June 23, 2025 • 32 mins
Bud Morrissette would be the first to tell you that moving is simply in his blood. He grew up in the moving business — literally and figuratively — under the guidance of his father, Arthur Morrissette Jr. and his grandfather, Arthur Sr., the founder of Interstate.Bud formally joined the enterprise in 1995. As he was mentored through the business, Bud served in virtually every capacity, including sales, finance, safety, HR and operations. Bud was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2017 of the Interstate Family of Companies, and under his leadership, Interstate has expanded its services and grown to become one of the largest independent moving, relocation and logistics companies in the U.S.During Bud’s tenure, the organization has been recognized for numerous accomplishments including an unprecedented, 11-time winner of the NDTA Quality Award for Defense sector services; ISO–9002 certification; seven-time INC. 500/5000 member; Blue Diamond Quality Award; the National Capital Business Ethics Award; and the only seven-time recipient of the AMSA Fleet Safety Initiative Award.Passionate about his responsibility to civic duty and community, Bud has been appointed and served on several commissions and boards including the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement of Greater Washington just to name a few.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank present CEOs. You should know Poward
by Iheartgati.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Let's meet Bud Morrissett. He is the CEO and group
president for Interstate Family of Companies, which is a global
organization specializing in moving, storage, relocation management, and supply chain logistics.
His third generation company has been around for eighty two
years and is based in the DMV. Before we talk
more about Bud's company, I first asked him to talk
a little bit about himself, where he's from, and his
(00:26):
origin story.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
So I'm a native Washingtonian.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
My family was over in the southeast Washington side of town.
My mom and dad actually grew up there as well.
Attended Anacostia High School. Shortly after being born, my family
migrated over to the Northern Virginia side of the river.
And I've been a byproduct of Fairfax County, Virginia for
(00:50):
almost my entire life.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And where'd you go to school?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Actually went to Fairfax County Public Schools, Lake Braddock Secondary
in Broke, Virginia, and then subsequently went to a Northern
Virginia Community College and then George Mason University and Fairfax. Good.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, you and I have a lot in common I
went to Jeb Stewart when it was called that in
False Church, and then Mason after that too, so we
have a lot in common in that area. I'm really
looking forward to talking to you, but about Interstate and
your family of the companies, because your third generation and
the company's been around for eighty years and I don't
get in this position to talk to too many people
(01:26):
that are in a third generation company, and it's really extraordinary.
So what I'd love to do first of all is
just talk about the origin, about what you know about
the history of your grandparents starting Interstate in the company,
what it was then, and then what it's involved to
now in the third generation with yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Sure, So the story goes back to the early nineteen
twenties and thirties when my grandfather very unfortunately lost his
mother when he was eight and then his father when
he was fifteen. So it necessitated him having to drop
out of high school in the ninth grade just to
take care of his two younger sisters through acquiring odd jobs.
(02:05):
He had no family in the area and it was
really his only recourse. And so with that said again,
he would really pick up any type of opportunity that
could he could earn some money with. And again with
only a ninth grade education, you know, there wasn't a
lot of education available to him to go out to
explore more professional opportunities. And so it may have been
(02:27):
working just as a bedside at the local hospital, or
working at a filling station, or doing yard work for
other individuals.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You know, it's got to be a wild time. Of
the stories that you probably heard from your parents, because
that's just after the crash, and then your grandfather has
to be on his own. And I'm sure that wasn't
uncommon back then for things to happen, especially during tough
times in the early part of the nineteen hundreds, but
it's just extraordinary. So when the idea came up of
coming up with a company and the history of it
(02:58):
and the idea of what it was to be, what
do you know of it?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, so it really wasn't coming up with a company.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
My granddad was working at one of the local department
stores here for locals here recognize the name Woodron Lowthroup.
Oh yeah, And he was just a stock clerk there
and he had the great fortune of meeting a pretty
young lady that was a sales clerk that ended up
becoming my grandmother, and then the two of them subsequently
got married a year or two later, and from there,
(03:28):
my grandmother became pregnant with my dad, and my grandfather
knew that he was going to have to earn more
money to raise a family, and so he acquired a
job with the Department of Navy, just a civil service
position in the human resources department, and was fortunate enough
to work in that position for about six years until
he was twenty seven, and he just became frustrated. He
(03:50):
had a lot of energy, and he had a lot
of thoughts and ideas, and he kind of wanted to
do his own things. So there in the around nineteen
forty three when the company was founded, he left and
put together four hundred and fifty dollars with another gentleman
and bought a used truck and just thought that that
truck could become a tool and a toolbox that.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
He could do various things with.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And as we all know, whether you have a small
truck or an old station wagon in the day or
suv today, if it's large enough, someone's going to ask it,
can you move something for me? And so subsequently someone
did they asked him if they could move something, and
that really became the start of the moving business. So
not a planned not a company business plan per se,
(04:31):
but really a survival plan, just to put food on
the table and shirts on their back and roof over
their head.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I know this won't surprise you, but we hear so
many stories in the series about when somebody starts something
and it turns out to be something completely different. And
that's the extraordiny cool things about life in the different
paths and different roads that people take. Now as you
know it from your dad when he was with the
company and running it, and then you got old enough
to understand what he was doing, tell me about his
(04:59):
involvement in your interest or not your interest in it,
because I know sometimes when you start passing family business
down to the children, some want to be a part
of it, some don't. So what was the whole antithesis
of your dad kind of making the company what it
is now and then your thoughts about the company.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So what I'm gonna do is correct you here. It
actually started with my granddad.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Then it went to so my grandparents had three sons,
no daughters. My dad was oldest of three boys and
then subsequently, after school, my father got involved in the company,
and then my two uncles got involved in this company
as well, and so that that took them through. You know,
that's really kind of the late fifties and early sixties.
And then from there this really the story goes. But
(05:43):
how'd you get involved? And if I really wanted to
see my father, I had to go to work with them,
because in a family business, it's really twenty four to seven,
and so, you know, I would my dad would leave
in the mornings for work before I'd get up to
go to school, and he'd come home late at night
after I'd gone to bed. And so I remember literally
at the age of eight and nine and ten years old,
(06:04):
you know, to see Dad or spending time with him.
With him, we had my brother and I who was
a year younger and I was We had to go
to work with him on the weekends.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And so then subsequently, if you're going to be at
work there, he's going to put you to work.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
So you know, we had brooms in our hands and
or we're cleaning out trucks, or we're putting things away
in the warehouse. But that's really the exposure to the
business at the rightful young age of eight nine and
ten years of old.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So when you got a little bit older, maybe your
college years, did you know you wanted to be a
part of the company. Did your dad want you to
be at the part of the company. Where was your
head at that moment?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Sure, So there was no entitlement at any time. It
was there's a job to be done, and do you
want to do that job? And what I mean by
that is this not not a fancy office job. It's
an operational job. And do you want to You know,
we have this truck going here? Do you want to
take that truck there? We have this load to take.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Care of there? Do you want to care that?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And So I was involved in that all through high school,
and then I elected to stay close to home here
and go to college again at Northern Virginia Community College
in George Mason. So I would work after high school
each day, and I would work during college. And again,
you know, I enjoyed making the money, as anyone would
at that particular time, but I also had ideas of
(07:25):
my own, and I was sharing those ideas with my
grandmother at the time. And I was approaching my graduation
from school and she said, well, listen, if you need
a little something to help you start what you're thinking about,
I'd be helping you to help you out.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And so that was really a.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Turning point for me in that I had these ideas,
but I had not put pen to paper, and when
she approached me with that, I thought, Wow, you know,
maybe I don't know everything I need to know yet,
and maybe I'm not quite ready to do this. So
my grandfather had an advertising agency at the time that
was separate from the moving ventured that he had got
involved in, and he offered me an opportunity to come
(08:04):
work over there where it was only he kind of
managing the company, and so I took advantage of that
and it was a great learning experience.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I mean, it was a terrific one. I don't have
any regrets.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
One of the things that we've noticed in the series,
whether either it's grandparents or parents, or maybe somebody significant
from a family member or friend in their lives, when
they passed down the idea of doing something, and it
sounds like everybody in this family, the third generation you
saw a very entrepreneurial spirit. Did that stick with you?
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yes? And I think the company.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
As it continued to grow, it allowed all of the
family members to pursue their various entrepreneurial interests. Over the years,
we've become a fairly diversified organization, you know, starting out
with my granddad just providing local moving services to families
just here in the Washington DC area, to expanding regionally,
(08:59):
then expanding nationally, then expanding internationally, and then expanding beyond
just residential household goods moving, but more into commercial supply
chain logistics, and then even from there into what we
call relocation management, which is a lot of the ancillary
things that take place around a move, but not necessarily
the physical move itself. So with all that said, it's
(09:20):
it's it's just offered just a wide variety of lanes
to travel and uh, in any really any direction you
want to go.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well, let's back up a man, And when it comes
to interstated family of companies, let's talk about mission and vision.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
What are those sure?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Well, on the mission side, uh, we like to say
that we are here to empower our customers with inclusive solutions,
and so it's a very customer centric, customer focused approach.
And again, you.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Know, we're here because of the customer.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
We don't exist without our customer and empowering them to
to work towards the US developing the solution that they need.
And so that's our mission as far as Vision is concerned.
We want to be the preferred provider of seamless and
comprehensive moving relocation and logistics services on a global basis.
(10:15):
And so it's not too fancy. We try to keep
it simple, but we feel that keeping it simple keeps
us focused.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Standing well, budd you had talked about this just a
little bit just a few seconds before. But if you
were to give a thirty thousand foot view as you
introduce a company somebody knew that maybe hasn't heard about
what you do, what would you tell everybody that you exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Do sure, real easily.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
We're a global provider of moving relocation, management, and supply
chain logistics services on a global basis. And while we
are headquartered here in the Washington, DC area, we literally
serve the globe. And whether that's for the Department of
Defense or federal civilian agencies, intelligence community corporations, and then
(11:01):
private individuals.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Is how I explain it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I imagine that it is a competitive space and with your
net Cast as you have now in the company, being
third generation. When it comes to differentiating yourself and saying
we do it the best, how do you differentiate yourself
from that said competition.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Sure, so, moving, unfortunately, is in the top five of
most traumatic life events.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I agree with that from somebody who's moved a ton
because of my business. Yes, sir, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And so it's like, well, what do you want to
do when you grow up?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Well, I want to be part of an organization that's
part of the top five most traumatic events for life,
you know, I don't, you know, you have to think
about that for a little while. But you know, when
when when you know, unfortunately, whether it's a death of
a loved one or divorce or you know, serious relationship
situations or illnesses or job loss or career changes.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
You know, and then there's moving.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
And so we we what we pride ourselves on is that.
And the good fortune of being a legacy company is
the way I referred to us as being eighty years old,
is that we have just this wonderful, demonstrated experience. And
while no two moves or no two situations for either
individuals or companies are exactly the same, we've seen an
(12:20):
awful lot and so with that we can bring just
a vast background of experience and solutions that we've been
able to work with our previous customers on to our
customers today. And it brings a peace of mind, uh,
to individuals because it's just you know, in moving and again,
(12:44):
whether it's your your home or your offices, your workplace,
whatever it might be. Uh, there's that uncertainty kind of
you know, you feel like you're losing control. There's our
disruption of routines that you're typically you know, just familiar with.
Many times there could be some financial issues or financial
stress and doing it and then kind of a disconnect.
You know, I'm here and now I'm going there, and
(13:04):
again whether it's for work or for home, and it's
just it's at up evil and and so we just
pride ourselves and being able to help people work through
all of that and from a very proactive standpoint.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And I know you're just kind of touching the tip
of the iceberg. But as I look at the website, well,
which we'll give at the end of the interview for everybody,
but but residential moves, there's a long list of different
kind of residential moves that you do, and then commercial
moves too, so you're trying to be hit as everything.
I imagine that you have a very large staff. How
many staff in the company right now, probably a little
short of three hundred. Okay, well that's pretty extraordinary. But
(13:40):
it seems like, you know, you've kind of hit every
facet of moving out there, and I imagine each type
of move is a little different, so you have to
get good at that, and that takes a lot of experience,
and you're probably perfect.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I would imagine you know, there's there's differences and there's
also similarities, and so whether you're moving someone's home from
from here about five miles away, or you're moving from
here to three thousand miles away to California. While you're moving,
there's still different things that take place within that, and
(14:12):
that's knowing what needs to take place in the order
and the sequencing and then preparing your customer for that
is key.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
I imagine that you've seen a lot in the eighteen
years that you've been in charge of the company, but
you've known about it for a long time. It's third generation,
it's eighty plus years, so I imagine there's been a
lot of ebbs and flows. But I'm so curious under
your tenure COVID happened, and I imagine how that affected you.
I can imagine some of the things that automatically happened
to you the company and staff. But did the company
(14:42):
have to pivot it all? Did you change any type
of your business plan during and then after COVID.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
That's a terrific question, because I'll be honest with you,
and my professional career is probably one of the most,
if not the most challenging time because there was no
lesson plan to turn to. Usually, you can look at
a situation and you can look back and say, well,
we had something similar like this happen here or there.
(15:09):
Let's look at the book playbook then and what did
we do. But in that situation, there was no playbook
to turn to, and so coming in literally every single
day and writing the playbook was really tough and trying
to address all the concerns, whether first and foremost with
our own staff and protecting them, and then to addressing
(15:32):
the concerns of our customers. And there were certain concerns
in the residential sector that we serve, and there was
concerns in the commercial sector.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
We serve in.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Workplaces and good fortune for us, we were deemed an
essential business. So that allowed us to continue to operate
and allow our staff to come in and for us
to function. It allowed us to continue to have a
revenue stream that helped sustain the company through those tough
times where other businesses were unable to do that. They
(16:00):
had a whole other series of challenges that they had
to face. And uh so pivoting was our middle name
throughout all of that. And and while we saw certain
markets that we served really get crushed, the residential housing market,
you know, almost stopped. People didn't want people in their
houses to live and look at a house to buy
(16:21):
it more or less even sell and move. And but
at the same time though from our logistics standpoint, it
really flourished. And we were getting phone calls from healthcare
providers in the area where they were having to order
and increase their supply chain flow of beds and ppe
gear and what are we going to do with it?
And and we need someone to asset and manage this
(16:43):
for us and then do our deployment to where we
need it sent to. We're going to be converting office
buildings potentially into hospital units, and you know, can you
assist us with that? To UH to some local universities
calling us saying that one, we want to first of all,
this all happened during spring break and the kids are
(17:04):
away and we're not going to allow them to return
to the campus. But we have all of their property
in their dorm rooms. Can you come in and take
inventory of that property and then dispense that to them
wherever they want it. Do they want to store it
until they return back to school? Do they want sent home?
What do they want to do? Two, we want to
social distance the class and learning areas when they do
(17:25):
return back in the fall. Can you come in and
we want to completely reconfigure all of our academic learning
buildings and our residential dorm areas where we don't want
the big social areas of the sofas and the couches
and this and that and the other. We want to
minimalize it. And so again, it was one extreme to
the other as far as what was taking place within
(17:46):
the customers and the markets that we serve.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
But I don't know if it's a business one on
one question, but I know your journey specific to you
and the company when it comes to interstate, well, when
it comes to sustainability or growth or both, especially your
journey and interstate. As people listen to the series, everybody's
got a different kind of company, whether it's small, medium, large.
What kind of advice do you give them when it
comes to being sustainable as opposed to growing or doing both.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Well, We follow a very old philosophy of business practice,
and that was with the advent of my grandfather going
through the Great Depression, and he was such a large
part of this organization. We are financially conservative and we
take pride in it, and so we are not an
(18:34):
organization that looks to leverage ourselves. We're self contained. Quite frankly,
we're debt free, so we're able to make our own decisions.
We don't have to turn to necessarily a financial institution
or other investors for approval to do certain things. And
so that allows us a lot of opportunity to evaluate
(18:55):
things that possibly we wouldn't be able to evaluate because
whomever the investors or the final was through whatdn't allow
us to But the we we're able to control our
own destiny. And so I would tell folks that you know,
you know, growth is important, and but uh, we've it's
it's it's worked for us and and we've now we're
(19:18):
approaching our eighty second year and we have had a
profitable year for the previous eighty one and it's and
it's and it's hard.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
To beat that success rate.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
And certainly, could we be larger than we are right now,
but yes, but size has never been necessarily what we've
reached for we uh, we have been always a quality
over quantity organization and and it's it's it's has satisfied us.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Sure, well, that makes sense. And there's an old adage
about not getting over your skis, and I think you
probably lived by that, right.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
We have we have and again you know you you
you sometimes you certainly second guessing yourselves at times, and
you're maybe looking at what a competitors do or we
even not necessarily other competitors, but by other people in
the business community and what they're doing and where they've
been able to go. But you know, it's just what
do organizations aspire to be And for us it hasn't
been the largest. But again, you have to grow to
(20:16):
sustain yourself. There isn't any there isn't a status quo.
If you're not aspiring, you're expiring.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, yeah, well said I appreciate that. Well, I know
things are going really well, But are there any challenges,
whether it's you specifically in the company or the industry,
or what's happening out there right now that you're fighting against.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I would think our challenges are very similar to others
right now talking about what's taking place today in a
global aspect, and that's just uncertainty for what's taking place
right now in the US and how that rolls out
across around the world. Again, about thirty to five percent
of our business is international, so we are in every
(21:00):
aspect of the various continents around the world, and it's
just it's the uncertainty of what to anticipate, and that
makes some of the decision making right now a bit difficult.
And so if we could level that out a little bit,
I think it would be helpful not only to our organization,
(21:21):
but most organizations out there.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
No doubt. Well, but I want to put a pin
in work just for a second and talk about philanthropic
and charity work. When you do have time, and imagine
you and your team are very very busy, but when
you do have time to be a part of something.
What do you like to be part of?
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Well, I you know, my grandfather always told us we're
only as strong as a community we serve, and and
he was very generous and was a great role model
for us and the company, and so we are very
community centric and and so throughout the years, it's just
(21:56):
every year, quite frankly, it's dozens and dozens of organisations
that we look to support. We typically focus on those
less fortunate because we really feel that we are very
lucky to be where we are and and have what
we what we do, and so in that framework, you know,
whether it's you know, working with children, we've been a
(22:17):
large supporter of Toys for Tots prior for it's it's
a legacy involvement there for us as well. We're probably
thirty five plus years. And it's not necessarily all monetary donations,
but it's actually it's it's it's support, it's physical support,
it's it's helping that organization with there not only monetarily
and donations to buy the gifts for the children, but
(22:40):
it's the logistics support of how all that's going to
transpire and what can we do to help make that work,
and so that that's one that's a standout for us. Also, again,
we do a lot with the Department Offense and have
the great fortune of moving military service members around the world,
and they're they're big part of our organization, and so
(23:03):
we will do a lot on that side of the
fence too, one especially as a reese across America. Again
not just monetary, but from a logistics support standpoint, helping
them do what it takes to to get the rees
to the to the various military burial sites uh throughout
(23:23):
throughout the country and and we're proud to be able
to do that. And we do similar things over the
intelligence community for those that have unfortunately lost their lives, helping,
you know, protect our country and the families that they
leave behind and the survivors there also, So just a
just a couple of things that we're involved in outstanding.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I appreciate you sharing all that, but if you could
for me and indulge me just a little bit, I'd
always like to ask leaders like you by leadership, and
I think you're in a real interesting position of this
third generation family. There's a legacy. I don't know if
you're handing it down, and I do want to ask
you about that if anybody in the family is interested
and taking up what you've done. But I did want to,
(24:05):
you know, kind of chat about you know, three hundred
people and there's a lot of moving parts in what
you do, and I only know the tip of the
iceberg what you told me, what I think moving is
and all that goes with it. But with that said,
when it comes to having your vision and what you
want to happen, making sure your employees of course and
your staff have a good work life balance, but all
executing that great customer service that I imagine you're very
(24:28):
proud of, how does that all work? When it comes
to leadership and what does it mean to you? Is
you run this company?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
H uh? Okay, lot there, Yeah, the.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Uh you know, it's it's it's it's about, in my opinion,
balance and balancing the needs first and foremost our team,
because without our team, we wouldn't be what we are.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
And and that's.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
From what i'll call our professional services side of the house,
what i'll call probably you know, our back room where
our human resources team that handles all of our talent
management and our talent development and to our finance group
to our to our technology team, to our customer service. Uh,
it's it's it's balancing what's taking place there and what
(25:16):
the needs and the resources that they need to do
their job, and uh, and to and to support our
customers to the what I'll call our trade side that
would be our drivers and our movers and our warehousemen
and what i call our frontline team that's out there
working with the customers on a day to day basis.
And again the same thing, what kind of resources do
(25:37):
they need to be able to do their jobs properly
to bring the solutions that we do to our to
our customers.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And so uh, it's.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Again it's rolling all that up and at the same
time though, bringing everybody collaboratively together because those are some
fairly diverse groups of of career professionals there with different
needs and different again aspirations and different desires of what
they want to accomplish. And so but I'll tell you what,
(26:08):
it all revolves around communication. So we just try to
maintain a very very high level communication throughout the organization.
In fact, here next Wednesday every month we bring all
hands on board meeting regardless of where you are around
the world. Every the second Wednesday of every month, we
get together for an hour or two and just communicate
with everybody on what's taking place. We bring a real
(26:31):
personal accounting to it to celebrate anniversaries and achievements within
the organizations, new marriages and relationships to new kids and grandkids,
and then an update on you know, how the organizations
doing what we foresee coming up here in the future.
Keeping everybody informed. So so everyone everyone's here with a
(26:51):
purpose and they want to serve a purpose, and so
we try to keep a high level communication and achieving that.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
So we've talked about the generals, and I know there's
a fourth generation out there. And I don't know if
you're a big on legacy or now, but this company
has been going for a very long time. I'm sure
you'd like to see it continue. Anybody in that fourth
generation interested or are they a part of the organization
right now?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (27:13):
So, right now, third generation, second generation owns a company,
third generations operating in the company, the fourth generations out
there figuring their life out. Sure.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
So.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I think the oldest of the fourth generation is probably
about twenty six twenty seven members, And I think the
oldest is probably thirty three right now. And so what
we've tried to do over our years is study, you know,
what has made family business is successful and what other
ones have struggled at and what we One thing that
(27:43):
we have learned is the ones that have struggled and
have not been able to sustain themselves are ones that
you see that there was an entitlement associated in the
family with an opportunity in the company. And that is
not how my brother and I and my cousin and
were introduced to the company. We were introduced on the
at the bottom of the barrel and worked our way
(28:06):
up and which was a great experience. May not have
thought about it at the time, but it was now
when you look back on it. And and so the
same thing with the fourth generation. So no one is
pressured to come into the company whatsoever. And we welcome them,
but we welcome them when we have a need and they.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Can satisfy that need.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
So right now, go out, get your education, learn, build skills,
build competencies, build value, and then at a particular time
to express an interest to can be considered to join
the organization. We will talk to you. Nothing is guaranteed.
In fact, you won't be working for another family member.
(28:46):
You'd be working for one of our other professionals that
we have on staff here. You'll be interviewing with them,
and if they believe that you can fill a void
and a need, then then we'd be happy to talk
to you further.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I love it great values. Well, let's do this, but
I really enjoyed this conversation. But I do want to
get some final thoughts from you about what we had
chatted about. We're going to get the website. You can
tell people if you're hiring. Final thoughts from you, sir,
The floor is yours.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Well, Thank you well. The our ur L is move
interstate dot com. For those that are maybe interested in
some professional career opportunities forward slash careers or just from
the general website, there should be a careers link there.
We are always looking for a few good men and women. Again,
(29:33):
we have opportunities throughout the organization, whether it's on a
professional services side or whether it's on a trade side.
One of the nicest things about a legacy business such
as ours is we have great tenure here and we
celebrated a forty year career last week. They're still with us.
(29:55):
Y're not retiring, but we celebrated forty years. We celebrated
to forty years last year. We actually have a number
of thirty year career members here with this and oh
my gosh, more than a couple dozen in the tens
and twenties. So obviously or hopefully, we have something here
(30:19):
that's been attracted to them throughout their work life and
we're happy to have them here with us. So and
then again, you know, we work within a very difficult
time in people's lives, when there's a high level of
stress and whether it's both on their home side or
(30:39):
their work side, and I just like to think that
we were very customer centric. We look to bring solutions
and bring people a peace of mind as they pardon
the pun, move forward in their next steps. So we're
we like to say that there's more to a move
than just getting there, and we know that getting their.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Part so well from somebody the other side that's moved
many many times. I could not agree more with you, Bud,
so listen, thanks so much, continue success. It really is
a tremendous story. I talked to so many cool people
in this series from all over the world, but talking
to a life or somebody from my neck of the woods.
It's really cool that this family business has been handed
down and it hasn't been given, and it's been earned.
(31:23):
And I love to hear those kind of stories. And
it's about morals and values and work ethic and doing
the right thing and trying to turn it into a
successful business, which you have with your team. So I
appreciate your valuable time and thank you so much. I'm
glad we could feature you on CEOs you should know.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, thank you. I've enjoyed the conversation. I really have.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs you
should know. Is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts by backing the businesses within them.
As a Bank for communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent, and resources to help local businesses thrive
because when businesses succeed, our communities succeed.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
HM
M and T Bank present CEOs. You should know Poward
by Iheartgati.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Let's meet Bud Morrissett. He is the CEO and group
president for Interstate Family of Companies, which is a global
organization specializing in moving, storage, relocation management, and supply chain logistics.
His third generation company has been around for eighty two
years and is based in the DMV. Before we talk
more about Bud's company, I first asked him to talk
a little bit about himself, where he's from, and his
(00:26):
origin story.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
So I'm a native Washingtonian.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
My family was over in the southeast Washington side of town.
My mom and dad actually grew up there as well.
Attended Anacostia High School. Shortly after being born, my family
migrated over to the Northern Virginia side of the river.
And I've been a byproduct of Fairfax County, Virginia for
(00:50):
almost my entire life.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
And where'd you go to school?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Actually went to Fairfax County Public Schools, Lake Braddock Secondary
in Broke, Virginia, and then subsequently went to a Northern
Virginia Community College and then George Mason University and Fairfax. Good.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Well, you and I have a lot in common I
went to Jeb Stewart when it was called that in
False Church, and then Mason after that too, so we
have a lot in common in that area. I'm really
looking forward to talking to you, but about Interstate and
your family of the companies, because your third generation and
the company's been around for eighty years and I don't
get in this position to talk to too many people
(01:26):
that are in a third generation company, and it's really extraordinary.
So what I'd love to do first of all is
just talk about the origin, about what you know about
the history of your grandparents starting Interstate in the company,
what it was then, and then what it's involved to
now in the third generation with yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Sure, So the story goes back to the early nineteen
twenties and thirties when my grandfather very unfortunately lost his
mother when he was eight and then his father when
he was fifteen. So it necessitated him having to drop
out of high school in the ninth grade just to
take care of his two younger sisters through acquiring odd jobs.
(02:05):
He had no family in the area and it was
really his only recourse. And so with that said again,
he would really pick up any type of opportunity that
could he could earn some money with. And again with
only a ninth grade education, you know, there wasn't a
lot of education available to him to go out to
explore more professional opportunities. And so it may have been
(02:27):
working just as a bedside at the local hospital, or
working at a filling station, or doing yard work for
other individuals.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You know, it's got to be a wild time. Of
the stories that you probably heard from your parents, because
that's just after the crash, and then your grandfather has
to be on his own. And I'm sure that wasn't
uncommon back then for things to happen, especially during tough
times in the early part of the nineteen hundreds, but
it's just extraordinary. So when the idea came up of
coming up with a company and the history of it
(02:58):
and the idea of what it was to be, what
do you know of it?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, so it really wasn't coming up with a company.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
My granddad was working at one of the local department
stores here for locals here recognize the name Woodron Lowthroup.
Oh yeah, And he was just a stock clerk there
and he had the great fortune of meeting a pretty
young lady that was a sales clerk that ended up
becoming my grandmother, and then the two of them subsequently
got married a year or two later, and from there,
(03:28):
my grandmother became pregnant with my dad, and my grandfather
knew that he was going to have to earn more
money to raise a family, and so he acquired a
job with the Department of Navy, just a civil service
position in the human resources department, and was fortunate enough
to work in that position for about six years until
he was twenty seven, and he just became frustrated. He
(03:50):
had a lot of energy, and he had a lot
of thoughts and ideas, and he kind of wanted to
do his own things. So there in the around nineteen
forty three when the company was founded, he left and
put together four hundred and fifty dollars with another gentleman
and bought a used truck and just thought that that
truck could become a tool and a toolbox that.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
He could do various things with.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
And as we all know, whether you have a small
truck or an old station wagon in the day or
suv today, if it's large enough, someone's going to ask it,
can you move something for me? And so subsequently someone
did they asked him if they could move something, and
that really became the start of the moving business. So
not a planned not a company business plan per se,
(04:31):
but really a survival plan, just to put food on
the table and shirts on their back and roof over
their head.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
I know this won't surprise you, but we hear so
many stories in the series about when somebody starts something
and it turns out to be something completely different. And
that's the extraordiny cool things about life in the different
paths and different roads that people take. Now as you
know it from your dad when he was with the
company and running it, and then you got old enough
to understand what he was doing, tell me about his
(04:59):
involvement in your interest or not your interest in it,
because I know sometimes when you start passing family business
down to the children, some want to be a part
of it, some don't. So what was the whole antithesis
of your dad kind of making the company what it
is now and then your thoughts about the company.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So what I'm gonna do is correct you here. It
actually started with my granddad.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Then it went to so my grandparents had three sons,
no daughters. My dad was oldest of three boys and
then subsequently, after school, my father got involved in the company,
and then my two uncles got involved in this company
as well, and so that that took them through. You know,
that's really kind of the late fifties and early sixties.
And then from there this really the story goes. But
(05:43):
how'd you get involved? And if I really wanted to
see my father, I had to go to work with them,
because in a family business, it's really twenty four to seven,
and so, you know, I would my dad would leave
in the mornings for work before I'd get up to
go to school, and he'd come home late at night
after I'd gone to bed. And so I remember literally
at the age of eight and nine and ten years old,
(06:04):
you know, to see Dad or spending time with him.
With him, we had my brother and I who was
a year younger and I was We had to go
to work with him on the weekends.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And so then subsequently, if you're going to be at
work there, he's going to put you to work.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
So you know, we had brooms in our hands and
or we're cleaning out trucks, or we're putting things away
in the warehouse. But that's really the exposure to the
business at the rightful young age of eight nine and
ten years of old.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So when you got a little bit older, maybe your
college years, did you know you wanted to be a
part of the company. Did your dad want you to
be at the part of the company. Where was your
head at that moment?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Sure, So there was no entitlement at any time. It
was there's a job to be done, and do you
want to do that job? And what I mean by
that is this not not a fancy office job. It's
an operational job. And do you want to You know,
we have this truck going here? Do you want to
take that truck there? We have this load to take.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Care of there? Do you want to care that?
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And So I was involved in that all through high school,
and then I elected to stay close to home here
and go to college again at Northern Virginia Community College
in George Mason. So I would work after high school
each day, and I would work during college. And again,
you know, I enjoyed making the money, as anyone would
at that particular time, but I also had ideas of
(07:25):
my own, and I was sharing those ideas with my
grandmother at the time. And I was approaching my graduation
from school and she said, well, listen, if you need
a little something to help you start what you're thinking about,
I'd be helping you to help you out.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And so that was really a.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Turning point for me in that I had these ideas,
but I had not put pen to paper, and when
she approached me with that, I thought, Wow, you know,
maybe I don't know everything I need to know yet,
and maybe I'm not quite ready to do this. So
my grandfather had an advertising agency at the time that
was separate from the moving ventured that he had got
involved in, and he offered me an opportunity to come
(08:04):
work over there where it was only he kind of
managing the company, and so I took advantage of that
and it was a great learning experience.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I mean, it was a terrific one. I don't have
any regrets.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
One of the things that we've noticed in the series,
whether either it's grandparents or parents, or maybe somebody significant
from a family member or friend in their lives, when
they passed down the idea of doing something, and it
sounds like everybody in this family, the third generation you
saw a very entrepreneurial spirit. Did that stick with you?
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yes? And I think the company.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
As it continued to grow, it allowed all of the
family members to pursue their various entrepreneurial interests. Over the years,
we've become a fairly diversified organization, you know, starting out
with my granddad just providing local moving services to families
just here in the Washington DC area, to expanding regionally,
(08:59):
then expanding nationally, then expanding internationally, and then expanding beyond
just residential household goods moving, but more into commercial supply
chain logistics, and then even from there into what we
call relocation management, which is a lot of the ancillary
things that take place around a move, but not necessarily
the physical move itself. So with all that said, it's
(09:20):
it's it's just offered just a wide variety of lanes
to travel and uh, in any really any direction you
want to go.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well, let's back up a man, And when it comes
to interstated family of companies, let's talk about mission and vision.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
What are those sure?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Well, on the mission side, uh, we like to say
that we are here to empower our customers with inclusive solutions,
and so it's a very customer centric, customer focused approach.
And again, you.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Know, we're here because of the customer.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
We don't exist without our customer and empowering them to
to work towards the US developing the solution that they need.
And so that's our mission as far as Vision is concerned.
We want to be the preferred provider of seamless and
comprehensive moving relocation and logistics services on a global basis.
(10:15):
And so it's not too fancy. We try to keep
it simple, but we feel that keeping it simple keeps
us focused.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Standing well, budd you had talked about this just a
little bit just a few seconds before. But if you
were to give a thirty thousand foot view as you
introduce a company somebody knew that maybe hasn't heard about
what you do, what would you tell everybody that you exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Do sure, real easily.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
We're a global provider of moving relocation, management, and supply
chain logistics services on a global basis. And while we
are headquartered here in the Washington, DC area, we literally
serve the globe. And whether that's for the Department of
Defense or federal civilian agencies, intelligence community corporations, and then
(11:01):
private individuals.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Is how I explain it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I imagine that it is a competitive space and with your
net Cast as you have now in the company, being
third generation. When it comes to differentiating yourself and saying
we do it the best, how do you differentiate yourself
from that said competition.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Sure, so, moving, unfortunately, is in the top five of
most traumatic life events.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I agree with that from somebody who's moved a ton
because of my business. Yes, sir, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And so it's like, well, what do you want to
do when you grow up?
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Well, I want to be part of an organization that's
part of the top five most traumatic events for life,
you know, I don't, you know, you have to think
about that for a little while. But you know, when
when when you know, unfortunately, whether it's a death of
a loved one or divorce or you know, serious relationship
situations or illnesses or job loss or career changes.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
You know, and then there's moving.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
And so we we what we pride ourselves on is that.
And the good fortune of being a legacy company is
the way I referred to us as being eighty years old,
is that we have just this wonderful, demonstrated experience. And
while no two moves or no two situations for either
individuals or companies are exactly the same, we've seen an
(12:20):
awful lot and so with that we can bring just
a vast background of experience and solutions that we've been
able to work with our previous customers on to our
customers today. And it brings a peace of mind, uh,
to individuals because it's just you know, in moving and again,
(12:44):
whether it's your your home or your offices, your workplace,
whatever it might be. Uh, there's that uncertainty kind of
you know, you feel like you're losing control. There's our
disruption of routines that you're typically you know, just familiar with.
Many times there could be some financial issues or financial
stress and doing it and then kind of a disconnect.
You know, I'm here and now I'm going there, and
(13:04):
again whether it's for work or for home, and it's
just it's at up evil and and so we just
pride ourselves and being able to help people work through
all of that and from a very proactive standpoint.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And I know you're just kind of touching the tip
of the iceberg. But as I look at the website, well,
which we'll give at the end of the interview for everybody,
but but residential moves, there's a long list of different
kind of residential moves that you do, and then commercial
moves too, so you're trying to be hit as everything.
I imagine that you have a very large staff. How
many staff in the company right now, probably a little
short of three hundred. Okay, well that's pretty extraordinary. But
(13:40):
it seems like, you know, you've kind of hit every
facet of moving out there, and I imagine each type
of move is a little different, so you have to
get good at that, and that takes a lot of experience,
and you're probably perfect.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
I would imagine you know, there's there's differences and there's
also similarities, and so whether you're moving someone's home from
from here about five miles away, or you're moving from
here to three thousand miles away to California. While you're moving,
there's still different things that take place within that, and
(14:12):
that's knowing what needs to take place in the order
and the sequencing and then preparing your customer for that
is key.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
I imagine that you've seen a lot in the eighteen
years that you've been in charge of the company, but
you've known about it for a long time. It's third generation,
it's eighty plus years, so I imagine there's been a
lot of ebbs and flows. But I'm so curious under
your tenure COVID happened, and I imagine how that affected you.
I can imagine some of the things that automatically happened
to you the company and staff. But did the company
(14:42):
have to pivot it all? Did you change any type
of your business plan during and then after COVID.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
That's a terrific question, because I'll be honest with you,
and my professional career is probably one of the most,
if not the most challenging time because there was no
lesson plan to turn to. Usually, you can look at
a situation and you can look back and say, well,
we had something similar like this happen here or there.
(15:09):
Let's look at the book playbook then and what did
we do. But in that situation, there was no playbook
to turn to, and so coming in literally every single
day and writing the playbook was really tough and trying
to address all the concerns, whether first and foremost with
our own staff and protecting them, and then to addressing
(15:32):
the concerns of our customers. And there were certain concerns
in the residential sector that we serve, and there was
concerns in the commercial sector.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
We serve in.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Workplaces and good fortune for us, we were deemed an
essential business. So that allowed us to continue to operate
and allow our staff to come in and for us
to function. It allowed us to continue to have a
revenue stream that helped sustain the company through those tough
times where other businesses were unable to do that. They
(16:00):
had a whole other series of challenges that they had
to face. And uh so pivoting was our middle name
throughout all of that. And and while we saw certain
markets that we served really get crushed, the residential housing market,
you know, almost stopped. People didn't want people in their
houses to live and look at a house to buy
(16:21):
it more or less even sell and move. And but
at the same time though from our logistics standpoint, it
really flourished. And we were getting phone calls from healthcare
providers in the area where they were having to order
and increase their supply chain flow of beds and ppe
gear and what are we going to do with it?
And and we need someone to asset and manage this
(16:43):
for us and then do our deployment to where we
need it sent to. We're going to be converting office
buildings potentially into hospital units, and you know, can you
assist us with that? To UH to some local universities
calling us saying that one, we want to first of all,
this all happened during spring break and the kids are
(17:04):
away and we're not going to allow them to return
to the campus. But we have all of their property
in their dorm rooms. Can you come in and take
inventory of that property and then dispense that to them
wherever they want it. Do they want to store it
until they return back to school? Do they want sent home?
What do they want to do? Two, we want to
social distance the class and learning areas when they do
(17:25):
return back in the fall. Can you come in and
we want to completely reconfigure all of our academic learning
buildings and our residential dorm areas where we don't want
the big social areas of the sofas and the couches
and this and that and the other. We want to
minimalize it. And so again, it was one extreme to
the other as far as what was taking place within
(17:46):
the customers and the markets that we serve.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
But I don't know if it's a business one on
one question, but I know your journey specific to you
and the company when it comes to interstate, well, when
it comes to sustainability or growth or both, especially your
journey and interstate. As people listen to the series, everybody's
got a different kind of company, whether it's small, medium, large.
What kind of advice do you give them when it
comes to being sustainable as opposed to growing or doing both.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Well, We follow a very old philosophy of business practice,
and that was with the advent of my grandfather going
through the Great Depression, and he was such a large
part of this organization. We are financially conservative and we
take pride in it, and so we are not an
(18:34):
organization that looks to leverage ourselves. We're self contained. Quite frankly,
we're debt free, so we're able to make our own decisions.
We don't have to turn to necessarily a financial institution
or other investors for approval to do certain things. And
so that allows us a lot of opportunity to evaluate
(18:55):
things that possibly we wouldn't be able to evaluate because
whomever the investors or the final was through whatdn't allow
us to But the we we're able to control our
own destiny. And so I would tell folks that you know,
you know, growth is important, and but uh, we've it's
it's it's worked for us and and we've now we're
(19:18):
approaching our eighty second year and we have had a
profitable year for the previous eighty one and it's and
it's and it's hard.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
To beat that success rate.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
And certainly, could we be larger than we are right now,
but yes, but size has never been necessarily what we've
reached for we uh, we have been always a quality
over quantity organization and and it's it's it's has satisfied us.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Sure, well, that makes sense. And there's an old adage
about not getting over your skis, and I think you
probably lived by that, right.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
We have we have and again you know you you
you sometimes you certainly second guessing yourselves at times, and
you're maybe looking at what a competitors do or we
even not necessarily other competitors, but by other people in
the business community and what they're doing and where they've
been able to go. But you know, it's just what
do organizations aspire to be And for us it hasn't
been the largest. But again, you have to grow to
(20:16):
sustain yourself. There isn't any there isn't a status quo.
If you're not aspiring, you're expiring.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, yeah, well said I appreciate that. Well, I know
things are going really well, But are there any challenges,
whether it's you specifically in the company or the industry,
or what's happening out there right now that you're fighting against.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
I would think our challenges are very similar to others
right now talking about what's taking place today in a
global aspect, and that's just uncertainty for what's taking place
right now in the US and how that rolls out
across around the world. Again, about thirty to five percent
of our business is international, so we are in every
(21:00):
aspect of the various continents around the world, and it's
just it's the uncertainty of what to anticipate, and that
makes some of the decision making right now a bit difficult.
And so if we could level that out a little bit,
I think it would be helpful not only to our organization,
(21:21):
but most organizations out there.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
No doubt. Well, but I want to put a pin
in work just for a second and talk about philanthropic
and charity work. When you do have time, and imagine
you and your team are very very busy, but when
you do have time to be a part of something.
What do you like to be part of?
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Well, I you know, my grandfather always told us we're
only as strong as a community we serve, and and
he was very generous and was a great role model
for us and the company, and so we are very
community centric and and so throughout the years, it's just
(21:56):
every year, quite frankly, it's dozens and dozens of organisations
that we look to support. We typically focus on those
less fortunate because we really feel that we are very
lucky to be where we are and and have what
we what we do, and so in that framework, you know,
whether it's you know, working with children, we've been a
(22:17):
large supporter of Toys for Tots prior for it's it's
a legacy involvement there for us as well. We're probably
thirty five plus years. And it's not necessarily all monetary donations,
but it's actually it's it's it's support, it's physical support,
it's it's helping that organization with there not only monetarily
and donations to buy the gifts for the children, but
(22:40):
it's the logistics support of how all that's going to
transpire and what can we do to help make that work,
and so that that's one that's a standout for us. Also, again,
we do a lot with the Department Offense and have
the great fortune of moving military service members around the world,
and they're they're big part of our organization, and so
(23:03):
we will do a lot on that side of the
fence too, one especially as a reese across America. Again
not just monetary, but from a logistics support standpoint, helping
them do what it takes to to get the rees
to the to the various military burial sites uh throughout
(23:23):
throughout the country and and we're proud to be able
to do that. And we do similar things over the
intelligence community for those that have unfortunately lost their lives, helping,
you know, protect our country and the families that they
leave behind and the survivors there also, So just a
just a couple of things that we're involved in outstanding.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I appreciate you sharing all that, but if you could
for me and indulge me just a little bit, I'd
always like to ask leaders like you by leadership, and
I think you're in a real interesting position of this
third generation family. There's a legacy. I don't know if
you're handing it down, and I do want to ask
you about that if anybody in the family is interested
and taking up what you've done. But I did want to,
(24:05):
you know, kind of chat about you know, three hundred
people and there's a lot of moving parts in what
you do, and I only know the tip of the
iceberg what you told me, what I think moving is
and all that goes with it. But with that said,
when it comes to having your vision and what you
want to happen, making sure your employees of course and
your staff have a good work life balance, but all
executing that great customer service that I imagine you're very
(24:28):
proud of, how does that all work? When it comes
to leadership and what does it mean to you? Is
you run this company?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
H uh? Okay, lot there, Yeah, the.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
Uh you know, it's it's it's it's about, in my opinion,
balance and balancing the needs first and foremost our team,
because without our team, we wouldn't be what we are.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
And and that's.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
From what i'll call our professional services side of the house,
what i'll call probably you know, our back room where
our human resources team that handles all of our talent
management and our talent development and to our finance group
to our to our technology team, to our customer service. Uh,
it's it's it's balancing what's taking place there and what
(25:16):
the needs and the resources that they need to do
their job, and uh, and to and to support our
customers to the what I'll call our trade side that
would be our drivers and our movers and our warehousemen
and what i call our frontline team that's out there
working with the customers on a day to day basis.
And again the same thing, what kind of resources do
(25:37):
they need to be able to do their jobs properly
to bring the solutions that we do to our to
our customers.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And so uh, it's.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Again it's rolling all that up and at the same
time though, bringing everybody collaboratively together because those are some
fairly diverse groups of of career professionals there with different
needs and different again aspirations and different desires of what
they want to accomplish. And so but I'll tell you what,
(26:08):
it all revolves around communication. So we just try to
maintain a very very high level communication throughout the organization.
In fact, here next Wednesday every month we bring all
hands on board meeting regardless of where you are around
the world. Every the second Wednesday of every month, we
get together for an hour or two and just communicate
with everybody on what's taking place. We bring a real
(26:31):
personal accounting to it to celebrate anniversaries and achievements within
the organizations, new marriages and relationships to new kids and grandkids,
and then an update on you know, how the organizations
doing what we foresee coming up here in the future.
Keeping everybody informed. So so everyone everyone's here with a
(26:51):
purpose and they want to serve a purpose, and so
we try to keep a high level communication and achieving that.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
So we've talked about the generals, and I know there's
a fourth generation out there. And I don't know if
you're a big on legacy or now, but this company
has been going for a very long time. I'm sure
you'd like to see it continue. Anybody in that fourth
generation interested or are they a part of the organization
right now?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (27:13):
So, right now, third generation, second generation owns a company,
third generations operating in the company, the fourth generations out
there figuring their life out. Sure.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
So.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I think the oldest of the fourth generation is probably
about twenty six twenty seven members, And I think the
oldest is probably thirty three right now. And so what
we've tried to do over our years is study, you know,
what has made family business is successful and what other
ones have struggled at and what we One thing that
(27:43):
we have learned is the ones that have struggled and
have not been able to sustain themselves are ones that
you see that there was an entitlement associated in the
family with an opportunity in the company. And that is
not how my brother and I and my cousin and
were introduced to the company. We were introduced on the
at the bottom of the barrel and worked our way
(28:06):
up and which was a great experience. May not have
thought about it at the time, but it was now
when you look back on it. And and so the
same thing with the fourth generation. So no one is
pressured to come into the company whatsoever. And we welcome them,
but we welcome them when we have a need and they.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Can satisfy that need.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
So right now, go out, get your education, learn, build skills,
build competencies, build value, and then at a particular time
to express an interest to can be considered to join
the organization. We will talk to you. Nothing is guaranteed.
In fact, you won't be working for another family member.
(28:46):
You'd be working for one of our other professionals that
we have on staff here. You'll be interviewing with them,
and if they believe that you can fill a void
and a need, then then we'd be happy to talk
to you further.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
I love it great values. Well, let's do this, but
I really enjoyed this conversation. But I do want to
get some final thoughts from you about what we had
chatted about. We're going to get the website. You can
tell people if you're hiring. Final thoughts from you, sir,
The floor is yours.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Well, Thank you well. The our ur L is move
interstate dot com. For those that are maybe interested in
some professional career opportunities forward slash careers or just from
the general website, there should be a careers link there.
We are always looking for a few good men and women. Again,
(29:33):
we have opportunities throughout the organization, whether it's on a
professional services side or whether it's on a trade side.
One of the nicest things about a legacy business such
as ours is we have great tenure here and we
celebrated a forty year career last week. They're still with us.
(29:55):
Y're not retiring, but we celebrated forty years. We celebrated
to forty years last year. We actually have a number
of thirty year career members here with this and oh
my gosh, more than a couple dozen in the tens
and twenties. So obviously or hopefully, we have something here
(30:19):
that's been attracted to them throughout their work life and
we're happy to have them here with us. So and
then again, you know, we work within a very difficult
time in people's lives, when there's a high level of
stress and whether it's both on their home side or
(30:39):
their work side, and I just like to think that
we were very customer centric. We look to bring solutions
and bring people a peace of mind as they pardon
the pun, move forward in their next steps. So we're
we like to say that there's more to a move
than just getting there, and we know that getting their.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Part so well from somebody the other side that's moved
many many times. I could not agree more with you, Bud,
so listen, thanks so much, continue success. It really is
a tremendous story. I talked to so many cool people
in this series from all over the world, but talking
to a life or somebody from my neck of the woods.
It's really cool that this family business has been handed
down and it hasn't been given, and it's been earned.
(31:23):
And I love to hear those kind of stories. And
it's about morals and values and work ethic and doing
the right thing and trying to turn it into a
successful business, which you have with your team. So I
appreciate your valuable time and thank you so much. I'm
glad we could feature you on CEOs you should know.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Well, thank you. I've enjoyed the conversation. I really have.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs you
should know. Is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts by backing the businesses within them.
As a Bank for communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent, and resources to help local businesses thrive
because when businesses succeed, our communities succeed.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
HM
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