Tougher Rules for Nepots

Few family business owners are tougher on their own kind than the men who run Coors Brewing Co. in Golden, Colorado. Bill Coors, grandson of the founder, and his nephew Pete govern the hiring of family members with a traditional principle: Give them a job at the bottom and make them work their way up. “We've been taught a meaningful work ethic,” Pete says, “and we won't tolerate any family member who doesn't have that. If they can't live within those rules, then we won't have any of them working here.”

Determination has been a large factor in Coors' ascension from a regional brewery to the third largest in the United States; the parent firm, Adolph Coors Co., has sales of $2 billion. However, Bill, chairman of the parent company, and Pete, chairman of subsidiary Coors Brewing, say that specialized training is the key for any family member who wants to succeed. Pete and his brothers have engineering degrees, which Bill says is “the technical basis for holding down a job here.” Pete has an MBA on top of that.

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