Jock Gibson and his two brothers, Buzz and Mike, found a simple way to avoid the tensions often associated with family-run companies.
Under the umbrella of the family's Lochmead Dairy company, each literally minded his own business.
With Jock in charge of the milk bottling plant and retail outlets, Buzz managing the dairy farm and Mike growing feed for the cows, the brothers were too busy to worry about power struggles.
"We had our own operation to run and didn't get in each others' way," Jock said.
This separation of duties turned out to be one of many advantages that sprang from the Gibson family's decision to vertically integrate their company into a farming, processing and retailing operation during the 1960s.
The operation began in the 1940s as a 160-acre farm near Junction City, Ore., headed by Howard Gibson, who built a dairy that was eventually taken over by his sons.
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