Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 19, 2016 02:00 AM

From the dinner table to the plant floor

Jeremy Carroll
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Strom family
    A Strom family photo from before Bob Strom bought Olsen Tool && Plastics.

    For Bob Strom, the dinner conversations about business were just part of the normal routine.

    “We just talked about our day. The good, bad and the ugly,” he said.

    But his daughter Katherine was like a sponge, soaking up all the interesting conversation happening around her.

    “They were good conversations, and I learned so much,” said Katherine Lambert. “When I got into the working world, I could tell you that I was significantly better prepared than my classmates just because of conversations that we had. I had confidence on how to handle a situation.”

    Bob Strom came to Olsen Tool & Plastics Inc. in 1968, four years after Kenneth Olsen founded the company in Hopkins, Minn. He slowly started buying into the company, and completely took it over when Olsen retired in 1988. Today a new transition is happening, one from Strom to his children at the company's one plant in Chaska, Minn.

    “It's a very satisfying thing to see them mature as businesspeople that are capable of performing at that level,” Strom said of his children.

    Lambert is a certified public accountant, and is officially controller for the custom injection molder, but wears many hats at the company. John Strom, Lambert's older brother, works as internal project manager and fitting sales representative. The oldest in the family, Susan Strom, doesn't work in any official capacity for the company, but does marketing work for them from time to time.

    Bob Strom is pulling back and allowing the kids to take the business.

    “I'm hanging around simply because I don't want to retire,” he said. “As long as I can be of value, I'll stick around.

    “I'm not a golfer, and I need some place to hang out,” he said with a laugh.

    Going to work for Dad

    The kids were never pressured to come to work at Olsen, and they were told not to show up to the company until they were 30 years old if they did. That was something Lambert took to heart. She got her CPA and started working on a contract basis for various clients.

    “I kept landing at businesses that were in manufacturing,” she said. “And there were sons that were my age, and they were in the process of transitioning into leadership roles.”

    She was helping with the succession plans for companies, and thought if there was time to start thinking about joining the family business, it was now. At the same time, her older brother John was already at work at Olsen, and Susan had worked in sales.

    Lambert came on board doing accounting in 2007, and the role has expanded to include human resources functions and now operations.

    “I remember him having conversations with my brother [about coming to work at Olsen],” Lambert said. “He always knew he was coming here. He always seemed to know that. I always knew that I would never be able to let it go. But I didn't necessarily plan to be here.”

    The siblings weren't strangers to the company, however. They often spent summers working various jobs at the plant, including running a press, work in the front office and even janitorial work.

    Lambert said she leans on her brother, and they often talk through tough business decisions on long walks both during lunch and some times on family trips to the lake.

    While there's a family structure controlling the company, both Lambert and Bob Strom said the entire team is family. The company employees 36 full-time workers and six to 10 temporary workers.

    “Like all small businesses, we know these people have car payments, we know they have house payments and we know that it's our responsibility to see that their life is going to be at a level where they're going to be satisfied when they're done,” Bob Strom said. “And we realize without these people, we're nothing.”

    Generational transition

    In a family business, the transition from one generation to the next can sometimes be tricky, but Lambert said her father has been an excellent teacher and has let her take the reins of the company.

    “The thing I'll really credit my dad for is he's been very good about saying, ‘This is your store now, if you botch it up, it's your problem,'” Lambert said. “You are getting permission to make the decision you need to make, and move the company in the direction you need to move it. There are times when he'll step in and express his concerns. But I can't think of a time when he's like, ‘You need to do this.'”

    For Bob Strom, he never wanted to pressure his kids into taking roles at the company, but he was happy when they did.

    “You know, you put a lifetime into these things, and you want to see them continue,” he said. “On the surface I was saying, ‘No one was coming in.' But in my heart, I was trying to train these guys so they had careers or training that was going to allow them to add something to the company that I couldn't add.”

    As for a third generation, Lambert has three boys, ages 7, 9 and 11. They are familiar faces around the company — often reminding their mother when they were younger that Grandpa could fire her any time he wanted. Lambert says she tries not to think about them potentially taking over the company 20 or more years down the road.

    “I never want them to think they have to come here either,” she said. “But at other points, I look at them, and think, what are their strengths? Who would be the best one to come and do this?

    “I try to instill in them that the people here are a gift that we're supposed to take care of. So if they were to come here, they would need to understand their responsibility to the people. And I hope whatever they decide, they understand that,” Lambert said.

    Read an overview of family-owned businesses and find links to other profiles.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    ACI Plastics unwraps new Michigan film recycling plant
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    PVC feedstock in train derailment prompts evacuation in Ohio
    2
    Material Insights: Resin prices rise, nonmarket correction for PE
    3
    Illinois AG sues 14 firms over PFAS contamination
    4
    Prices on the rise for PP, PVC
    5
    This is the year the reality of plastics EPR arrives in the US
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified