ST. LOUIS — Working his way up through the family business instilled in St. Louis Wholesale Tire CEO Joseph Inchiostro Jr. the importance of treating others as you want to be treated.
"When you have that foundation of working your way through the business, you understand all the positions. You can relate to the people in those positions, and it helps you manage better," the second-generation co-owner said.
"We are a small, family-owned business that values the importance of family and operates by the Golden Rule," he said.
"Our environment is open and inviting with a positive attitude. Learning and teaching happens every day because we care about our co-workers and customers. The owners are part of the sales team, and everyone answers the phone."
The tire wholesaler, which specializes in specialty tires and inner tubes, was founded by Mr. Inchiostro's father and uncle, and now is operated by Mr. Inchiostro and his cousin John Inchiostro.
"Treat people as you want to be treated is how we always interacted with our employees," he said. "Like family, we're lenient in that regard. If there are personal emergencies that come up, we know that life comes first.
"Again, just like our customers, when you treat people that way, you don't have to make them work harder for you. They want to work hard for you because they know you got their back.
"And that's just something that has evolved from the nucleus of how we treated our employees and then we took it to market because it's what we believed and so it's been an evolution over 15 to 16 years."
The company offers its 18 employees 10 vacation days and five sick days and personal days after one year of employment. It also pays 75% to 99% of medical and dental insurance premiums and offers a pension plan.
"We take care of our people. We are not petty when it comes to compensation," Mr. Inchiostro said.
The wholesaler also boosts employee morale with bonuses, incentives and recognitions.