Continuing a legacy

Business: Peninsular Paper Co., Tampa

Generations: CEO/Chairman Dick Clarke, his son, Richard Clarke Jr., and grandson, Ricky Clarke.

Succession Plan: At 85, Dick Clarke plans to run 102-year-old Peninsular Paper Co. as long as possible. His son, Richard, 60, is president.

In 1950, Dick Clarke was finishing up at the University of Florida when his father died unexpectedly.

Clarke returned to Tampa to help his brother run the business their father, James Clarke, started in 1911 when goods were still delivered by horse-drawn carriages.

Sixty-three years later, Clarke remains at the helm of Peninsular Paper Co., a wholesale distributor of paper products.

The business, which had $30 million in revenue in 2012, has changed greatly since Dick Clarke joined it.

It sells more than 6,000 items, from toilet paper to plastic vented pallet wrap to janitorial products, and employs 100 people. Its customers include school districts and businesses.

Clarke says he has no plans to retire — not even after double bypass heart surgery in December. Though he worries the surgery has slowed him down.

Lately, the chief executive officer arrives at the East Hanna Avenue office at 9 a.m. instead of his usual 7:30 a.m.

The elder Clarke and his son, Richard, share management of Peninsular. “Father is the guiding light,” his son says.

While the Clarkes don't have a formal succession plan, Richard Clarke says he has learned how to do his father's job by working with him for 38-plus years. Others have learned Richard's job.

“We cross train employees. That's how you pass the torch,” Richard Clarke says.

And a third generation is being groomed to eventually take over Peninsular. Richard's son, Ricky, vice president of sales, joined the business 10 years ago.

Both Richard and Ricky Clarke say the elder Clarke often reminds them how important it is for the business to control costs and to continuously adapt.

Fifteen years ago, one of Peninsular's biggest accounts was a Tampa-based grocery chain. At the time, Richard didn't see how Peninsular would survive without that business.

That grocer no longer exists. But Peninsular is stronger today because of how it reacted to the experience.

The business went after new customers — school districts in the Tampa Bay area. It won the business and changed items it distributed to cater to the new customers.

The company also landed several large restaurants chains that were seeking better service than they were receiving from Peninsular's larger competitors.

Looking to the future, the Clarkes expect to sell half as many products as they have now. They say specialization will be key to the company's survival for the next 100 years, and the success of future generations.