Hundreds of executives have flocked to St. Louis to learn how the Gunds’ family business thrives by putting workers before short-term profits
Gund Co. President Brian Krupich, CEO Steve Gund and Rich Gund, chairman and COO.
Oct. 22, 2026 5:30 am ET
Hundreds of executives have made the pilgrimage to St. Louis to try to replicate Steve Gund’s elusive feat: He’s the third-generation CEO of a family manufacturer that has averaged 18% annual growth for a decade—all without ever laying off an employee.
He said he does it with a leadership model that puts The Gund Co.’s 1,300 employees’ well-being over short-term profits. He has made it his mission to evangelize the approach, especially to leaders of other family owned companies.
“It sounds touchy-feely, but it’s profitable,” said the 55-year-old Gund, whose grandfather, Ed Gund, a former candy salesman, started the composite materials company in 1951. Now approaching $400 million in sales, its customers include General Electric and Rockwell Automation. Its parts can be found in nearly every aspect of the grid, from wind generators to the green boxes dotting subdivision lawns.
The model requires trade-offs, and a lot of discipline: Gund has never had a layoff but staffs sparingly so it can weather the leaner stretches. Employees are pushed to voice and document concerns on red cards displayed on the factory floor, putting leaders on notice to take care of problems quickly. Everyone from line workers to managers crafts a career-development plan. Yet those who don’t adapt to Gund’s high-performance culture are managed out.
And there are financial gambles: This year the company spent tens of millions of dollars to buy back its existing employee-stock ownership plan with the aim of relaunching a similar program to employees in every country where it operates—including China.
Many of the executives coming through Gund’s St. Louis headquarters and other Midwestern sites want to see if the Gund way could future-proof their own businesses. Some are running the companies their parents or grandparents founded and approaching a crossroads many family enterprises eventually hit: Either sell out, possibly to private equity, or find a sustainable way to keep it growing in family hands.
The sustainable way, Steve Gund said, is building a business around a larger sense of mission, both for its workers and future generations of family owners.......