Family Business Stories · A conversation with Andy Heck of Alpenhaus · 1 minute
In 1964, Andy Heck’s father and his high school friend John Daly opened a ski shop called Alpenhaus. Today it has grown from one location to seven, and the family is all in: Andy and his siblings, his three kids, and his kids’ spouses all work in the business. In this 60-second conversation, Andy shares what made the handoff between generations work and the advice from his father that helped bring the next generation into the business.
A gradual transition
For Alpenhaus, succession wasn’t a single event. It happened slowly enough that the people around the business barely felt it.
It was just such a gradual transition that I think the employees, the vendors, manufacturers — everything just kind of worked out smoothly.
Leading through the hard years
Andy still remembers 2008 and 2009 vividly. The recession cut the business in half, and the family’s answer was to paint a vision of what the business could be.
Bring home the good news
The advice Andy credits for bringing the next generation in came from his father, Bud:
If you come home from work and you share what’s great about the business, not your problems, your kids are gonna wanna be in the business.
It’s a simple idea that shows up again and again in the family enterprises we work with: how the business is talked about at the dinner table shapes whether the next generation sees it as a burden or an opportunity.
Stride Family Business Alliance brings multigenerational family businesses together to learn from stories like this one. Explore our peer groups and programs, see upcoming events, or reach out to Jason Packer at jpacker@stridefba.com.