THE Hendrickson family businesses and GraceKennedy Ltd were presented with their Business Leader Award Corporate trophies at separate events over the past few weeks, with representatives from both institutions using the opportunity to rearticulate the corporate ethos that allowed their firms to transcend generations and distinguish themselves within post-Independence Jamaica.

The formal presentation of the crystal and marble trophies, emblazoned with the names of the recipients, took place at the Jamaica Observer boardroom on January 31 for the Hendricksons, and February 6 for Grace Kennedy. The presentations followed the naming of both entities as Jamaica Observer Business Leader Corporate at the annual award ceremony on Sunday, December 2, 2012, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.

Gary ‘Butch’ Hendrickson, one of four owners of the sprawling Hendrickson family businesses, identified the formal and rigidly policed reporting and accountability structure within the companies he and his three siblings operate, as a key factor in their ability to survive 60 years within Jamaica, and across four generations of family managers.

“One of the reasons why we have done as well as we have been able to do is that we have that discipline of reporting just like a publicly listed company,” noted Hendrickson. “When new accounting standards were introduced, that was a joke compared to where we were.”

While the Hendrickson family businesses — that span tourism, bakery, agro-processing, and manufacturing — remain tightly locked into private hands, GraceKennedy Ltd has been publicly held almost from the very beginning some 90 years ago.

Don Wehby, Grace’s chief executive officer, said the customer-centric culture imbued within the organisation by its founders was paired with a relatively risk-averse business model that enabled the conglomerate to flourish even while other Jamaican firms that showed similar promise during the early days, floundered.

“Why has GraceKennedy survived over the years and others have not?” Wehby mused rhetorically. “A lot of companies went out of business because they were too highly geared or leveraged. But Mr Kennedy, Mr (James) Moss Solomon (Sr) and Rafael Diaz had agreed in the ’70s that GraceKennedy should be able to draw a cheque at any time to pay off any bank loan.”

The names identified by Wehby were some of the executives who helped to shape GraceKennedy during the decades of the 1960s and into the early 1990s. However, Grace’s current business template — where most of its profit is generated from financial services — is largely attributable to the leadership of Douglas Orane who became CEO in 1995, and later CEO and chairman.

Wehby, who took over from Orane as CEO in 2011, lauded the values of the founding fathers.

“When I thought about it,” he said, “it is actually the values that were in place in the company from 1922, in terms of honesty, integrity and trust, respect, and consideration for consumers that have been crucial to our survival.”

During the Business Leader selection process in early December, GraceKennedy Ltd and the Hendrickson family businesses became locked in a tie among the eight-member award selection committee. The committee was mandated by the Jamaica Observer newspaper to determine which of the 15 companies that had been nominated for the award, had the most profound and lasting impact on the Jamaican economy during the country’s 50 years of Independence.

Both companies presented persuasive profiles. GraceKennedy with 2011 revenues of $58.2 billion, was by this measure the largest publicly traded firm in Jamaica. It generated the equivalent of $16 billion in export revenue, and employed 2,700 individuals.

Collectively, the Hendricksons are the largest local owners of hotel rooms in the island. They provide jobs for 4,500 Jamaicans and are major players in poultry and meat-processing, baking, packaging, and animal feeds production.

The companies they run are among most easily recognised brands within Jamaica, among them: National Bakery, the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, Caribbean Broilers, Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, Yummy Bakery, and the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston.

Butch Hendrickson was accompanied to the presentation at the Observer by Kevin Hendrickson and Lori-Ann Lyn. The other sibling, Cathy Kerr, was absent.

During the presentations, Moses Jackson, the founder and convenor of the Business Leader Award programme, noted that the Hendricksons represented an exemplary case of a family business that had managed to flourish across four generations.

“While in the case of the Hendricksons, the generational continuity is along familial lines, with Grace, we have corporate continuity, both of which are laudable cases that can inspire emerging local companies,” noted Jackson.

Karl Hendrickson, the father of the four current owners of the businesses, founded the empire with the creation of National Bakery in 1952, but was himself the product of an entrepreneurial father — Reginald Hendrickson, a baker and one of Mandeville’s most outstanding businessmen. Some of the children of the current owners are involved in their companies.

Last year, the Business Leader Award programme had many firsts. It was the first time in its 16 years that companies rather than individuals were nominated for the award — which was a nod to Jamaica’s 50th year of Independence. It was also the first time that two entities were named Business Leader.

Consequently, a second trophy had to be secured by the Jamaica Observer.

Traditionally, the name of the Business Leader is emblazoned on the trophy after the award presentation because the selection — a very closely guarded process — is not made until a few hours before the award ceremony.

Butch Hendrickson said that the trophy would be kept by the company’s founder Karl. Grace’s trophy will be displayed at the corporate headquarters on Harbour Street, downtown Kingston.

The managing director of the Jamaica Observer, Danville Walker, and the newspaper’s marketing manager, Avadaugh Sinclair, took part in the presentation.