CBJ's Largest Privately Held Companies 2018
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Van Meter Inc.<br />
3<br />
LURA MCBRIDE<br />
PRESIDENT & CEO<br />
Van Meter Inc. is unique among the Corridor’s largest<br />
companies, in that it is 100 percent owned by its employees.<br />
It’s an approach that makes every worker an<br />
active guardian of the electrical distributor’s bottom<br />
line and has fueled its growth since its last appearance<br />
on the CBJ’s <strong>Largest</strong> <strong>Privately</strong> <strong>Held</strong> <strong>Companies</strong> list in<br />
2016, according to President and CEO Lura McBride.<br />
In addition to an acquisition in downtown Chicago, Van Meter<br />
has also opened a branch<br />
in Omaha. The 85-year-old<br />
company based in Cedar<br />
Rapids now has 15 locations<br />
throughout the Midwest.<br />
“Nebraska is a true extension<br />
of our Iowa marketplace,”<br />
Ms. McBride said of<br />
the new location. “We are<br />
listening to our customers<br />
and expanding to where they<br />
need us to have a presence.”<br />
Van Meter has also formed<br />
relationships with national<br />
commercial contracting clients,<br />
offering a new avenue<br />
for growth. It continues to<br />
serve numerous other verticals<br />
as well, from education<br />
and health care to manufacturing and agriculture.<br />
A perennial leader in building staff engagement and positive<br />
workplace culture, the company recently created a 2025<br />
vision to guide how it will continue to provide lasting value.<br />
This roadmap was crafted by the entire organization, and incorporated<br />
input from customers and partner suppliers as well.<br />
“To foster buy-in, we had to ensure that the direction was<br />
aligned with our people. Everyone from our receptionists and<br />
delivery drivers to managers and product specialists had the<br />
opportunity to contribute,” Ms. McBride explained. “When everyone<br />
understands how their role is critical to our vision, the<br />
goals are easier to achieve.”<br />
The company also continues to invest in its workforce. Van<br />
Meter encourages its employee-owners to nurture their purpose<br />
outside of work. With a parental leave program that recognizes<br />
both mothers and fathers, employee sabbaticals, and a<br />
“5-7 Challenge” that discourages after-hours work, the company<br />
ensures work-life balance is an authentic habit and not just<br />
a buzzword.<br />
The results are paying<br />
off as Van Meter<br />
has grown its employee-owner<br />
base to more<br />
than 500 – a 10 percent<br />
increase from 2016.<br />
Part of that progress<br />
stems from deliberately<br />
building relationships.<br />
Van Meter’s mission<br />
rests on five core principles:<br />
people, partners,<br />
progress, place<br />
and profit. According<br />
to Ms. McBride, a business<br />
can reach new<br />
heights only when its<br />
people come first.<br />
“Employee benefits<br />
aren’t the only way to<br />
invest in people – you<br />
THE TEAM<br />
EXECUTIVE TEAM<br />
Lura McBride, President & CEO<br />
Melanie Fisher Doyle, CFO<br />
Mike Gassmann, EVP & Chief<br />
Growth Officer<br />
Brian Bytnar, Chief Development<br />
Officer<br />
Jeff Miller, VP Information<br />
Technology<br />
Alicia Murphy, Chief<br />
Organizational Effectiveness<br />
Officer<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Bruce Lehrman<br />
Barry Boyer<br />
Hillary Hughes<br />
Lura McBride<br />
Jeff Siegfried<br />
Duane Smith<br />
should strengthen<br />
your day-to-day culture<br />
as well” she said.<br />
“Van Meter achieves<br />
this by heavily developing our own leaders. We want our leaders<br />
to lift up each individual person in our company. When<br />
leaders empower, enable and support every team member, our<br />
employee-owners are inspired and motivated to innovate for<br />
our customers.”<br />
To keep people at the forefront and reinforce its ownership<br />
culture, Van Meter has made intentional and strategic investments<br />
in how it recruits and hires new members. It has also<br />
focused on inboarding, which is a type of support given to existing<br />
employee-owners to help them succeed not only in their<br />
current role but ones they may hold in the future.<br />
“Van Meter is different because we are both privately held<br />
and employee owned. The employee-ownership model not<br />
only provides accountability, but it also makes profitability accessible<br />
to every single person in the company, regardless of<br />
their position,” Ms. McBride said. “When employees think, act<br />
and serve like an owner, it creates a company culture that delivers<br />
better service, value and outcomes for everyone.”<br />
- Jennie Morton<br />
“When employees think, act<br />
and serve like an owner, it<br />
creates a company culture that<br />
delivers better service, value<br />
and outcomes for everyone.”<br />
- LURA MCBRIDE<br />
10 CBJ’S LARGEST PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES <strong>2018</strong>