By Dylan Martin
Mainebiz Daily, Mar 23, 2015
2015 Business Leader of the Year
Ask Jim Wellehan what it means to be a business leader, and for his initial response, you likely won't hear him mention Lamey-Wellehan, his 100-year-old, Auburn-based family retail shoe business. Instead, he'll bring up a word that means a great deal to him: community.
"I love my community. I love being proud of my community," Wellehan says, noting the company's various community initiatives, like collecting shoes for the homeless. "It means to be there to be helpful, to try to be part of [the community], make it better." After all, he says, "If the community's better, won't the businesses benefit?"
For the 76-year-old company president, community involvement is one of the key ways Lamey-Wellehan has distinguished itself as a retail shoe business. Lamey-Wellehan has grown every year since the recession, in the face of online and big-box competitors, reaching nearly $12 million in sales last year and succeeding where similar businesses have failed. ...
Lamey-Wellehan's success has resulted in a number of awards over the years, including a Family Business Award in 2014 from the Institute for Family-Owned Business, which praised the company for "treating employees like family" and having a "customer-first mentality." ...
In July 2014, Wellehan was the focus of a short video that called for an increase in the minimum wage. ...
Helping employees feel good and find meaning at work is another key area that Wellehan says allows the company to provide quality customer service. ...
"Treat them the way you'd like to be treated," Wellehan says, which is accomplished in a few ways.
For one, all associates are paid above the minimum wage, with the lowest earners making $11.90 to $19 an hour, commission included, and managers earning between the low- and mid-40s annually. ...
On top of commission, Wellehan says associates have other incentives, like bonuses for making the monthly top sales list, various contests held throughout the year and pay raises for completing training programs. ...
By paying associates above minimum wage and being proactive with various environmental measures, it could be argued that Lamey-Wellehan is showing how government regulation is unnecessary and that the private sector can take care of itself. But Wellehan says he rejects that argument.
"I think we need regulation if we're going to have a world that works for everybody."
Copyright 2015 New England Business Daily