The Bentley Company, founded in Milwaukee in 1848, built churches, schools, municipal structures and commercial buildings, including historic landmarks like the Tripoli Shrine Temple in Milwaukee, the Villa Louis Mansion in Prairie du Chien, the Cincinnati Water Works and the San Francisco Post Office, which survived the earthquakes of 1906 and 1989. But the recession of 2008 hit the industry hard, and fifth-generation leader Thomas H. Bentley III decided to phase out of the construction business.
That decision did not bring the longstanding family enterprise to an end, however. Bentley and his son, Todd, have continued to operate Bentley World-Packaging Ltd., an export packaging company, in addition to a real estate business, Bentley Management Group.
Bentley World-Packaging focuses on industrial crating for shipping machinery overseas. The company was founded to sustain the family through the dearth of construction jobs during World War II; it was suspended in 1946 until Tom Bentley revived it in 1973. In 2008, when things looked grim in the construction industry, "Unlike other contractors, who knew little else except contracting, I had a choice," says Tom, 69. "Not having a choice kept some contractors hanging on too long, and they lost money and got aggravated, and it didn't work out very well for them. But I had a choice. It was fortunate."
When Family Business Magazine profiled the Bentleys in 2012, Todd had recently been promoted from CFO to executive vice president. Tom said he planned to elevate his son to CEO within two years.
Those plans changed. In January 2014, Jeff Van Straten became Bentley World-Packaging's CEO. Van Straten had been president and CEO at Dutchland Plastics Corp. in Oostburg, Wis., whose family owners sold a majority interest to three investment firms at the end of 2013. "He's very savvy," says Tom, the company chairman. "Age-wise, he's between Todd and I, so between the three of us now, it's a real good triumvirate." Todd, 37, became vice president of corporate strategy at the packaging company in 2014.
Since 2012, the company has also transformed its advisory council into a fiduciary board with six members. Tom, Todd and Sally Bentley—Tom's wife and Todd's mother—serve on the board along with Van Straten and two independent directors. "We debated having a seventh board member, but only if they're really valuable, with insights into logistics and the industry," Todd says. "We'd want someone who's really connected to our industry. I would say there's about a 50:50 chance that if we found the right person, we would add a seventh."
Bentley World-Packaging is seeking to grow by acquisition and through partnering with other companies, Tom and Todd say. "To really be responsive to the needs of the market, especially when the needs of the marketplace are changing so fast, you have to have an entrepreneurial outlook," Todd comments.
Bentley Management Group owns real estate in seven states. It invests in three categories: farmland, recreational properties and industrial facilities, some of which serve the family's packaging business. "For various reasons, all of the segments we're in are really strong," Tom says. Todd primarily manages the industrial properties, and Tom manages the rest. On the packaging side, Todd's strength is in accounting and finance, while Tom focuses on sales and marketing.
No regrets
Tom says he doesn't regret closing the construction business. Even though the economy has improved since the recession, he says, "It's still difficult, particularly on the construction side, mostly because so many companies disappeared, and so many tradesmen retired." Project managers who worked with Bentley in the past, Tom says, are complaining that while they now can get work, they are struggling to cope with a shortage of skilled carpenters, electricians and plumbers. "They're all struggling now with capacity constraints with the work they've got."
Todd's three children, ages 10, 8 and 5, accompany him to the office on weekends, although "they don't drive forklift trucks yet," their grandfather says with a laugh. They are likely to follow in the footsteps of their father, who in high school spent weekends and summer vacations in the office or the shop.
"We have every prospect of having a seventh generation, which is kind of cool, for sure," Tom says.
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