Building on Legacy

Through five generations of leadership, innovation remains a constant for The Peelle Co.

JT Peelle (JTP) was appointed president and CEO of The Peelle Co. in July 2022, marking a new chapter in the business’s more than 100-year history. Representing the fifth generation of family leadership, Peelle brings his own unique perspective to the role. He spoke to your author (KF) about his career journey, The Peelle Co.’s legacy and his vision for the company’s future.

KF: How did you begin your career in the industry?

JTP: I started working for Peelle in 2010. My first job with the company was supporting our installation teams in New York. My primary responsibility was driving our construction van and delivering tools and materials to ensure that our installers had the equipment to complete their jobs efficiently and successfully. From there, I began performing sales surveys on existing freight door equipment and, later, became a New York Metropolitan Area sales representative. I would eventually move on to manage our New York installation and sales department after spending a short period of my career working with the accounting team. In March 2020, I left New York to pursue my MBA and moved to a more generalized role within the company. In July 2022, I was appointed the president and CEO of The Peelle Co.

KF: Did you always know you wanted to join the family business? Please tell me more about that decision.

JTP: Joining the company was always in the back of my mind, but when I started college, I was unsure if working for Peelle was what I wanted to pursue in my career. The decision to join the company was always left up to me. What interested me the most and drove me toward joining the company was the opportunity to continue building the legacy already in place. It is rare for a company to reach a fifth generation, and that is something that I take a lot of pride in.

KF: To what do you attribute Peelle’s success and longevity as a company?

JTP: Peelle has built and sustained a very strong brand within the industry. Our robust products have helped build this brand, but our success is not solely attributed to our products. Our continued engagement in all aspects of the elevator industry has kept our brand at the forefront. We also have had strong management teams and dedicated employees throughout our history. Our employees know that customers drive our success. By placing customer service at the forefront of our strategy, we have been able to sustain our success and continue to build our company and strengthen our brand. Our goal is to make our customers successful, a driving factor in today’s business strategy.

 KF: Which values or practices have stayed the same over the years?

JTP: As a company, we have continued to focus on building a product that adds value for our customers. We strive to provide quality products, and we have, and always will, stand behind these products. Throughout my career at Peelle, continuous improvement has always been critical to our internal strategy. Continuous improvement has not only been focused on our manufacturing processes. It also includes looking at and bettering all processes from the initial quoting stage to the time when our product has been installed and is running successfully.

KF: How do you balance the company’s history and tradition with the need to change with the times?

JTP: I do not find this to be a challenge. Peelle has an expansive history, but we have constantly had to change with shifts in the market, innovations and changes in what customers want to stay viable and remain successful as a company. For as long as I can remember, Peelle has placed a significant importance on continuous improvement. By doing this, change has been a part of our history. There are always new challenges, but having the right team in place and everyone in the organization understanding why things need to be done differently allows us to continue to build upon our history. We must not only understand how things are different, but why they are different.

KF: What was your transition into the role of CEO and president like?

JTP: I feel like it was a smooth transition into my new role, although I am always learning new things and finding areas where I can improve. My father’s, Hank Peelle’s, retirement might have come as a surprise to some, but he did a great job mentoring me and explaining the rationale behind the decisions he would make throughout my time with Peelle. He has taken a back seat when it comes to me running the company, which is not always the case for family businesses. This has allowed me to move forward with my vision of the company and where it should go. However, if I ask, Hank is always willing to provide me with guidance and be a sounding board for different ideas.

I have worked my entire career at Peelle and worked in various departments before becoming the president. This allowed me to build relationships throughout the company, which has given me additional areas from which to seek advice. Knowing how different areas of the company work and how every department ties into one another has helped me understand the organization as a holistic unit. My transition would have been much different, though, without having a solid management team. I can trust and rely on these individuals to make decisions that benefit the organization.

KF: How have you made the role your own?

JTP: I bring a different perspective to the business, especially considering the social and cultural changes the world has been experiencing. I am the only person to run the company without an engineering background. In college, I studied economics and anthropology. My studies in anthropology opened my mind to how important it is to get to know our customers and employees and what motivates them. People come from different backgrounds and knowing that everyone has different motivating factors is crucial to the success of any company.

KF: In which direction have you taken Peelle since you began leading the company in 2022?

JTP: We have seen many technological innovations over the years. I am trying to embrace these innovations and see how they can benefit us and our industry. We have been working toward more automated processes to increase efficiencies throughout various departments in the company.

As most people know, we have also seen a considerable increase in demand for freight doors. As a result, we have been experiencing longer lead times than our customers have been accustomed to. My main focus has been on increasing our production capacity so that we can work to reduce our lead times and fulfill our customers’ needs.