National Van Lines

[Music] I describe the culture of national Van Lines is being a family company that cares about their employees in the employees intern care about the company what fostered the culture that we have started with my father the employees knew that we wanted the company to succeed so badly that they made it come true national Van Lines is a household goods carrier the company has been successful all of these years because everyone who deals with us knows that we're sincere and want to do a good job and help the public in a time of stress we instill that into our drivers our agents are employed we have to know that we serve an important part of their life it's a everyday life business my grandfather had a company by the name of the key enterprises that delivered ice to the ice boxes and coal and props from the train to the vaudeville houses he came down with the virtual OSes and in those days you went out west for the better air my father had to quit high school and support the family my grandfather made it through the tuberculosis actually lived to be 85 years old in 1929 my grandfather then decided to come back to Chicago and start national Van Lines my father remained in California and went into the entertainment business and he was billed as romantic Irish tenor because he had a beautiful Irish tenor voice and he was in the movies not in starring roles but in the first desert song and in movies was Shirley Temple at that time there were only three people in the office which was grandpa my mother and my aunt so dad decided that he needed to come back and help his father he became president of the company in 1942 we always say he came back temporarily and stayed for 67 years the company came to me when my father passed away in 1993 at the age of 91 I became the chairman and CEO and I worked side by side with my brothers in those days it was quite something for a woman to be a CEO of a transportation company [Music] the family values of national Van Lines really a result of Maureen's authenticity she talks about family values but I think it's true I think it really is who she is and I think it comes through to the employees they have always treated me like family since I started here more than 20 years ago we all love and respect her in return because we truly feel like she's one of us she wants us to be in a safe working environment and she's 100% concerned about our happiness we were concerned that a big conglomerate would come along and buy the company and lay off a number of people who have helped make it become so successful that was Georgia looking for help building lordos these are people that have been with us for many years when Ron and I passed on or left that they would know that they had a job and that they would be working with people who still appreciated them the solution to that was to have the company become an esop which was really the best thing that Ron and I could have done because it is the essence of what national Van Lines is all about when I tell people that I work at national valleys I make sure to tell them it's an esop company and that I'm part over every employee as an employee owner now use their participation in their daily work in a different way the employees realize that our performance directly impacts the ESOP if the company is successful obviously that's a good thing for us as employees had a really positive impact on performance in the company after I'm gone and Tim Helen Thal who is my successor takes over I want to see national Van Lines become even more successful and it has been in the last 25 years to know that national will still be around for many years to come with the same caring people that have started with it would make my life complete [Music]