Posted December 23, 2014

 

On the occasion of Pharr Yarns’ 75thth anniversary this year, the McAdenville, N.C., company gave me a rare opportunity to peek behind the curtain and learn more about its operations. The family-owned, private company does not seek publicity, typically doing its business quietly under the radar. (And a very successful business, at that.) Having never stepped foot on the premises before, I was delighted to learn more about the company, its history and what makes it tick. I was pleased – though not surprised – to find something special in this company. Its above-board reputation preceded my visit, but spending time with company managers confirmed that belief.

 

I talked with with Mike Strader, Pharr’s New Business Innovation manager, High Performance Yarn Division; Rich Pattison, director of Sales and Marketing, Carpet Yarn Division, who was recently named to succeed retiring 43-year employee Woody Gosney as president of the division this coming March; and Christy Gliddon, director of Human Resources. All were gracious of their time and gave me a clear picture of why Pharr Yarns has been around for three quarters of a century. It has diversified, yes. It has discovered new customers and markets, yes. It has continually innovated, yes.

 

But as you can read in this week’s lead story, Pharr Yarns has an underlying operating mantra that has carried it far. Its deeply entrenched culture of integrity, honesty and humility is apparent just by speaking with those company officials. This culture was created and nurtured by longtime company leader Bip Carstarphen, who passed away in May, and continues with his son Bill at the helm. This “Golden Rule” philosophy has figured greatly into the company’s ability to succeed, I’m convinced.

 

Bip Carstarphen surrounded himself with employees who shared the same values, I was told. He knew the company’s success depended on his employees, certainly, but having individuals of likeminded values in your ranks would help to only improve its chances of success. I was informed that Carstarphen talked business secondarily with many people. His first concerns were of his employees and their families. When talking with an employee, he looked him or her in the eye and asked questions such as “how are you doing?” Or “how is your children?” Or “is your mother feeling better?” He knew many of those lives depended on him and the company’s prosperity, and he was always genuinely concerned about their wellbeing.

 

Carstarphen and his family’s benevolence extended into philanthropic efforts. Their contributions to Gaston County and the surrounding area are extensive, the most well-known being their blessing and financial support of the annual Christmas lights extravaganza in McAdenville every holiday season. The tradition began in 1956 with nine lit trees, before Carstarphen took over the company’s reigns, but it only grew larger under his guidance. He wholeheartedly endorsed the attraction, which features more than 500,000 red, green and white lights on almost 400 trees and numerous houses and Christmas music playing in the background. This year, more than 600,000 people are expected to visit “Christmastown USA” by the time it closes this Friday night.

 

I very much appreciate Pharr Yarns’ opening its doors to me to share its story. I hope you learn more about the company’s business, but most of all I hope you absorb some key takeaways: that integrity, honesty and humility are values that still work today, in business and in life. Those are lessons by which we should all strive to live our lives.