As founder and president of family business Colonial Packaging, Bill Kaneft's job has changed a lot over the past twenty years.

"I used to wear all the hats," Bill says. "I licked the stamps, went to the post office, unloaded trucks, made bags myself - I did it all in the beginning. My job has changed a lot."

Nowadays Bill still wears a lot of hats, but of a different fashion. His job involves selling products, coaching his sales staff, working with customers, paying company bills, and -- most importantly -- developing the company's vision, or "where the team is going and how it's getting there."

One philosophy Bill subscribes to that most company heads don't, though, is what he calls "euro-style management," which includes every employee receiving five weeks of vacation.

Bill explains his choice management style by saying that he wants every person, from the least- to the highest-paid employee, to have an opportunity for a high quality of life, and that there are a couple key elements comprising that: spirituality and time. "You can take time for your family, for yourself, and for what they used to call a mental health day. It's OK to take a mental health day here at Colonial! If you need to have a day with your child, if you and your husband need to go to the beach for the day -- my comment is just do it."

He emphasizes that the only reason such a flexible system works is because his employees understand that his main concern is that they get the job done and still have the freedom to do what they want. "If we didn't realize we have to help each other out when colleagues are out, we couldn't go turkey hunting or play golf every now and then," he says.

To sum it all up: "My number one priority is to take care of our customers in that we make a profit and provide a competitive price and I want my employees to remember to live their life along the way."

  

 
Second-in-command to his son, Jack Kaneft is vice president of Colonial Packaging and in charge of sales and marketing. He began helping son Bill shortly after the company started and has stuck around ever since.

"Colonial recently had its twentieth birthday; things look great for the future," says Jack.

He says the company's greatest strengths are its employees and its customers, many of whom have been with Colonial since the beginning two decades ago. Now a strong office force and warehousing group make travel across the entire Southeastern United States possible, Jack says.

"We've come a long way. We're most thankful for the people -- they are the reasons why Colonial has been such a success and why we've been in business 20 years."

So why doesn't Jack retire and watch Colonial flourish from afar? He says if we want to live a full live, we should stay active and productive as long as we can. "I wouldn't stop for anything," he adds.


 
"If I had to write a job description, it'd change daily," says Stephanie, who's been working at Colonial since 1996. She's in charge of running the Sumter office, which she calls the bloodline of the company. It's where orders are processed and sent to vendors, bills are paid, and negotiations with clients are made. "When things are running smoothly in the office, then the salesmen can go out and do their jobs," she says.

Stephanie actually majored in criminal justice and said she could have never imagined herself managing an office, but what's kept her at Colonial is the family atmosphere, which allows her to have a career and a family. "My boss, Bill, is very flexible. If I can't come in because my child's sick, I'm not going to get fired, and to me, that's priceless."

 
"Basically I'm Stephanie's right-hand person. Anything she needs done, I'm there," say Melinda, who's worked at Colonial for about nine years.

She says she makes daily trips to the post office, handles company bank deposits, manages bills and generally ensures that Colonial's customer service runs well.

Melinda says she likes working at Colonial because of the family-oriented, no-pressure atmostphere. "You pretty much work at your pace. And our boss, Bill, is so gracious."


 
"What do I do here? That's a good question -- a little bit of everything," says Teresa, who's been at Colonial since 1996. As one of two administrative assistants at the Sumter office, she take orders, records invoices, checks that incoming shipments match orders, and tracks shipments.

"I tell people I took my daughter's job," says Teresa, whose daughter worked at Colonial in high school. Teresa started her job with the company the same day her daughter started college. "It was supposed to be part-time, but I've stayed because of the people -- it's family. The job can be flexible if it has to be. The whole time my mother was sick, for instance, I could take care of her and still get my job done."

 
Helen, who's been employed at Colonial for about five years, says she has many jobs as an administrative assistant for the company.

She takes phone calls, writes up orders, and handles accounts receivable. One of her most important jobs, though, is making trips to the local Wal-Mart to load up on candy for customer gift bags. "People always wonder what I'm going to do with all that candy I'm buying," she laughs.

She says she loves her job because of the people and what the company does. "The family-type atmosphere makes it very pleasurable to work here," says Helen.