Family Business Fall 2017 by The Warren Group

Massachusetts

FALL 2017

FAMILYBUSINESS FROM MONUMENTS TO MEMORIALS, FAMILY BUSINESSES TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER

Inside:

Reflections on Building a Family Legacy Official magazine of the

New England Wealth & Retirement THE

conference

2017

Inspiring The Leading Advisors, Fund Companies & Asset Owners In The Region. Hall of Champions | Gillette Stadium | November 2 & 3, 2017 Mark November 2nd and 3rd on your calendars and join us for The New England Wealth Management Conference in the Hall of Champions at Gillette Stadium. Spend two action-packed days networking with peers, listening to coveted keynote speakers, learning about the many challenges facing the industry, and getting no-holds-barred feedback from leaders in the advisor community.

Sponsorship & Exhibitor Opportunities Available

VISIT WWW.NEWEALTH.COM TO REGISTER TODAY! For more information call or 617-896-5344 email newealth@thewarrengroup.com.

Massachusetts Family Business Official magazine of the

CONTENTS

8 Celebrating Life and Guiding The Grieving

For many, it’s not so much the family business as it is the family vocation. Here’s what it takes to last generations in a profession devoted to other families.

it’s more than money

educate before it’s too late

reflections: building a legacy

Family dynamics are a crucial, but often- overlooked, metric in legacy planning.

Right now, hackers favor two methods to steal your information. Here’s how to stop them.

The Vercollone family business began as a single gas station, but is now a recognized leader in multiple communities.

12 hand-carving a dynasty

Crafting something that will last forever is a big responsibility, and many entrust Deveney & White.

5 3

From the Board

It’s More Than Just Money By Brian Nagle and Jeffrey Davis It is estimated that more than $10 trillion in privately held business assets will transition to the next generation in less than a decade. This inevitable transition can create turmoil and also provide an opportunity to establish sustainable companies that contribute back to society and families for generations to come with proper planning. Focusing on the shift within families and the related business transition is essential to successful business and family harmony. This delicate balancing act requires an understanding that it is about much more than financial assets. A business owner’s planning is frequently focused on the financial aspects of their business and its transition; profitability, growth and day-to-day operations are key. However, too often a very important part of the equation – the family – is omitted. The family dynamic and the incentives that drive different family members are important considerations when one is thinking about structuring their business for transition or distribution of assets at some future date. When a child or grandchild understands that a large sum of assets will be transferred in the future, it can serve

as a significant detterent to fully realize their potential of contributing productively to society. In contrast, when proper planning designed around these issues is established, it can provide the proper incentives to have the same individuals attain their potential, contribute to society, build self-esteem and accomplish the many things that they’re capable of. In this context, not each family member in a family business brings the same skill set to the business and not everybody responds to opportunity in the same manner. Unstructured wealth transfers of assets are a mixed blessing rife with emotional challenges. Some family members are actively involved in the business, while some are not. It is a complex landscape to navigate for the family leadership making the long term decisions on behalf of the overall organization, and can their decision will impact their family for years to come. Often this legacy planning for children and grandchildren is done without confiding in or involving them in the process. Good communication and a multi-disciplinary team of professionals are invaluable to proper structuring and transition. Transparency within the family and the estate plan provides for more suc-

cessful navigation of the business transition issues faced by the business owner and the business enterprise. Business succession within an operating entity should not be a surprise, but rather it should be clearly mapped. Good planning involves mechanisms on how to keep the business going with the help of both the key members of the management team and the family. Change is constant and collaboration within the family and the business facilitated with the help of trusted advisors will provide the foundation for multigenerational growth, prosperity and happiness. The mission of the Family Business Association is to help family businesses achieve this success. We provide forums for businesses to collaboratively exchange knowledge and experiences and assistance in the formulation and implementation of best practices. We look forward to continually finding new ways to offer assistance, provide resources and facilitate communication. ■ JEFFREY S. DAVIS IS CEO OF MAGE LLC AND A COFOUNDER OF THE FBA. HIS EMAIL IS JDAVIS@MAGEUSA. COM. BRIAN NAGLE IS MANAGING DIRECTOR AND WEALTH MANAGER OF FIRST REPUBLIC INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. AND A COFOUNDER OF THE FBA. HE CAN BE REACHED AT BNAGLE@FIRSTREPUBLIC.COM.

Massachusetts

FAMILYBUSINESS

Official magazine of the Family Business Association. Inc.

Editorial | Advertising | Design A Family-Owned Business Since 1872

101 Huntington Ave., Suite 500 Boston, MA 02199 fbaedu.com

DIRECTORS Jeffrey S. Davis, Mage, LLC Al DeNapoli, Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C. Brian Nagle, First Republic Private Wealth Management

PRESIDENT Edward D. Tarlow, Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C.

VICE PRESIDENT Catherine Watson, Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C.

TREASURER Jeffery P. Foley, Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP

280 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210 Phone 617-428-5100 Fax 617-428-5119 www.thewarrengroup.com ©2017 The Warren Group Inc. All rights reserved. The Warren Group is a trademark of The Warren Group Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Education Counts in the Cyber Wars: Prevention Begins on the Homefront

By Konrad Martin

ews of global cyberattacks have businesses, institutions and individuals on edge. People understand just how serious a threat it is. The percentage of middle market businesses now carrying some form of cyber liability insurance has jumped dramatically in the last decade. While insurance is KONRAD MARTIN important, prevention is preferable. Businesses should do everything possible not to find themselves in the position where they need to use the insurance they have wisely purchased. Famous last words: If you have antivirus and anti-malware software, the last thing you need to worry about is a virus infecting your computer, right? Wrong. Hackers don’t sit at home thinking they can’t get around the latest virus and antivirus protection and give up. They are extremely sophisticated and clever criminals that continue to create new ways to trick

you. They make a fortune by stealing your information. So even though you have the latest anti-virus protection (which you should!), they are already figuring out ways to trick you into inviting new viruses and malware into your system. The best anti-virus protection is only as good as the team using it. Two specific threats are widespread in the business world: ransomware and spear phishing. By staying educated on these technological scourges, you should be able to identify and avoid them. Ransomware is just as it sounds: a virus that infects a system through an unsuspecting user clicking on an attachment will start looking for data to encrypt. Once it does, that data can only be unencrypted with a private key, held by the hacker who holds that information ransom. Typically, the hacker will request the ransom payment in bitcoins (a form of cybercurrency), and because the payments are usually a relatively small amount, it tends to be easier to pay the ransom than restore all the files from backup.

Spear phishing is a new twist on an old trick. A phishing email tends to ask questions that seem benign, or the message tries to entice you into clicking on an attachment that supposedly includes information about package tracking or an IRS refund. Spear phishing is a technique where the email appears to come from someone you know, usually in an authoritative position, telling you to transfer funds or click on an attachment. To the recipient of the email, the email looks legitimate. However, the email is actually coming from criminals using a technique to capture the boss’s email and then, for example, request that tens of thousands of dollars be transferred to fictitious bank accounts. Once that money is transferred, it is almost always gone. Or the case where “the boss” asks an employee to send him several dozen W2s. Then, once done, that opens a Pandora’s box of legal and financial problems for the company and the people whose information has been breached. There is no magic anti-virus protecContinued on page 11 5

Reflections on Building a Family Business

The VERC team at the 2016 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer fundraiser. By Leo Vercollone

oday, we proudly stand as a leading, independent chain of convenience stores and gasoline stations, with locations throughout Eastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but the beginnings of our family-owned business were anything but lofty! What was to become VERC EnterLEO VERCOLLONE prises began in 1975 when our father, Eugene Vercollone and my brother Paul opened a single car wash in Marshfield. Five years, a couple of gas stations and a car wash later, VERC En6

terprises branched out to include a car rental business. We were going in a lot of different directions, but the bottom line was that my father started the family business to offer his children jobs. Throughout the decades, the business faced many challenges – I wanted to grow the company with gas stations while my older brother, Jack, was more inclined toward the auto rental business; this direction would eventually lead to VERC Rentals, a separate entity from VERC Enterprises. Other issues presented themselves along the way, but through it all, we never lost sight of the importance of family. My father would

say, “get along with each other no matter what you do; be friendly and remember, I want to see all my grandchildren on a regular basis.” I should point out that my dad was “old school” when it came to his three daughters.; he believed “the business was for the boys” and when Dad passed, we learned that our sisters were upset they weren’t involved in decisions made about the family business. We worked to bridge that gap over the ensuing years, and I am grateful those fences were mended before the loss of one of my sisters. It’s a lesson learned; I have four children – three daughters and a son – and while I have the utmost respect for my father and

VERC Lexington location team

VERC Andover Mobil location at Plenti event.

The Gulf Oil Mile Makers at the VERC Berlin Gulf to promote Gulf Power Points Rewards Program.

all he instilled in us, I would have handled the division of authority between my brothers and sisters differently. Today, VERC Enterprises is proud to have more than 350 employees and to be recognized as a leader in hiring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In fact, over 20 percent of our workforce consists of capable and appreciative individuals who are developmentally challenged/disabled. We work closely with numerous state agencies to recruit IDD persons and have been honored by such organizations as Best Buddies and The Arc. We were recently named “Employer of the Year” by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind and The Arc of Greater Plymouth. We believe that work provides dignity and meaning to life, and our mission has always been to help others. We believe that businesses should be leaders in the communities. It is a calling we take seriously. While our convenience store/gasoline/car wash model has proven to be a successful one, we recognize the need to

Store manager Muhammad Tasleem and district manager Courtney Vercollone presenting a check to the West Middle School in Andover.

branch out. Over the past year we purchased the former Mayflower Food & Spirits in Plymouth, a 40-year-old business that has been the go-to location in the area for prepared meals, deli items, homemade pastries and more. We’ve changed the name to Mayflower Provisions to better reflect all the store offers … and naturally, added a gasoline outlet! We have had a strong presence in Plymouth as well as the surrounding South Shore communities, and we’re delighted to add Provisions to our VERC family. This business has been a mainstay of Plymouth for many years and has proven to be such a successful purchase that we may modify some of our other locations to add some of the services that Mayflower Provisions offers. Looking to the future and the next generation, I believe it’s important for our children and grandchildren to earn their own way in the family business. In fact, I favor a board of advisors comprised of non-family members because they may be able to see issues that I may

not because I’m too close. Growing a family business internally sometimes means leaving family members out of key roles. It also means having a willingness to select the best-qualified individuals to run the company. The bottom line is we don’t yet know whether a member of the next generation of the Vercollone family will eventually run the company. We’ll know in a few years, but until then we intend to keep doing what we do best – treating our associates like family, providing solid service to customers, contributing to the community and offering employment to individuals who have physical or mental disabilities. On this last point, we have made it a mission to support and encourage people with IDD because employment not only supplies a paycheck, but also provides that important sense of “place in the world” for everyone, including to members of a population whose potential is too often overlooked. ■ LEO VERCOLLONE IS PRESIDENT OF VERC ENTERPRISES. 7

FAMILY-OWNED FUNERAL HOMES PROVIDE A GUIDE THROUGH GRIEF WHILE CELEBRATING LIFE

The McHoul family By Mike Flaim

s difficult as the death of a loved one can be, the practicalities of bidding goodbye used to be considerably more challenging than they are today. Before the invention of the automobile, funerals were held in the deceased’s home. Families, friends and neighbors came together quickly to pay their respects, purchase a casket and bury the deceased (sometimes on their own property if a cemetery was too distant). If an undertaker lived nearby, a family could hire them to retrieve the deceased, embalm them, return them to the home for a wake and then perform the burial. Once cars became ubiquitous, though, funeral services were gradually removed from domestic sphere. In the 20th cen8

tury, the “undertaker” – the dour cabinetmaker-turned-coffin-maker driving a hearse as black as his buckram suit – became the funeral director. Our relationship with death changed, too, and continues to evolve thanks to modern-day funeral directors like Reid McHoul, Jim Delaney and Tim Keefe. All three are now the third generation in their family’s businesses, whose respective legacies were built by intimately understanding the needs and desires of families coping with the death of a loved one. The First Funeral Home Despite the sign, the Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home is owned solely by the McHouls (Sperry was the original

owner, and had the building constructed in 1921). Reid McHoul, whose father purchased the home from the Sperry estate in 1975, believes that it may be the oldest building in the country built specifically as a funeral home and not, as most are, converted from what was originally a private home. Most funeral homes are stately Victorians, as they often feature a multitude of rooms and sweeping, spacious parlors. Reid’s location in North Attleboro has such features but it doesn’t have an extensive upper floor like a home would. The main entryway leads to a small chapel were services can be held. Directly above this space, a curved ceiling features a wan blue sky and cornsilk clouds

populated by putti. An organ loft is situated behind and above the entryway. What used to be the embalming room is located toward the back of the building, floored in less decorative pine. This was intentional with respect to the room – spilled embalming chemicals are harsh on wood. Guarded by burgundy carver chairs and a sliding door is the entranceway to an elevator – operated by pulling on ropes to move the counterweight of stacked bricks – built for the purpose of moving caskets from the basement to the viewing area. McHoul’s grandfather was the first of the family to join the business. He had three sons, all of whom became funeral directors, and two of those three married funeral directors. Three of Reid’s cousins are also funeral directors, and two of their kids have followed in their parents’ footsteps. Given the extensive family connection and how common it is for the next generation to continue the business in this profession, McHoul’s path wasn’t as narrow as one might expect. “I studied economics,” he said. “I thought about getting into business management, but started taking classes I didn’t really like. The major is easy, but the emphasis on climbing the corporate ladder, of undercutting people, it was terrible. Family business is much better to get involved with.” McHoul was free to pursue whatever interested him without any hint of pressure from his family, but his persona is such that to do anything else seems like a misstep. He realized this for himself as he was weighing a choice between becoming a funeral director’s apprentice or interning at the Federal Reserve during college. Today, he refers to his chosen path not as a career, but as a vocation. “It’s not fun, necessarily, but it is rewarding,” he said. When asked how he deals with the difficult days – and there certainly are difficult days – he begins by saying, “No matter what your worst day is, [the family] is having a worse one.” His role is to try, as best he can, to lead the decedent’s friends and family to a positive place. He spoke of a service he had last month; a very young woman had passed away after a battle with cancer. “Meeting with parents who’ve lost

The Keefe family

“If you’re calling me, you don’t want to talk to someone who doesn’t know what’s going on, you don’t want to talk to an answering service; you want to talk to someone who knows what the next steps are.” — James Delaney, James H. Delaney & Son Funeral Home

Tim (left) and Chad Keefe, proprietors of Keefe Funeral Homes, at their Arlington location.

“To me, I serve the families. I don’t care what people think.” — Reid McHoul, Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home

Continued on page 10 9

Continued from page 9

their kids is definitely the toughest thing,” McHoul said, “but the girl loved horses, and wasn’t big on formal wear.” With that knowledge, Reid arranged for the casket to be carried to the cemetery in a horse-drawn carriage, and the family asked that guests wear boots and jeans. McHoul understands that some may bristle at the thought of wearing anything less than formal attire to a funeral, but, he said, “to me, I serve the families. I don’t care what people think.” A Personal Approach for Each Family This devotion to the deceased and their family finds no greater champion than James Delaney of James H. Delaney & Son Funeral Home in Walpole. “We’re a two-part profession: we’re here for the care of the deceased and the care of the family,” Delaney said. “And both are equally important – I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Delaney is only 32 years old, but already has more than two decades of experience. Thanks to the influence of his grandfather and his father, he knew earlier that this was a profession that beckoned him. “Watching the two of them work together and do what they did to provide a wonderful service to the community, it intrigued me,” he said. Recognizing his calling, he studied psychology in college not with the goal of entering into private practice or working in a counseling facility, but to augment his ability to lead a family through grief and ease their burden of loss. But as comfortable as he was with his decision, Delaney said that being a funeral director demands malleability: “Even if you have the perfect cutout for this profession, it’s still a growing process.” Each family is unique, and the service provided by Delaney and his father, Jay, requires a personalized approach each time. In one instance, a woman had passed and the family mentioned that their daughter was a Disney fanatic. With the help of his colleagues at Life Celebration, Delaney brainstormed a Disney-themed service. This entailed decorating his funeral home with Disney 10

memorabilia; every available mantle and table space was occupied by framed photos of family vacations to Disneyland, heartfelt quotes, plush Mickey Mouse toys and princess wands. He even had Disneyland themed “tickets” that were handed to the family and their guests. Whether it’s taking care of paperwork or taking the reins on planning a service that a family will cherish, there is no rubric for a director to follow, nor is there

They also have non-family staff, and Tim and his siblings have young families of their own. “Our wives are very patient,” he said. “Our workday starts at 7 in the morning and we usually go well past five in the evening. You go home, you have some dinner, but if someone dies, you come back here, you put your suit on, and you go pick them up. And holidays – people still die on Christmas – so someone

“The females in this industry are just as good – if not better – than the males.” — Timothy Keefe, Keefe Funeral Homes a schedule. He is always on-call. “I look at it this way: if you’re calling me – especially at 3 in the morning – something’s wrong,” he said. “You don’t want to talk to someone who doesn’t know what’s going on, you don’t want to talk to an answering service; you want to talk to someone who knows what the next steps are.” Always On Call Tim Keefe of Keefe Funeral Homes echoes the always on call sentiment. Like the Delaneys, the Keefes rarely use an answering service. Keefe said it’s important that the person calling for his family’s expertise speaks to his family. “We take a lot of pride in the fact then when a family calls the Keefe funeral home, they’re going to get a Keefe,” he said. The odds of speaking to a Keefe are good; the family runs two funeral homes – one in Cambridge and one in Arlington – and there are a lot of Keefes to staff them. Keefe works alongside his older brother Chad, who is also a fulltime funeral director. Tim’s twin brother Jeff is a full-time firefighter for the city of Cambridge and also devotes nearly 50 hours a week to the family business. Uncles Jack and Dan work there too, and their father Charlie, despite being retired, checks in every day. Keefe’s sister Christy – a registered social worker – is involved as well; she offers grief and counseling classes for grieving families.

needs to be on call. If we’re out to dinner somewhere and a death call comes in, they [his family] understand that it’s time to get the check. I’ve been with my wife since the sixth grade, so she knew what she was getting into. You always anticipate that someone’s going to pass away and you have to be in your best frame of mind to show up to the house, be respectful, and pick someone up.” Despite such responsibility, there’s no sign that their family business puts a negative stress on their own family dynamics. In a sentiment echoed by McHoul and Delaney, Keefe mentions that he didn’t experience pressure to continue in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. The father of daughters, he would be pleased if they entered the business (but no pressure). “People keep saying, ‘You know, you’re going to have to have that boy to carry the name,’ but the females in this industry are just as good – if not better – than the males,” he said. Though the profession will change, as will the people in it, more than likely another generation of Keefes, McHouls and Delaneys will be there, guiding families through grief and stewarding them through the passing of their loved ones. ■ MIKE FLAIM IS A WRITER AND AN ASSOCIATE EDITOR AT THE WARREN GROUP, PUBLISHER OF MASSACHUSETTS FAMILY BUSINESS MAGAZINE. HE MAY BE REACHED AT MFLAIM@THEWARRENGROUP.COM.

Continued from page 6

tion that can cover all dangers. The best protection a business can seek is through education, supported by awareness, training and policies. End users must know that even the most innocuous email, website, Facebook post or article can contain a virus or malware. Read carefully before clicking – and if there is the slightest doubt, don’t do it! Usually, there is something that seems out of place. The grammar is a little off, you were not expecting a refund from the IRS, or you haven’t ordered anything that you need to track. With awareness, training and effective policies, something in a hacker’s attempt will usually jump out at you. That is how to prevent these nasty viruses and malwares from locking up your systems and costing you thousands and thousands of dollars in downtime and ransom money. Here are a few steps that you can take as a business owner to lower the risk of being hacked. • Tell your employees that if an email looks even mildly suspicious, do not

open. Forward to your IT department for evaluation. • When in doubt, call the person you believe the email is from and ask “Did you send this?” • Develop strong passwords for your company. Far too often people use passwords like “123456” or “letmein” or “password.” Hackers know the common ones; yours should have a variety of characters, including symbols. • Consider a cloud-based data protection system to supplement a strong password policy. There are companies which will do this for you for a reasonable monthly amount. • Avoid “free” offers. They are potential trouble. • Develop and enforce a strong policy regarding employees using their personal devices. Whether that’s a tablet, a home computer or a phone, every device connected to the company infrastructure offers hackers an opportunity to get inside. If you do allow employees to use their own devices, you have the right – and the obligation – as an employer to tell them

what they can and cannot visit and access. • Train your employees. Partner with a strong IT consultant who is knowledgeable and can spend time with your employees to help them identify and avoid threats to your infrastructure. • Consider running vulnerability assessments against servers, workstations and networking equipment to ensure risks from vulnerabilities are mitigated. • Have a strong backup system for data, in the cloud. • Be sure that your Written Information Security Plan is up to date and that your employees are familiar with what they can and cannot do. Education is key. Knowing that there are threats out there and how to recognize them will save your company both time and money – and help you do what you do best: running your business without interruption. ■ KONRAD MARTIN IS CEO OF TECH ADVISORS, WITH OFFICES IN MEDFIELD AND BOSTON.

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Courtesy of Elizabeth Deveney

Business Profile

Cementing a Legacy with Deveney & White Memorials

From left: Brian Frazier (husband of Elizabeth Deveney), Elizabeth Deveney, Missy Deveney (Elizabeth’s mother), Ed Collupy, Peg Collupy, Jaclyn Miller, Gerard Deveney (Elizabeth’s father and third generation monument specialist) and Michael Mei. The baby is Elizabeth’s first-born Matthew Frazier, fifth generation. Ed and Peg Collupy have been employed at Deveney and White since 1978, and Jaclyn Miller, since 2010. Mike Mei has been the company’s Chinese calligrapher since 1990. 12

Courtesy of Elizabeth Deveney

Elizabeth’s grandfather Edward P. Deveney (right) stands outside of his business in Dorchester. By Malea Ritz

ost people don’t spend too much time thinking about the details of a cemetery headstone for a loved one until they are faced with the solemn responsibility of doing so. It’s often a very difficult and emotionally trying time, and there are a lot of factors to consider – type of stone, shape, size, font, special effects, etc. That’s where Elizabeth Deveney of Deveney & White Memorials comes in to help. Deveney & White has been in the business of monument making since 1946, and is in its fourth generation of family ownership at the same location in Dorchester. Of the fourth generation, it was originally Deveney’s older brother, Matt, who helped most in the business. “He grew up setting stones in the cemetery, moving stones around the yard, kind of doing more labor type of things. And then when he was old enough, he was able to meet with families,” Deveney said. Matt was diagnosed with terminal cancer in February 2007 and later that year passed away at age 35. “When Matt got sick, I had been working for an advertising agency in Boston and I was working in promotional events,” Deveney said. “I came back into the family business to help out while he was sick, and then of course he passed away, and I decided to stay working in the family business – and it’s been over 10 years.” Joining the family legacy that her greatgrandfather, grandfather, father and uncle

forged before her, she now runs the business with her father and mother working part-time. Deveney sees the whole process through, from concept to conception. “I’ve had people say that they come in and they’re nervous, or they’re on edge, or they don’t know what the person would have wanted. Or there’s a whole group of a family, like there’s a dynamic happening between different siblings or aunts or whoever it is,” Deveney said. “It’s sort of helping people to stay focused on the task at hand and helping them, guiding them through the decisions.” “It’s helping people to understand it’s going to take time, but it’s going to be a beautiful product in the end,” she said. “It’s all made by hand, which is kind of amazing today, when you think about it. These are craftsmen that have done this for generations.” Deveney & White produces memorials in several languages, including English, Chinese and Vietnamese options. Memorializing a Family Member After meeting with the family and understanding their vision for a memorial, a full-size illustration is produced. “That’s one of the things, I think, our families love because when they do get the full-size drawing, they get to see the stone before it’s carved. They can make any adjustments to it that they want,” she said. With the approval of the family, she works with the sandblaster and stonecut-

ter to provide the canvas for the engravers. “It’s actually rewarding because you’re helping people at a difficult time in their lives where they’ve been faced with the worst tragedy imaginable in some cases,” Deveney said. “We’re able to provide not only a beautiful product but some kind of service for people when they’re struggling.” The most fulfilling part, she said, is working with families that are especially specific about what they are looking for, and delivering a product that they love. “You know, how many things can you say, ‘I’m making a product and it is literally going to be here forever. It’s never going anywhere.’ That is a lot of responsibility.” There can be a lot of pressure when customers are purchasing a product designed to withstand the test of time, but Deveney & White is up to the task. “There’s a way that we know exactly how to carve the lettering so that, over time, the lettering is not only going to be legible but the lettering should look like it did when we first put the stone in,” Deveney said. “If you take a stone that’s a very sparkly and has a lot of quartz in it, it’s got big, giant flecks in it that are gorgeous. But once you go to engrave some writing in there, it can be tricky because of those flecks – the same flecks that you love that made the stone sparkle – may not come out the best in terms of how we do the lettering.” Continued on page 14 13

Continued from page 13

Photos: Reatta Ritz

A Personal Touch Deveney & White doesn’t just make headstones; it has also expanded its portfolio to corporate, city and institutional projects, ranging from to firefighter memorials to signs at MIT and engravings at Harvard. The Charlestown Firefighters Memorial, a project with which her brother Matt was involved, sits on the Freedom Trail and now is the first thing tourists see at that bus stop. Another particular favorite of hers was a freestanding Celtic cross for the Charlestown Historical Society’s Irish Famine Memorial. With the knowledge that every season is a busy season when you’re working in the memorial making business, Deveney said the constant work is worth the reward. She loves the flexibility it gives her, and doesn’t miss the long meetings of her former corporate career. “It’s very nice to be your own boss. It’s nice to make your own decisions,” she said, adding that working with family is also rewarding. “My parents are the best coworkers that I could possibly have,” she said. “The unique thing about our family business is that generations can clash. My parents are so supportive of any endeavor.” When her kids were babies, she brought them to work with her, she said. Deveney was worried how the clients would take it, but it brought many of them comfort. The long hours and hard work doesn’t stand in the way of her family life. “My family is very much used to it now; I’d rather have this than have to be away from them,” she said. Deveney recognizes that she works in a unique family business industry. “In other occupations, you aren’t necessarily experiencing a person or family with heightened emotions,” she said. “There are hundreds and hundreds of families per year that we’re providing a service for, which can be hard to juggle, with all the different [hats] you need to wear. But I really enjoy it, and I’m proud of the work that we do.” “I feel like that sets us apart in some ways, because it’s a business, but it’s personal.” ■ MALEA RITZ IS EDITOR AT THE WARREN GROUP, PUBLISHER OF MASSACHUSETTS FAMILY BUSINESS MAGAZINE. SHE MAY BE REACHED AT MRITZ@THEWARRENGROUP.COM. 14

Memorials in the Deveney & White showroom.

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RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY BUSINESS DOESN’T COME WITH AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL. Or else it would be as easy as… 2..

1. Develop a business plan to do what you love.

Convince a family member to come work alongside you.

3. Sit back, relax, and watch your company grow.

WE DESIGNED A CONFERENCE JUST FOR YOU! PRESENTED BY

REGISTER TO ATTEND Massachusetts Family Business magazine, the Family Business Association, and The Warren Group are dedicated to honoring and educating family businesses from across New England. On October 24 and 25, 2017, the New England Family Business Conference will provide an opportunity to meet face-to-face with family business owners, hear from experts, study a variety of best practices and network with peers. The program is designed for professional development and will feature industry leading keynote speakers as well as a selection of educational breakout sessions with panels of family business owners.

WHEN: October 24 & 25 , 2017 WHERE: The Colonnade Hotel

VISIT NEFBC.COM TODAY FOR THE LATEST UPDATES.