Pigs R Us After Vance Morris Passing: Navigating Family Business Succession

Pigs R Us is a second-generation, family-owned Richmond-based company with about 400 employees. It slaughters, manufactures, and sells pork food products.  Pigs R Us (PRU) is a low-tech, hands-on, “bricks and mortar” type of company with solid brand recognition, an impeccable reputation for high quality and ethical standards. The processes used in manufacturing are with the highest ISO20002 standards, and the plant is maintained immaculately. The personnel is comprised of an older workforce (average employee age is 47). There is little staff turnover, though lately there has been a diverse group of younger workers joining the company. There has been an impressive record of speedy state and federal new-product approvals, and solid working relationships with their large and small customers. The company prides itself on the close "southern family," culture of the business. The company logo features a pig with a smile on its face surrounded by small pictures of some of its oldest serving employees. The organization's structure is “old-fashioned”. It is hierarchical with rigid management divisions and reporting policies.  Research, manufacturing, and sales and marketing operate in traditional fashion, with employees reporting to supervisors or mid-level managers.  By the 1990s, sales and distribution grew from Richmond into a regional market, establishing a competitive advantage throughout the US South. Despite downward economic times in the US and the South, the pork business does well. This is due largely to the fact that Pork is one of the cheaper meat products and there is a variety of ways it can be prepared. Owned by the Morris family for the last 60 years, Pigs R Us is a key player in the Richmond based food industry. Various Morris family members sit on the board of charities throughout the city and it is not unusual to see the name at society