A Family Success
by Nathan Lindberg

     ANACORTES - Marvin Wilbur, Sr. sat in his office choosing a partner over the Internet to play a game of chess. He was using an Internet connection in an office all owned by his family.
     He laughs and smiles at the success of the Wilburs’, and admits he doesn't even try to keep up with the progress. Change has happened quickly as of late, but for Marvin, Sr. it was. "very difficult" in the beginning.
     It started in 1974, when Marvin Wilbur, Sr. and his family moved two trailers onto a plot of Swinomish tribal reservation land where Highway 20 meets with East Marches Point Road. He, his wife Joan, and his three children began selling cigarettes out of them.
     Today the family does business in the same location, but the trailers are gone. In their place is a business complex with warehouses, a retail store, offices, even a day care center.
     The Wilburs’ still sell tobacco products but under the guise of Trade Routes, have expanded business. They retail American-Indian-style handicrafts, fireworks, baskets, and they are experimenting in Halloween paraphernalia.
     In the service area they contract in the trucking industry, operate a mail service, they just recently started an Internet provider, and they are planning an open market for the Tulip Festival.
     Such a wide spectrum is a reflection of Trade Routes' unique management structure. The company has four divisions, three of which are headed by the Wilburs’ children, Marvin, Jr., Lenora, and Mike. The fourth divi-sion is the managing division headed by non-family member, Jeff Lilly.
     The children expand their business but must go to Lilly for financial approval. In turn, Lilly answers to the Board of Control, headed by Marvin, Sr. and Joan, with the children as members.
     The result is, everyone knows what every-one is doing and the majority approves.
It is an extremely democratic structure but intrinsically can be slow to react.
"As a profit business, sometimes it is bur-densome because you don't make decisions as quickly as you normally would." points out Lilly.
     So far it has been working. Trade Routes has grown from the family to 35 employees year round and up to 150 during the peak sea-son. Their business runs worldwide and there is no sign of slowing down.
     A big part of their success has been finding select markets, especially seasonal ones.
Lenora Wilbur explained, "I think it's one of our strengths to identify a market or niche, do it for a short time, come out and do the next thing. Because fireworks have been that way, so that's been a lot of our training."
     The company started dealing fireworks in 1979. They go to China to set up contracts, then sell the goods from Hawaii to Alaska, mostly for the Fourth of July season.
     "We usually start in April and go through mid-July. We spend those off months gearing up," said Marvin Jr., in charge of fireworks.
     Seasonal experience led Trade Routes to expand to Halloween goods and the Tulip Festival open market.
     But the company tries to balance seasonal with stability. Recently they started using their trucks that haul fireworks for other hauls.
     "We've got four trucks and it's been very busy," said Marvin, Jr.
     Another niche they might utilize would be hauling hazardous material with the license they already have for pyrotechnics.
     Marvin, Sr. made his opening move for his chess game. Business has been much more of a game to him, but he seems to have enjoyed playing it.