FAMILY-RUN BUSINESS: Miller Tire Co.

Founded: 1970 when Mahlon E. Miller officially renamed M.E. Miller & Son Trucking to M.E. Miller Tire Co.

Number of generations involved: The Millers and children Ed, Sharon and husband Vernon Evers, and Bev.

Number of locations: 1

Based: Wauseon, Ohio — In 2011 the company moved its office into the house in which Ed and Bev were raised.

Number of employees: originally the employees consisted of the elder Millers, children Ed and Sharon and her husband, Vernon; today the dealership employs 21 full- and part-time workers.

Company history: The dealership was renamed because, with his fleet of trucks, Mahlon Miller was already buying a lot of tires and was recognized by Star Tires as a dealer in 1965. Others were asking him if they could buy tires from him.

Products/services offered: Tires for car, lawn & garden, farm, truck, skid loader, among others. In 1988 the dealership began stocking tires for persons who restore antique farm equipment, and it now sells such tires globally through its website, www.- millertire.com, and eBay store.

Keys to longevity: “Responding to customer needs,” Bev Miller said, adding: “a staff that can ‘talk tires'; answering our phone without a machine saying ‘push this and press that'; having antique and hard-to-find tires produced for us; being trusted; and living out our faith in God, not only in our personal life, but also in business.”

Founder's philosophy: “Some people are intelligent but have no common sense,” founder Mahlon Miller was fond of saying, according to Ms. Miller.

As was common in a rural community at the time, he left school at 16 to work on the farm, she noted, adding that he also liked to say that “something on sale is not cheap enough if you don't need it”— “and we still are frugal with our money.”

Ms. Miller continued: “He was also an intelligent man who started his first business in his late 20s—M.E. Miller & Son Poultry.

“When I am pondering, ‘Why are we so blessed?' I already know Ed's answer: ‘So that we can be a blessing.'”