2022 Private Company Boards of the Year From MLR Media

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Six private company boards were honored with Private Company Boards of the Year awards for their business governance excellence by MLR Media. The awards will be presented at the 2022 Private Company Governance Summit, which will take place June 15-17 at the JW Marriott Washington, D.C.

The boards of these companies were selected for recognition:

• Graebel Companies Inc.
• Nixon Medical
• Just Born
• Telamon Corporation
• The Plastek Group
• Schnuck Markets Inc.

Six private companies were selected for the governance excellence demonstrated by their fiduciary or advisory boards. The awards, which will be presented at a dinner during the Private Company Governance Summit® on June 16, honor private company boards that best serve their stakeholders — owners, shareholders, employees and community — with best practices in their structure and performance.

The awards were created to recognize private companies that go above and beyond legal governance requirements and commit to the highest levels of governance, whether through fiduciary or advisory boards. The awards honor the performance of the board as a whole.

The seventh annual awards recognize fiduciary boards (those tasked with protecting shareholders, with the authority to vote on decisions that are binding for company management) as well as advisory boards (more informal boards that have no binding regulations, but often a significant strategic role). Fiduciary board awards were broken down by company revenues and ownership type.

The Private Company Governance Summit, now in its tenth year, is the only national conference focused on the unique governance challenges for owners, shareholders, directors and advisory board members of closely held, family-owned and private equity-owned companies. To learn more, visit www.privatecompanydirector.com.

Among the nominees for the 2022 Private Company Boards of the Year awards, six private boards of directors stood out for their diligence, standards and outcomes.

The boards of the following companies were selected for recognition:

Graebel Companies Inc.
Headquarters: Aurora, Colorado
Type of Private Board: Advisory
Approximate Annual Company Revenues: $1 billion plus
Company Ownership: Family-owned

Governance highlights include:

• For every challenge or opportunity the company faces, at least one board member has the appropriate background or experience to provide informed guidance.
• Board members have served as mentors to Graebel’s executive team and have facilitated strategic relationships outside the company.
• The board has helped the company create an affiliate transaction policy and an ESG/DEI strategy.
• In 2015, the board helped the company shift its business model from moving and storage to that of a global relocation management service provider. The shift involved divestiture of the moving and storage assets.

Nixon Medical
Headquarters: New Castle, Delaware
Type of Private Board: Fiduciary
Approximate Annual Company Revenues: Less than $100 million in revenues
Company Ownership: Family-owned

Governance highlights include:

• The board was instrumental in facilitating leadership and ownership succession, executive team development, strategy oversight, crisis management and improved business performance.
• The board is modeled on public company best practices: majority independent, independent chair, independent committees, independent consultants (e.g., audit and compensation), regular governance surveys and director assessments.
• Directors are seasoned executives of larger companies with public company board experience.
• All board committees (governance, nominating, audit, compensation and president evaluation) have charters.

Just Born
Headquarters: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Type of Private Board: Fiduciary
Approximate Annual Company Revenues: $100 million to $350 million in revenues
Company Ownership: Family-owned

Governance highlights include:

• The board has evolved from a start-up board focused on understanding the issues facing the business to a strategic board focused on helping the business meet its goals.
• The board consists of seven directors: one family member/shareholder, who is the chairman, and six independent directors. The chairman and CEO roles are separate. There is also a lead independent director.
• The board has played a key role in developing a foundational future vision and hiring the first nonfamily CEO.
• The board has encouraged a higher level of performance through discipline in quarterly reporting, oversight of a three-year strategic plan, and challenging the management team to become more proactive in identifying and addressing key risks and opportunities.

Telamon Corporation

Headquarters: Raleigh, North Carolina
Type of Private Board: Fiduciary
Approximate Annual Company Revenues: $350 million to $1 billion in revenues
Company Ownership: Family-owned

Governance highlights include:

• Board members have a good mix of personalities and diverse experience in family business, start-ups and large companies, as well as theoretical experience.
• The board drives the performance of the business. This takes effect in many forms, including efficiencies, employee relations, company risk, customer risk and growth strategies.
• What started as a board with two outside members and three inside members has purposefully increased the number of outside directors to create an outside-led board that mimics best practices of public companies.
• The board is fully engaged and continues to challenge the CEO, and indirectly the leadership team, to meet goals, deliverables and stated strategy.

The Plastek Group
Headquarters: Erie, Pennsylvania
Type of Private Board: Fiduciary
Approximate Annual Company Revenues: $350 million to $1 billion in revenues
Company Ownership: Family-owned

Governance highlights include:

• To prepare for the formation of the board, all family owners went through an 18-month governance class offered by Loyola University Chicago’s Family Business Center.
• Unlike many other family businesses in the second generation, Plastek has been very proactive in forming a board — and that board has made significant achievements since its first meeting in March 2020.
• When the board was convened, the directors realized the company’s two immediate challenges: lack of a succession plan and lack of a strategic plan. Committees (led by management) were organized to develop the respective plans, which are now being implemented by management.
• The board has established three committees: human capital and compensation, audit and finance, and nominating and governance. All committees have charters.

Schnuck Markets Inc.
Headquarters: St. Louis, MO
Type of Private Board: Fiduciary
Approximate Annual Company Revenues: More than $1 billion in revenues
Company Ownership: Family-owned

Governance highlights include:

• Schnuck Markets Inc. converted from an advisory board structure to a fiduciary board four years ago. The board, first established in 1991, went from being dominated by family members as an advisory board to a five independent director/four family director breakdown as a fiduciary board.
• The board has assisted the company in the development of a stronger strategic planning process.
• The board is fully documented, and has policies in place for board refreshment, retirement age of 75, inclusion of at least one family member of the “coming generation,” regularly scheduled board and committee meetings, and senior executive/CEO review processes.
• The board is tasked with approving all key transactions and initiatives.

About MLR Media

MLR Media publishes Directors & Boards, Family Business and Private Company Director magazines, and produces The Private Company Governance Summit®; Transitions (Spring and Fall) and Family Business Legacy & Wealth conferences; Family Business NextGen; and the Transformational Women in Family Business and Character of the Corporation events.

www.mlrmedia.com