Hartford Business Journal

30 Hartford Business Journal • July 27, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FAMILY BUSINESS AWARDS 2020 CATEGORY | SUCCESSION PLANNING — TOLLAND-BASED CNC SOFTWARE INC. CNC Software Inc.'s father-to-daughter transition required 'proper thought and execution' By Natalie Missakian Special to the Hartford Business Journal W hen Meghan Sum- mers West was 12 years old and wanted a cat, her father asked her to put together a business plan. Not only was he grooming his el- dest daughter for the day she'd take over the family business. He was preparing her for life. The lesson? "If your decisions are well thought out, rather than just spur-of-the-mo- ment, the outcome is generally better," said Mark Summers, who founded Tolland-based CNC Software Inc. with his brothers, Jack and Brian, in 1983. That turned out to be sage advice as Summers, 62, prepared to hand over the reins at CNC, developer of Mastercam CAD/CAM software, which it touts as the world's most widely used computer-aided design and manufacturing software. When West, 36, took over as presi- dent and CEO of the family enterprise in 2015, the transition was more than a dozen years in the making — the re- sult of careful and methodical planning. West says she knew since age 5 that she wanted to run the company — a dream reinforced at 14 when she ac- companied her father on a business trip to Japan. But father and daugh- ter also knew that without proper thought and execution, the change could be fraught with emo- tion and conflict. In succes- sion planning seminars, they'd often heard the grim statistics: Only half of fam- ily businesses survive more than five years after a transition from first to second generation. "Dad always managed my expecta- tions and made it clear that nothing was going to be handed to me," said West. After West earned a business degree from what is now Bentley University, Summers recalls telling his daughter to "go get a job some- where, get some experience." "You can't just show up completely green and expect to have any cred- ibility," he advised her. "Without credibility, you aren't going to have any support. And without support, your business is going to end up one of those statistics." So West moved to Hawaii for a job as a development associate at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Honolulu, where she also completed her MBA. She returned to CNC in 2009 ready to get her feet wet, starting in a marketing job and climbing the ladder to operations manager in 2011. Four years later, she was lead- ing the company's 200 employees. "I was lucky enough to have this incredible company with amazing people, and I did build a relationship with them in a way that they felt safe with the transition," West said. Both father and daughter have deemed the transfer a success. And the cat she asked for? That venture had a happy outcome too. "The business plan was success- ful and that cat ended up hanging around for 19 years," said Summers, laughing. "His name was Buddy." CATEGORY | OVERCOMING ADVERSITY — SOUTHINGTON-BASED TOPS MARKETPLACE With community support, Tops Marketplace rebuilds after devastating fire By Natalie Missakian Special to the Hartford Business Journal A fter Tops Marketplace burned to the ground in a devastating fire in March 2019, it would have been perfectly understandable if John Salerno decided it was time to retire. After all, he's 69 years old and had a good 40-year run at the local family grocery store he co-owns with Betsy Tooker in Southington's Plantsville section. He admits the thought briefly crossed his mind. But two nights after the fire that investigators believe began in the kitchen near a bank of pizza ovens, hundreds of loyal customers and town residents flocked to the store for a candlelight vigil. Cards and encouraging messages began showing up in the mail and on social media for the local busi- ness, which has been a fixture in town since its first owners, the Topsche family, opened it in 1951. Then the community began con- tributing to a GoFundMe campaign, raising $20,000 to help rebuild the store, known for donating to count- less youth sports teams and civic groups over the years. "I knew that we were a positive presence in the town for all the time we've been there. But it just seemed that every orga- nization we had ever given to — churches, boy scouts, schools — found a way to give back to us," said Salerno. "It was just so overwhelming that I couldn't walk away." So Salerno took the money he received through insur- ance and donations and then took out a loan for $500,000 to cover the cost of the year-long rebuild. Dur- ing construction, he made ends meet by working as an uber driver and through catering jobs he and Tooker strung together using donated kitchen facilities. As for the fundraising, the store pledged to channel any money do- nated back into Greater Southing- ton, and in fact, has already begun doing so, Salerno said. On March 27, just over a year after the fire — and right in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic — Tops officially reopened its doors to the public. Salerno's daughter, Janal- ynne Guis, had been helping at the store for several years but has taken on a larger full-time role since the reopening. Although the new building encom- passes the same footprint as the origi- nal 1950s-era structure, a reconfigu- ration provided more selling space and 18-foot ceilings offer a larger feel. Salerno felt it was important to the community to keep the exterior look- ing familiar, but he took advantage of the rebuild to modernize the interior. The store upgraded all of its refrig- erated cases and added a hot-and- cold food program, although that is currently idle because of COVID-19. Salerno said the best part of rebuilding is interacting with his regular customers again. "When the people come in, they're actually genuinely happy to see us," he said. "You can tell there's a personal connection." PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED CEO Meghan West with her dad Mark Summers (left) and uncle Brian Summers. Tops CEO John Salerno Sr. with daughter Janalynne Salerno Gius (COO).

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