Wilcox Strategies

Kathy and I and the rest of the family just got back from our annual Wilcox Family business retreat. Every year we spend a weekend connecting to our history as a family with a mission to preserve a heritage business and our culture that keeps us together. Since my great-grandparents Betty and Judson Wilcox traded their Queen Anne Hill Seattle home for part of the farm in 1909, we have dodged business bullet after bullet. Every generation has been within weeks of bankruptcy and rebuilt the business again. We lost millions of dollars during the shutdown of many of our most important customers caused by Covid measures, during a time when our bankers were talking about asking for our homes as security. (This was made doubly painful when I was accused of profiteering by some) We've had several good years since then and nearly 30 members of our family in generations 3,4,5 and even 6 gathered last weekend to rededicate ourselves to our mission. This is only possible when we commit to honoring our family relationships and building understanding that we have to make good business decisions, too. It's hard to make two things come first, you family and your business, but unless you do that you will lose one or both.

I've worked closely with the Association of Washington Business for all the 14 years Ive served in the legislature. Their efforts usually aligned well with the rural and small-town people of my 2nd LD and I'm a believer int he free-market system. They sent out an interview they did with me to their members this month. It's one of the few interviews I've done that is mostly business focused.

In Their Words: J.T. Wilcox - Association of Washington Business As he retires from the Legislature, J.T. Wilcox hopes to continue helping bring the employer voice to Olympia. He talked to AWB’s Brian Mittge about […]

Probably the last long interview I will ever do on TVW. Glad it was with Austin Jenkins. My tip to newbies? When his voice gets real soft and gentle-like, brace for the stiletto under your ribs...https://tvw.org/2024/05/inside-olympia-representative-jt-wilcox/

Every year that the business can afford it, we try to do a Wilcox Family business retreat. It's really about the newest generations in the business getting a good briefing about the health of the business and then doing some problem solving in groups. Past topics have included turnover in our Montana processing plant and how to be a better employer for our Hispanic workers. This year the family management team presented feedback on these issues and then asked for ideas regarding how to have the strongest relationship with our contract producers. The 5th family generation, ranging in age from 33 to 3 years old had major input. There was fun, too. The farm is mostly about work, but we try to do some fun, too.