In 1960, an ambitious 3M engineer with a habit of taking on too much, Bob Wahlstedt, landed in the hospital with bleeding ulcers.
He returned to a lighter workload and new wariness about the costs of climbing the corporate ladder.
A few years later, Wahlstedt chose to join another 3M alum in a manufacturers-representative business. By 1970, their firm had evolved into a small manufacturer of hinges and electric clutches called Reell Precision Manufacturing.
Wahlstedt, who is 87, still walks around the factory floor, greeting workers who are now the owners of Reell Precision. "I haven't had any more ulcers," he says.
There were days 20-plus years ago, before he retired as chief executive, when Wahlstedt would join a production line that was lagging. And the recession in 2008 and 2009 brought the company close to failure.
But its CEO since then, Kyle Smith, found a new banker, made painful cuts, rallied demoralized troops and led Reell to a decade of strong profitability and growth.
Wahlstedt and Lee Johnson, 86, two of the three surviving founders, can take heart in a healthy 175-employee outfit that makes products used globally. The firm transitioned successfully to an employee stock ownership plan that awards longtime employees with a six-figure share of the profits they helped it earn. And the independently appraised value of the ESOP has risen 400% over the last decade.
"The stock has done well since 2009. But the fundamental measure of success is how well our people and 'stakeholders' have done over time. Pretty well," Wahlstedt said.
