Ron Hill was riding a 10-foot wave off San Clemente when all of a sudden he was grabbed by the heart.
At least that’s how Hill, chief executive of Orange-based Hill Brothers Chemical Co., would like to remember the heart attack not long ago that landed him in the hospital for a quadruple bypass.
Hill indeed was surfing at the time. But the wave he was riding wasn’t exactly a 10-footer. And he actually was paddling back to shore when the heart attack came.
He said he managed to drive himself to the hospital on what he described as a “12-year, 10-minute ride.”
Hill said the hospital stay made him realize something,not that he needed to slow down, though he did cut back on his hours for recovery purposes.
His realization was that he really liked his work and the interaction and wasn’t ready to retire from the family business any time soon.
“I missed it so much,” Hill said.
Hill’s company won the medium business honor at the Nov. 18 Family Owned Business awards luncheon put on by the Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton’s Family Business Council.
Hill Brothers employs 140 workers, including several family members and 36 others who’ve been there for 15 years or more.
Hill’s son Andy Hill is the company’s safety training coordinator. Adam Hill, Ron Hill’s other son, is the quality control technician. Rick Hill, Ron Hill’s brother, is the safety documentation coordinator.
The company sells chemicals such as ammonia to food processors and other manufacturers.
The stressful part of the business isn’t the family, according to Ron Hill. It’s operating a chemical business in California, where there are volumes of regulations to comply with. Hill Brothers has a five-person compliance division.
Everyone is Family
Ron Hill said he runs the company with the philosophy that everyone is family.
“The guy on the loading dock is in my mind as close to me as my own brother,” he said.
Another belief, which has been passed down through generations: “We’re working to live not living to work,” Ron Hill said. “It goes back to holding who we are more important than what we do.”
Hill Brothers remains a small, privately held business,on purpose, according to Ron Hill.
“We are a very, very good company,” he said. “We are not a great company. If we took it more seriously, I’m afraid of what we would have to sacrifice.”
Ron Hill said he’s seen the lifestyles of colleagues at publicly held companies, and he’s not having it.
But he admits he went through a phase of thinking: “Wouldn’t it be nice to issue an IPO.”
Ultimately, Ron Hill said he decided it’s not worth the tradeoff, both professionally and personally. His advice to a startup family business: Don’t take the business too seriously.
“Take it seriously enough to sustain a livelihood,” Ron Hill said. “But don’t alienate people by time, distance or attitude.”
Hill Brothers counts 58 shareholders. The Hill brothers and other family members own 98% of the company. Four Hills are on the board with three non-family members.
The company is a rare example of a multi-generation family business. The baton was passed in 1998, when Doug Hill, the youngest of the second generation, retired.
Statistics show that fewer than a third of family businesses make it to the second generation. Only 15% make it to a third generation. Beyond that, just 3% stay family owned.
A bit of Hill Brothers’ history:
The company has its roots in the early 1900s when then Los Angeles-based F.W. Braun Drug Co. offered Detroit pharmacist Charles Wesley Hill, Ron Hill’s great grandfather, a sales management position for $200 a month. Westward ho the family went.
Charles Hill was tapped to open a chemical division at Braun. Later, Fred Braun sold the chemicals side of the business to Hill, who formed C.W. Hill Chemical Co.
The company suffered financial trouble in 1921, prompting Hill to sell to Arthur Hall, who renamed it Los Angeles Chemical Co. (which still is around).
Meanwhile, Charles Hill’s son, Charles Beverly Hill (Ron Hill’s grandfather) got the entrepreneurial bug and opened his own business. He convinced his brother Clifford Hill to join in. Hill Brothers Chemical Co. was born. The brothers hired their dad, who remained with the company until he died in 1935.
Hill Brothers survived tough times, including the Depression and World War II. Charles Beverly Hill had four sons, each of whom joined the company.
Later, Hill Brothers moved from Los Angeles to La Puente and opened a branch in Arizona, where Hill Brothers still has operations. In 1970, Charles Beverly Hill, 72, turned over the company to son Don Hill.
All four sons took turns being president, as their father had wished. First Don, then Richard, Dean, and finally Doug, then back to Dean.
Ron said he expects the company to go on.
“There’s a new crop of outstanding young individuals in the company,” he said.
