Wes and Diane Herman gave a challenge 15 years ago to their four home-schooled teenagers: Create a business plan that eventually supplied the grounds for Woods Coffee. “We wanted to teach them how to start a business,” says CEO Wes Herman. Three of the adult children work in the company, while the fourth is “our insurance agent,” Herman says. In 2002, Woods opened the first shop in Lynden, and after six months, a second store there. Now the company has 19 locations: 15 in Whatcom County, two in Skagit, one in King and one in British Columbia. Herman says family operators keep best practices in mind, from quality control of ingredients to belief in its more than 250 employees through supportive benefits. They were honored with the 2017 Family Business Award for Best Practices because they perpetuate a culture of progressive, thoughtful management. Read the full feature here.
