Lee & Cates Glass Inc. is heading into the fourth generation of ownership by the Lee family and it’s no small step to move the Jacksonville-based company into the next level of the family.
President and CEO Thomas D. “Tommy” Lee III said preparing his son, Thomas D. Lee IV, to take over the business involves instilling a long-term vision for running the company.
The company installs and fabricates commercial, residential and decorative glass.
Its corporate headquarters at 5355 Shawland Road in West Jacksonville has 128,000 square feet of manufacturing space along with Flat Glass Distributors, the wholesale side of the business. The two operations employ about 100 people.
Lee & Cates operates seven retail outlets in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia with about 70 employees.
“It’s always been run as a company for the longevity of it,” said Tommy Lee, 70, who took over from his father, Thomas D. Lee Jr., to become the third-generation president and CEO of Lee & Cates in 1993.
“We’ve taken some risks. Some have worked and some have not," he said.
“We normally do not take extreme risks to move forward … The company comes first other than our family and our lives.”
Thomas D. Lee IV, 41, became vice president in 2020 after 14 years as operations manager. He said he is training to lead the company, though there is no specific timeline.
As he stays close to his father and learns the business practices, Thomas Lee is preparing to refute any cliches that might suggest he was handed the job because of nepotism.
“It aways bothered me when people would say to me when I was 16, 17 or 18 years old … that it was just guaranteed I wasn’t going to earn anything or I wasn’t going to work for it. I never wanted anyone to say that was why I got the job because of who my dad was,” he said.
Tommy Lee said he knows how his son feels, having experienced the same perceptions. Two generations of his family preceded him in the business that brothers-in law Thomas Lee Sr. and Raymond H. Cates established in 1926.
He has gone on to prove himself as a leader.
Lee & Cates generated $38 million in revenue in 2022. It is projected to increase that to $40 million in 2023. That’s quite an increase from when Tommy Lee took over the business in 1993, when it generated about $8 million.
Tommy Lee said he has been steadily stepping back from the duties of running the business, which primarily produces glass products for windows and storefronts.
Auto glass was the main product when the company began. Lee & Cates left that business in 2020 when it sold it to Ohio-based Safelite Glass.
While the family succession to running the business was always expected, it was never codified in a specific organizational plan or chart.
“Is it a written succession plan? No. But it is one where you just evolve into it,” Tommy Lee said. “Before you know it, they’re calling you for everything.”
Still, Tommy Lee said he would recommend a written plan, even though his family doesn’t have one.
Thomas Lee is putting a team together and the company hired Chief Operating Officer Mike Sobieski to manage the long-term transition.
Sobieski, who held executive positions with companies such as Veritas Steel LLC and Bodycote, was considering semi-retirement when Tommy Lee approached him.
“We’re getting his expertise,” Tommy Lee said. “He knows how to operate a business and that’s what he’s bringing in is an operation system. He’s teaching Thomas things.”
Thomas Lee said he is paying attention to the expert who will help shepherd his transition to CEO.
“Bringing in that additional help to get us from a family-run business to a family-owned enterprise that operates at a higher level has sort of been the goal of bringing in outside help that we have not had in the past,” Thomas Lee said.
Being a fourth-generation Lee who will take charge of a sizable business is not without pressure.
Thomas Lee said there has been an acclimation period where he’s been able to adjust.
“There’s the name reputation of who I am. And then there’s the company’s name and reputation. Why would you ever want to be someone who took that down in any way, shape or form? There’s definitely a weighing of expectation of what you do with that,” he said.
The company will celebrate its 100th anniversary in three years. Lee understands the significance.
“That is a really unique and elite group to be a part of,” he said.
“It speaks to succession and a healthy succession, which is not always the case in families. That’s something we push toward.”
Lee said he already has some ideas about running the company that are different from his father’s. He also is grateful to Sobieski for providing balance and corporate oversight.
Lee has two daughters and a son in elementary school.
He said he’s not sure whether he’ll try to encourage them to take over the family business.