size,” said Doug Roskopf, ITU AbsorbTech’s VP of operations. “Finding someone who could support those activities, while preserving our culture, was very important.”

“We didn’t want to break things and didn’t need to fix things,” said Jim. “But there is also always room to be better.”

The Leef family was confident the right leader was out there. But they needed help finding him or her.

The Solution: A Proven Process Uncovers an Unexpectedly Fitting Candidate

Step 1: ITU AbsorbTech Seeks Outside Help

The family knew it wanted to work with a CEO succession planning and executive search firm that specialized in family business hiring – and was willing to put in face time with the family owners and employees so they could deeply understand the company’s culture. Their advisors pulled together a list of firms, which was eventually narrowed down to three finalists, including Stranberg.

After meeting with the firms, it was clear to the search committee that Stranberg was the best choice. They appreciated how approachable, genuine and warm the team was.   

“We were impressed by all the firms, but Stranberg stood out,” Jim said. “We liked that they never tried to push something or brush anything off.”

Step 2: Stranberg Gets to Know the What

Instead of jumping directly into their search, Stranberg started their engagement by getting familiar with ITU AbsorbTech’s whats. They began by investigating what makes the company’s culture special – then moved on to what the family and business leaders were looking for in its next CEO.

Early in the process, Stranberg’s team attended quarterly meetings and interviewed a cross-section of employees. They didn’t just stick to the corporate offices in New Berlin, Wisconsin, where they met with executives – they also visited processing facilities in Neenah, Wisconsin and South Bend, Indiana, where they spoke to hourly employees and floor supervisors.

“Them driving up from Chicago was a regular occurrence and was an important part of pulling this off,” Jim said. “People felt comfortable with Stranberg off the bat.”

“They wanted to talk to people,” David added. “They put in time to press the flesh.”

ITU AbsorbTech’s VP of business development, Paul Schoessow, said it was clear that Stranberg was committed to understanding what makes the company tick. “They took time to understand how the company operates, and the role Jim played in that,” he said. “They got a feel for the family environment and culture, so they knew what types of candidates to look for.”

While they got acquainted with the company’s culture, Stranberg also helped the family refine the CEO, chairman of the board, COO and executive VP job descriptions. The company had good first drafts for each position but needed help translating them into verbiage that would be effective outside the organization.  

“Stranberg was very helpful with that,” David said. “They freshened up the job descriptions with terminology that would make sense to external candidates.”

They were especially helpful when it came to decoupling Jim’s responsibilities as owner and operator. “I never needed to know which hat I was wearing,” Jim said. “Nothing was formalized – it just happened organically. Stranberg did a good job of looking at the bigger picture and figuring out how all the pieces fit together.”

Through conversations and probing questions, Stranberg helped delineate the roles and craft clear, compelling job descriptions.

“It was a good team effort,” David said.

Step 3: Stranberg & ITU AbsorbTech Search for the Who

Once they had a formalized job description, Stranberg started searching for candidates who looked like they could be a good fit for both the CEO position and ITU AbsorbTech’s culture. They looked at dozens of candidates, then went through a “proofing” process with the family. To ensure they were on the right track, Stranberg selected one candidate from their pool as a finalist and rejected another – then walked the Leef family through their reasoning. From there, Stranberg presented a list of candidates to the hiring committee, which was eventually narrowed down to four individuals.

One of those four candidates was Craig Bald, ITU AbsorbTech’s CFO of fourteen years. As a core member of the executive team, Craig had been involved in succession planning conversations – but was originally not a frontrunner for the position because his background was in finance, not development. But when Craig saw the revamped job description, he expressed his confidence that he could lead the business through the next phase of its evolution.  

“The company has changed considerably in the last 15 years,” Craig said. “I know where the company has been and what it needs.”

Craig was treated like every other candidate undergoing Stranberg’s rigorous vetting process – which Craig embraced. “I wanted that level playing field,” he said.

Stranberg’s team dug deep during interviews. Craig recalled the first question he was asked wasn’t about his experience or professional accomplishments, but about his childhood.

“I knew I would be up against a lot of polished candidates who would have a story for everything,” Craig said. “But Stranberg can see through that. They asked a lot of questions you really can’t prepare for. You need to be honest with yourself and how you work and strip away the artifice. They can flush out who you really are.”

Craig and the other three finalists were interviewed by the hiring committee and evaluated against a scoring matrix Stranberg developed. According to Heather Chung, ITU AbsorbTech’s VP of human resources, “having an outlined process and tools helped with the decision-making process” and appealed to the group of “analytical folks” evaluating the candidates.

Based on those numbers, two candidates were eliminated and two were selected to present to the board: Craig and one external candidate.

The Results: A Seamless Transition

The board “overwhelmingly, enthusiastically and unanimously” voted for Craig, according to Jim. After the two men made their pitches, it was clear to the board and hiring committee that Craig was best positioned to helm the leadership team – while also preserving the company’s culture and upholding the family’s values.  

“We all have the same future goals in mind,” Craig said. “I just bring a slightly different perspective about what will get them successfully through the next ten years.”

Foundational to reaching those shared goals is continued investment in the company’s employees. Since assuming his new position in January, Craig has visited and met with employees at every ITU AbsorbTech service center and processing facility.

“I want people to know who I am and what I stand for,” Craig said. “It’s personal to me. I want to elevate my work to succeed for the family.”

The family is pleased with how smooth the transition has been. The Leefs credit Stranberg for helping them define their vision of the role – which helped them realize the best-fit candidate had been there all along.   

“We’ve been talking about our succession plan for more than a decade,” Jim said. “Stranberg came into a process that was already moving, fit into it, and enhanced what we had already started.”

“We could tell Stranberg had done this before,” David added. “They knew their process and stuck to it. They were open about what was going on. They were really good at their jobs and took the time to learn who we are so they could apply their expertise in the proper way.”

From Craig’s perspective, Stranberg’s personal touch and insistence on getting to know the family, their business, and their values separated them from other executive succession planning and search firms.

“The Leef family had never been through this before and it wasn’t necessarily an easy path for them,” Craig said. “Stranberg helped them work through that process and ensured they were confident they made the right decision. It all goes back to Stranberg’s approach: they understood the family and what they wanted.”

About Stranberg

Family-owned and founder-led businesses trust Stranberg to ensure leadership continuity by identifying what is needed for the next generation of CEOs and executives and who is best qualified to fill those roles. Grounded in the values that define your family and business, Stranberg’s succession planning services – which include leadership consulting, executive search and executive integration – help you get leadership-level hiring right the first time.

Whether the right fit is a family member, an internal candidate, or an external placement, we prioritize aligning leadership decisions with your business’s unique culture and vision. By deeply understanding your organization, holistically assessing candidates, and navigating common pitfalls, Stranberg places leaders who embody your values and are ready to fulfill their responsibilities – ensuring your business thrives for generations to come.

Contact a Stranberg executive succession planning expert