As time went by, one of his sons, Robert, took over box making and the other son, Frank, took over the construction business.
Guy, Robert’s son, started working summers in Ockerlund Industries’ wooden box plant when he was 15 years old. The youngest child with three older sisters, he went away to college for three years in Minnesota, and then ended up at the University of Colorado. There he met and married his wife and started his own family.
When he came back to the family business in 1991, his father had passed away, and Guy was faced with challenges that at times seemed insurmountable. But after 24 years, Guy Ockerlund is happy with how Ockerlund Industries’ shoot-off Ox Box and the industry as a whole have progressed.
“We’ve been blessed, the company has done well, but it really hasn’t changed that much over the years. The reality is that even though the location has changed, the equipment has changed and all the technology has changed, we still make pretty much the same thing we did – back in the day, “ Guy said.
The company, now located in Addison, specializes in heavy-duty, triple-wall, double-wall and single-wall corrugated packaging, pallets and skids, wood boxes, crating and plastic returnable containers.
It was a challenge when Guy returned to Illinois to re-energize the business, because Guy’s father was gone and his father’s right hand man was getting ready to retire.
“I had to learn the business fast,” he said. “There was a sense of urgency that we had to do something fast to get the company to make some money, grow a little, and then invest in it. That didn’t all happen right away.”
With the help of the company’s production manager, now Vice President Stan Joray, and his own business management degree, Guy jumped in with both feet. Soon after, he acquired two of his siblings’ shares of the company. Later he became sole owner when his third sister sold to him her part.
In 2005, Ox Box moved from Forest Park to Addison, expanded working space, and added production equipment and employees.
Ox Box now has 26 on the fulltime payroll with 30 to 35 temps on call.
The new location and expanded Ox Box team opened the company to opportunities to find applications for new products.
Ox Box received national attention when they worked with a supplier to develop an outdoor corrugated box made from recycled plastic bottles. The specialized container was used to ship rodent-destroying chemicals to a rat-infested island near the Antarctica.
Business has been steady during the last five years, Guy says. “It’s been super-rewarding.”
But the company’s success is owed to the company’s focus on what they do best.
“We just want to be the best at this, and not venture out into a million unrelated things,” Guy said. “We want to get better and better at it.”
He said he owes the company’s success to the people that work at Ox Box.
“The folks here do incredible work. We’re all good at something. Collectively, we want to put it together to be a great organization,” he said.
He does hope that Illinois begins to change its perspective on businesses the size of Ox Box.
“The state looks at businesses like they’re giant cash cows,” he said. “They don’t realize how thin our profit margins are. “
But with all the manufacturers in the area, Illinois is still a good place for Ox Box to be located.
“Right now, there’s not a better place to find customers than in Illinois,” Guy said. “But it won’t be that way forever. It won’t be, unless people pay attention to what needs to happen for manufacturing to succeed.”
Guy would like more than anything to pass on his grandfather’s company to his two children – ages 21 and 19 – despite economic up and downturns.
“We’re on the front car of a roller coaster,” he said. “The economy will soften up, and it will come back. It can be a wild ride at times.”
Ox Box is located at 1555 Wrightwood Court in Addison, Illinois or at www.oxbox.com.
Published in TMA’s People You Should Know series in 2015, Written by Fran Eaton, TMA News Editor
