The next generation

My goal was a smooth transition,” says Bob Koide about his retirement. “I wanted to be comfortable that operations would be under control and in good hands.”

So he discussed the transition with his family: his son Wayne, vice-president, and niece Stacy Bautista, office manager.

“Bob’s retirement was always in the works, but now it was time to kick planning into high gear,” Wayne says. “It’s a big commitment to take care of our employees and our customers.”

Uncle Bob, Stacy explains, had always given them latitude to do their job: “He didn’t tell us step-by-step what to do. He let us learn from our mistakes, so by the time he asked us to take over the company, I felt Wayne and I could handle it.”

The transition decided, Wayne added to his workload learning about business management, operations, sales, marketing and human resources, or as he put it, “Learning Bob’s job.”

Stacy is working for her RME (Responsible Managing Employee) license to certify her management skills in the pest control field.

With retirement set for 2010, Bob is as exhilarated as a homeowner free of termites: “I’m fortunate Wayne and Stacy will be running the company. I’m blessed to have good employees, good customers and a good product like Sentricon. What more can I ask for? “