Leadership and Usibelli mine: operating as a family business for 73 years.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Mining - Company overview

Usibelli Coal Mine was founded in 1943 by Emil Usibelli and remains a family-led business today. Joe Usibelli Jr. is the company's president, and his father, Joe Usibelli, is the chairman of the Board of Directors. Joe Jr. says the family dynamic is inherent to the organization. "We try to keep that family atmosphere at a professional level, but were friends, we respect each other, and everybody is expected to work hard," he says.

Workplace Family Atmosphere

Usibelli Coal Mine is located in Healy, and the company has offices in Healy, Fairbanks, and Palmer. Healy is a small community with a population of about 1,021, according to the 2010 census. All of Usibelli's 112 employees are located in Alaska and the majority of these live in the Healy area. While being in a remote location can have drawbacks, Joe Jr. says it can be a benefit when it comes to fostering a family atmosphere. "Everybody lives together; I grew up with a lot of the employees, so we've known each other for our whole life. I had a retirement last week for an employee, and we knew each other for forty-five years."

Positive workplaces require maintenance no matter the community, and Joe Jr. says he "works daily to promote a productive atmosphere. The most important thing, he says, is simply to be friendly, listen to employees, and genuinely care about them. Additionally, he makes sure every day at work is his "best day," whatever may be occurring in his personal life. "Nobody cares if I'm having a bad day, really," he says pragmatically. "Who wants to be around somebody that's sour or is all about themselves or their troubles?" As Usibelli's president, his attitude and demeanor sets the tone company-wide. Negative and unsociable employees, he says, "tend to kill an organization--it tends to damage the working relationship of employees, which is one of the most important things for an organization, employees getting along with each other."

Another aspect of Usibelli Coal Mine's family atmosphere is that the company is literally operated by families, and not just the Usibellis, as the company has employees that are third and fourth generation workers from the community. Joe Sr. says, "I've never understood companies that have so-called anti-nepotism policies that say, 'If I hire you, I can't hire your sister.' Why? If you're a great fit for the company, why wouldn't 1? And that's exactly the attitude we've taken." He adds that most people are brought up to have a good work...