MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Finding the winning formula to have family businesses spanning several generations is no easy feat, according to business experts.

But standing as a vibrant second-generation enterprise for half a century, Fontana Pharmacy headquartered in Mandeville, has been regarded as a “foundation”.

The business was started at the newly built Manchester Shopping Centre in 1968 by Bobby and his now deceased wife Angela Chang.

Today, eighty-six-year-old Bobby Chang serves as chairman and the directors are his only son Kevin O’Brien and one of six daughters Anne, along with her spouse Ray Therrien. They comprise the executive structure of Fontana.

“This is the relay leg… we hope to pass it on down the road,” was the ambitious plan disclosed by Kevin O’Brien Chang to a gathering at a 50th anniversary celebration in Mandeville earlier this month.

“We believe in continuity. Many family businesses fracture. We have had our differences, it’s inevitable. But we have always made sure that family comes first, blood is thicker than water. We really don’t want… for something like this (to) splinter as we have seen in other families,” he added.

The continuity, Chang said, is also evident in the long-standing employees on staff, which enable the culture built around the core principles of service, respect, family and community to be fostered among new recruits.

“Anybody can open a shop and buy and sell and does a fantastic job of buying and selling. Fontana is a culture. The culture is what separates Fontana from the pack. (Our) parents started it, (older employees), and the directors followed it and that is what we intend to pass on to the next generation,” he said.

Glen Christian, former medical sales representative now the proprietor of leading pharmaceutical distributor Cari-Med, also a family business, said that from inception Fontana was a standout.

“I joined the pharmaceutical business in 1971 as a general sales representative working for HD Hopwood and Company. In those days Fontana in Mandeville was one of the four pharmacies that I had to come to. Even back then it had already distinguished itself as being more than just a simple dispensary or drugstore,” he said.

Christian believes the culture and ability to stay cutting edge are among the reasons for the longevity.

While noting that it is at the second generation that the true mettle of a family business is tested, he seemed convinced that Fontana will continue to remain strong.

“I think Harvard Business Review reveals that not more than probably 15 per cent of family companies go beyond the second generation. They are either sold or die. It’s a testimony to you guys to ensure that you have got to 50,” said Christian.

For Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who gave the keynote address at the ceremony, Fontana Pharmacy is a “national asset”.

He lauded the company for being among the select group of family businesses that have survived.

“Celebrations like these make me very proud to showcase the many stellar accomplishments of Jamaicans and reinforce the fact that our entrepreneurial spirit has existed for as long as we can remember. The decision to start Fontana represents forethought and commitment to filling a marketplace gap. It took ingenuity, focus, hardwork, discipline and optimism to accomplish what is now an exemplary model of how dreams become flourishing reality,” said Holness.

He said that in an individualistic culture the family is an important base from which innovations can be honed and wealth can be created and passed on.

“Every business must know its roots and there is no better base from which a business should rise than the family. Fontana being a family-run business, being in that very select group is actually… a national asset and a national example. That is why I am here today to associate with that and to use this platform to appeal to Jamaicans to use the family base to build wealth and you do that by building businesses,” said the prime minister.

Since the first location, Fontana Pharmacy has expanded to Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Savanna-la-mar and is online. It carries a wide array of health, beauty, family and home products.

Importantly for Fontana, Holness said, it is a brand that can be leveraged regionally and internationally for future success.

“Don’t just think Jamaica, think Caricom, think the world. As Fontana grows and maintains its status as a foundation it will want to expand. What we see happening is that you are not only expanding the pharmacy you have incredible systems that are tried, tested and proven. You have a culture, you have a certain organisational posture that is probably more valuable than all the stock that you have. Very soon what I suspect will happen is that instead of setting up the pharmacy you will be leveraging the name and the systems franchises. That is the value of the brand,” he said.