Raley’s, Nor-Cal Beverage put distinctive decals on delivery trucks

If you’ve driven behind a truck from Raley’s Family of Fine Stores or Nor-Cal Beverage Co. lately, you may have noticed a distinctive decal that announces that those companies are both proud members of the Family Business Association of California.

Robert Rivinius, FBA’s executive director, said the two companies – both founded in the mid-1930s – have placed the signs on their vehicles to underscore the importance of family businesses to the state’s economy and quality of life.

“Family businesses are the backbone of our economy,” Rivinius said. “Nationwide, they generate 57 percent of the nation’s GDP, employ 63 percent of the workforce and create 75 percent of all new jobs. In California they employ 7 million people.”

Beyond that, he said, studies have found that family businesses tend to pay their employees better, train them better and provide more generous benefits than nonfamily companies. And because families are in it for the long term, he said they focus on not just the next fiscal quarter but the next quarter-century.

“Unfortunately, only about 30 percent of family businesses survive into the second generation, 12 percent to the third and just 3 percent to the fourth generation and beyond,” Rivinius said. “And policies being proposed and enacted in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., make it harder and harder for family businesses to remain family-owned.

“FBA was formed to be an advocate for family businesses and we’re extremely pleased that these two leading companies have decided to show their support.”

Michael Teel, Raley’s owner and CEO, echoed those thoughts.

“The Family Business Association works to protect and support family businesses grow in California. These decals show our commitment to the future of family business, while promoting the association’s purpose,” Teel said.

Grant Deary, executive vice president of Nor-Cal, agreed.

“We have incorporated the FBA decal on our truck fleet because that decal communicates our values statement beyond Nor-Cal Beverage Co.,” he said.

“Nor-Cal has been family-owned since its founding as Hires Bottling Co. in 1937 by our grandfather, Roy Deary. The company has successfully grown, diversified and changed to address the needs of a dynamic beverage industry, but what has not changed is our company’s commitment to remain a family values-centric company. We are family owned, but more importantly, we are family operated, and as a result our employees are extended members of our family and it’s not uncommon for them to be with us for 25 or 30 years.”

Raley’s operates Raley’s, Bel-Air Markets and Nob Hill Foods in the Central Valley, Bay Area and northern Nevada. Nor-Cal is the largest independent co-packer of teas, ades, chilled juices, waters and energy drinks west of the Mississippi; sells, services and installs a wide range of on-tap beverage dispenser systems; and is also an equipment service provider to the convenience store industry.

For 2017, FBA has adopted an aggressive advocacy program that includes accelerating work on eliminating regulations and preventing onerous new ones; continuing to explore opportunities to expedite the transfer of ownership and property between family members and through successive generations; fight against attempts to raise taxes on family-owned and commercial properties; and opposing proposals and legislation that would add new regulations, costs and complexity for family businesses.

“If family businesses are the bedrock of our communities and our economy, shouldn’t government enact policies that will enhance that role, rather than forcing too many companies to sell to new owners who may be far more interested in their short-term bottom line than the long-run strength of our communities?” Rivinius asked.

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