The Banas family (l-to-r): Ryan, Madison, Reb, Megan, Reb and Blake.
Succession Planning Without a Plan by Reb Banas
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tanley Spring and Stamping Corporation was started in 1944 in Chicago by my grandfather Stanley Banas, a Polish immigrant. Grandpa began the business with a hand coiler in his garage while working for another spring company. He later rented a three-flat with a manual elevator near where the old Chicago Stadium stood on West Madison Street, before moving to our current location on West Foster Avenue on the northside of Chicago. My uncle Stan Banas graduated from high school in 1945 and served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He later graduated from Purdue University in 1950 and immediately joined the family business. My dad, Ron Banas, nearly nine years younger, joined the business after graduating from Lake Forest College and also serving in the Coast Guard.
30 / SPRINGS / Summer 2020
There was no succession plan in place when my grandfather died of a sudden heart attack in 1954, while shopping for a birthday present for my dad at Marshall Field’s in downtown Chicago. With no succession plan in place, the business was divided equally between my uncle and my dad. My dad and uncle enjoyed a long working partnership that saw the expansion of the business into areas such as fourslide and punch press. During their time together, they successfully added Stanron Steel Specialties in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to the company’s portfolio in 1972. I never got to meet my grandpa. As a third-generation member of the Banas family who joined the company in 1989, I am sure Grandpa would have been proud that Stanley Spring and Stamping continues to thrive as a family-owned producer of custom springs, stampings,
wireforms and fasteners, serving many different industries. I am guessing that Grandpa would have been disappointed to learn that the passing of the business to the next generation did not go as smoothly. When my uncle Stan was in declining health (he died May 10, 2008), he passed his half of the business to one of his six children, unbeknownst to my dad. It was quite a shock when my dad found out he had a new partner. That is when the bottom fell out. After I worked for almost a year to obtain a valuation for the business, my dad bought out my cousins to obtain 100 percent ownership of Stanley Spring and Stamping and Stanron Steel Specialties, and we moved on with running the businesses. It was just ugly and it’s a shame that two close families fell apart. Even if we were still together or had reached an amicable dissolution, I’m not sure that we would have gotten along in the long
