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It's not that David Orscheln dislikes delegating.
"I think it's one of his favorite things," said a cousin, Tony Caldarello.
But Orscheln fears that, as his $20 million group of freight companies grows, he'll lose touch with his workers.
"I hate, as we grow, that we gotta be more formalized," Orscheln said. "In the end, it's about people."
The chairman and CEO of OrTran Inc. and two affiliated companies seems acutely aware that even though he doesn't need a job, most of his employees do.
"His people become major concerns for him, and that's what motivates him to do well," Caldarello said.
"He could have taken maybe an easier road," said another cousin, Bob
Orscheln. "There's money in the family, and he could have sat there and done nothing."
The Orscheln family fortune can seem to be everywhere - even underfoot.
A family-owned factory made the parking brake in David Orscheln's SUV. When he walks into Downtown's Phoenix jazz Club, he greets the waitress as though he owns the place, which he does, with his siblings. He also has a family stake in a 16-lane bowling alley in Moberly, Mo., in eight Orscheln factories on three continents and in 116 Orscheln farm stores.
Besides the economic ties, there's a priceless family bond.
"We're a very tight-knit Catholic family," said his aunt, Edna Caldarello.
Orscheln figures his employees take...