Horizon Financial Group Lyons Specialty Company

History

WHAT VALUES OR PRINCIPLES GUIDE YOUR BUSINESS?

HOW HAS YOUR BUSINESS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?

History

In 1945, LSU auditor William E. Davis, Sr. began selling 10-cent pecan rolls to local stores from the storage room behind his garage. He named his side business Baton Rouge Wholesale Candy Company.

After several years as a fnancial advisor, Pete Bush and two others formed Horizon Financial Group in 1999. His brother Andy Bush joined the group a few months later, but left to run his own frm from 2004 to 2009. At that time, he rejoined Horizon and became a partner. After lengthy careers in broadcast media and healthcare, a third brother, Bill Bush, joined the frm in 2015 to bolster the advisory team and serve as Horizon’s Media and Marketing Manager. Horizon’s other partners include husband and wife team Clint and Brooke Gautreau, and CCO Colby Barnett.

The next year, he purchased Lyons Specialty Company, which had been founded in 1923, from the owner’s widow for $7,690.61, leaving Davis just $75 in the business bank account. He continued operating under the Lyons name in order to keep the company’s existing customers. Davis’ grandson Hugh Raetzsch Jr. is CEO of the company today.

Our parents had six kids in six years and part of our formative years were spent growing up on a farm in southern Indiana, near Louisville, KY where we were born. Farming requires teamwork—sometimes hard work—and you can’t quit until the work is done. Moving to Louisiana in 1979 taught us sacrifice, courage and commitment. Our relationships are built on faith, trust and confidence.

WHAT VALUES OR PRINCIPLES GUIDE YOUR BUSINESS?

For a family to work together successfully, everyone must pull their own weight. When I began working in the business over 30 years ago, I was given an opportunity by my grandfather and my mother, Jane Dunlap. It was my job to make the most of that opportunity. Now that my kids are entering the business, they have the same opportunity.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH FAMILY?

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH FAMILY?

With so much history together, there are wonderful and fun aspects that are hard to replicate, like shared stories and inside jokes. Sometimes no words are needed. But there are other situations and conversations that can be tougher because we’re family. Appreciating each other’s strengths and unique abilities is crucial in making it about addition and multiplication versus subtraction and division.

Early on in my career was a difficult time. There were some strained relationships and even today, there are scars from those times. But over the last couple of years as my two older sons have graduated from college and entered the business, it has been extremely rewarding. I feel very fortunate to see my kids every day and share the successes of running a 100-year-old family business. Not many people get that opportunity. It is truly special.

The early years included several different partnerships and business structures that created some internal conflict and energy draining interactions, but the core group has remained together. Since late 2010, everyone started seeing the business through the same lens and we went from a collection of individual practices to one ensemble team rowing in the same direction. This collective culture, knowledge, trust, reputation, and usefulness has blended under our common vision.

HOW HAS YOUR BUSINESS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?

So much has changed compared to when I began in the business over 30 years ago. One of our core values is adaptability … it has been key to our success and the success of our customers. What’s important to our customers today is different than it was just a few years ago and what will be important to them five years from now.

WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR YOUR COMPANY?

WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR YOUR COMPANY?

We continue to look for new ways to add value and support for our loyal clients, via emerging technology and adjacent services. After acquiring three practices, with another set to close, we see more M&A activity opportunities across the southeast in our future as this fragmented industry continues to consolidate. We recently hired two new team members to stay ahead of this growth, bringing our total to 14, while simultaneously grooming the next generation.

We completed an expansion project in 2018 which doubled the size of our warehouse and office. This gives us the necessary space and added efficiencies to more than triple our current sales at our existing facility. We will continue to focus on growing our food service category, growing our MAX12 customer membership program, and growing our Marketing Advantage Monthly in-store marketing program.