Sparks’ Haws Corp. ends 116 years of family leadership

A chance pairing at a golf tournament led to a new direction in leadership for Sparks-based Haws Corp.

Chuck Gruber, the first non-family member to lead Haws Corp., in its 116-year history, met Tom White, former Haws chief executive officer, on the golf course. The two businessmen were paired for 18 holes, and during the round they discussed their different business ventures — Gruber was CEO and part owner of a Minnesota-based company that made reflective material for garments so people are visible at nighttime.

The duo hit it off, and in 2017, Gruber flew to Sparks to learn more about Haws Corp. — though as a chemical engineer, he was already familiar with the company’s emergency eye wash and safety shower products.

“Right out of school, I ordered safety showers for a new chemical plant we were building in Texas, and I bought all Haws products,” Gruber said.

Soon after, Gruber was asked to join the Haws Corp. board of directors, and a few years later, he divested his interests in his own company and made the transition to corporate leadership at Haws as its chief operating officer.

This summer, Gruber was named CEO of Haws Corp. White stepped away from corporate leadership entirely and now serves as chairman of the board of directors at Haws Corp.

“Haws needed to grow and implement a strategy for moving forward,” Gruber said. “The family had decided that in order for the company to reach its full potential it needed a CEO who had more experience growing companies.

“A large percentage of family-run businesses don’t even make it to the second generation, and Haws Corp. was in its fourth generation of family leadership,” Gruber added. “Only having family members in senior leadership for 116 years is really extraordinary.”

White said that after Gruber’s two years of board service and working alongside him as COO, he was comfortable that Gruber would be able to take Haws Corp. to the next level.

“Chuck has driven a significant amount of change necessary for the company to grow,” White said. “After more than 100 years and four generations of family leadership, we are happy to take this final step and make this a reality for the family and our employees.

“I have been particularly impressed with his focus on employee safety, profitable growth, and employee development,” he added. “Chuck has done all of this without sacrificing the wonderful work culture that took us many decades to develop.”

The transition made sense on multiple levels, Gruber added. The primary goals of implementing an outside CEO were to double Haws Corp.’s revenue over the next five years and transition management responsibilities from owners to employees.

Oh, and Gruber also loves to ski.

“I have always wanted to go skiing before going to work,” he said with a robust laugh. “I have never lived in this part of the country, and I thought it would be exciting.”

Gruber said he often gets some turns in for a few hours on Wednesday mornings before heading into the office.

He also was inspired by the challenge of ushering in the next chapter for a company that’s more than a century old. Luther Haws founded the Haws Sanitary Drinking Co., in 1909 in Berkeley, Calif. after receiving a patent for drinking fountains in 1906. In the 1950s, Haws Corp. added emergency drench showers and eye wash stations to its product offerings. The company relocated to Sparks in 1996.

Today, Haws Corp. manufactures both product lines from its 200,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility on Kleppe Lane. North America remains the company’s largest market, but Haws has additional facilities in Switzerland, Singapore and Brazil to serve global customers. The company’s total headcount is about 260.

Transitioning Haws Corp. from an owner-run business to a self-regulating employee-run business was the first order of business, Gruber told NNBW.

“With Tom as an owner and CEO, the culture among employees was to defer strategy and planning to Tom,” he said. “A company can only become as good as it can be by having everyone working together and getting the best out of all its people.”

Gruber has installed an operating system for how Haws Corp. should function as an organization, as well as implemented a decision-making model that empowers team members to take on greater responsibility by evaluating risk when making decisions for themselves.

“These are fundamental ways in how we work,” he said.

Gruber’s diverse work background made him a natural fit to lead Haws Corp. He helped double the size of several businesses, and at one stop, he ran a chemical plant in Louisville that had about 800 hourly union-based employees that were divided into small teams which rotated positions every week.

“They had done that for years,” he said. “It teaches people how to make decisions, communicate, work together, and build teams. It was a very unique facility, and a number of major companies around North America would come and benchmark the facility.

“I learned a lot there about leadership, decision making and empowerment,” Gruber added.

The changes have been more than just topical. Haws Corp. is on track for a 15 percent increase in revenue in 2023. Staying that course should allow Haws Corp. to reach its goal of doubling revenue over a five-year span.

Gruber said that when he joined Haws, he didn’t even know if there was that much additional runway for growth.

“I knew we make the best products in all the categories in which we sell, and I knew the people were great,” he said. “But I hadn’t even seen if there was a market for our products and if that growth was even possible.

“Our products are the best in the market, and we are always innovating,” he added. “Now we have a concrete plan around the strategic pillars of which we are building this company on, and that is the foundation and the change we have been able to hang all the other pieces off.”

Added White: “This is a big step for the family. Working closely with Chuck over the past three years, we developed a solid rapport and great deal of trust in both Chuck and the leadership of the company. Never have we felt as good about the direction and leadership of the company. We are pleased to be stepping away from the daily operations of the company, allowing Chuck and our global leadership team to take it from here.”