Succeeding at Succession: Dwyer Group Makes National Cover Story of Family Business Magazine

The story sounds familiar. A charismatic company founder who keeps management details to himself dies suddenly, without a transition plan, leaving a widow and six children to pick up the pieces. End of story and, sometimes, end of company. Barbara Spector, Family Business Magazine

However, that was not the case for the Dwyer family of Waco, Texas. Instead, it was the beginning of an unplanned, but necessary, look at business succession for The Dwyer Group (NASDAQ: DWYR). The company's story is the subject of Family Business Magazine's Spring 2002 national cover story: "Succeeding at Succession."

The magazine, which gained unprecedented access to the Dwyer family, reveals how they handled issues of executive power, business legacy, profitability, and accountability since the untimely death of their father and the company's founder, Don Dwyer Sr., in 1994. Barbara Spector, executive editor of Family Business, individually interviewed all of the Dwyers in management positions at The Dwyer Group for the story.

A lot has happened in the years since the company and the family lost its fearless leader. Through it all, the Dwyers have managed to keep their family and their business interests surprisingly intact. As Family Business Magazine reveals, the journey for the Dwyers has not always been easy. But succession, planned or unplanned, is one that every family business will eventually have to address.

"We agreed to tell our story to Family Business because what we've experienced can happen to any family business," said Dina Dwyer-Owens, president and CEO of The Dwyer Group. "And you have to learn to manage the succession process for the company to endure."

But The Dwyer Group's experience was magnified by the fact that it is a publicly traded company that, through its subsidiaries and master licensees, has franchisees in countries across the globe. The Dwyer siblings and their mother, Theresa Dwyer, were accountable to more than just themselves. They had to answer to their Board of Directors, to their shareholders, and to hundreds of franchisees and their customers.

With no blueprint in place for moving forward, they focused on their business strengths and avoided a power struggle.

Don Dwyer left his heirs no succession plan. But he left them something better: the tools to devise a plan of their own. - Barbara Spector, Family Business Magazine

Included in the article are interviews with: Dina Dwyer-Owens, 38, president and CEO; Theresa Dwyer (Dina's mother), 67, chairperson of the board of directors; Robert Tunmire (Dina's ex-brother-in-law), 43, executive vice president of The Dwyer Group and president of Glass Doctor; Donald Dwyer Jr. (Dina's brother), 37, director of international operations; Debbie Wright-Hood (Dina's sister), 40, secretary of the company and vice president of administration; Doug Dwyer (Dina's brother), 35, president of DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen; and Mike Owens (Dina's husband), 35, vice president of operations of Mr. Appliance.

About The Dwyer Group:
The Dwyer Group Inc., based in Waco, Texas, is a public holding company that owns six franchisor corporations. Each corporation sells and supports a different service-based brand name Franchise under the following service marks: Aire Serv® Heating & Air Conditioning, Glass Doctor®, Mr. Appliance®, Mr. Electric®, Mr. Rooter® (Drain Doctor® in the UK), and Rainbow International® Carpet Care and Restoration Specialist. The Dwyer Group is also affiliated with another franchisor corporation named DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen by Worldwide® (an associate company). Collectively, the franchisees of these franchise concepts offer customers a broad base of residential and commercial services. The Dwyer Group concepts currently support over 900 franchisees in the United States and, through their master licensees, nearly 400 more franchisees in 23 other countries.