CoorsTek Featured in Industry Week

Family Business:  Tradition or Superior Vision?

At The CoorsTek Center for Advanced Materials, a research & development hub in Golden, Colo., an employee loads a kiln used to develop and manufacture high quality technical ceramics.

The predecessor of CoorsTek was founded in 1909 by John Herold, who moved his company—the Herold China and Pottery Co.—to Golden, Colo. Today CoorsTek manufactures engineered ceramics in more than 300 technical compositions, serving customers in the automotive, defense, health, oil and gas, semiconductor and other sectors.

The fifth generation of Coors leaders sits in the CEO chair—though that chair has been expanded to fit three CEOs: Michael, Jonathan and Timothy Coors. The two brothers and one cousin, who have held a variety of roles both in and outside the company, are in almost perfect alignment on the company’s direction and strategy.

CoorsTek’s idea of success is based less on being a member of the family and more on being a caretaker of the business.

“We have a very long-term view of the company and feel we are custodians of the business,” Timothy says. “Our fathers and uncles all had this view, which is how we grew the business.”

Read the entire article in IndustryWeek: Family Business: Tradition or Superior Vision?