In 1911, Russell Morin’s grandfather, J.B. Morin opened a small 24-seat diner in front of a four-story jewelry-manufacturing company in Attleboro, sowing the seeds for what is now a restaurant and a catering business that are family run.
According to the Family Firm Institute Inc. of Boston, only about 12 percent of family-owned businesses like Morin’s stay in the family through three generations, a group Morin expects his business to join when his son Michael eventually takes over.
J.B. Morin’s small diner was passed onto his son, Ralph “Russell” Morin, who bought out his two brothers and became sole owner. Ralph Morin added an off-site catering business and moved the small diner to where it now resides at 16 South Main Street in Attleboro, teaching his sons the ropes.
The restaurant is owned and operated by Russell’s brother, William, which would make Michael the fourth generation with ties to the original diner if the succession plan is followed.
From a young age, Russell Morin knew he wanted to take over the family business.
“When I was in junior high school, my father asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to be in the business. I enjoyed it and knew that was what I wanted, so we worked towards that goal,” Morin said.
Morin attended Cornell University and the Culinary Institute of America before taking over the helm of the catering portion of the business, known as Fine Catering by Russell Morin, at 95 Frank Mossberg Drive in Attleboro.
Morin has expanded the catering business four times since 1982. He employs 240 people and his company does all of the catering for a number of venues, including Newport Country Club.
Morin’s son, Michael Morin, wasn’t always keen on taking over the growing catering business. He tried his hand at hedge funds in San Francisco before veering onto the path of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Michael Morin will take over the catering business when his father retires – which won’t be anytime soon, promised 62-year-old Morin.
“I can’t imagine retiring and moving to Florida with nothing to do,” Morin said. “I couldn’t do it.”
Morin’s resolve to stay on as long as possible is common in family-owned businesses. The average tenure of a family-business CEO is at least 20 years, while the average tenure of a Fortune 500 CEO is four to six years, according to Wayne Rivers, president of the Raleigh, N.C.-based Family Business Institute.
“If you are the founder or have been the CEO for 24 years, your job is your identity. You aren’t just retiring from a job but from who you are, so there is often no planned retirement dates in these types of businesses,” said Rivers. “This can be a problem for the next in line, because a 75-year-old CEO may have kids in the business who are in their 40’s, and want their day in the sun.”
Once they do get their turn, the younger generation often wants to modernize the business to keep up with what other companies are doing, Rivers said.
Another issue for subsequent owners is the work-life balance. The founding generation tends to focus most of their energy on building and growing the business, but younger people tend to want to have time for things like physical fitness and social activities, Rivers said.
Of course, that isn’t always the case. Russell Morin, for instance, hasn’t stopped trying to grow his business.
“I love what I do, I love having challenges,” he said. •
