Ben Bucher, second eldest son of owner Tim Bucher, has recently returned to the family business, where he previously worked for nine years. After a brief hiatus, owning and operating two Great Harvest Bread franchises in Peoria and Morton, Illinois, Ben returned to BucherTech to help his father with the day-to-day operations.
“I’ve learned some things over the years, but really my original role, for nine years, was sales. I would go out and do account management,” said Ben of his initial role with the company.
Ben would sell BucherTech's services, as well as parts, computers, printers, and more to companies in his role as a salesman. Now, Ben is serving in a much broader role with the company’s recent expansion, and is taking on hiring, coaching service team members, training, business practices, and the day-to-day operations of the business.
“In the last year we’ve grown substantially so we need more operational help for my father,” said Ben. “[I handle] anything from getting tools to the guys to creating standard operating procedure on how we deal with a certain issue. All of the day-to-day, billing, and doing more of the quoting, giving him [Tim] more of a chance to do sales and have his face out in the community.”
Father, Tim, started the IT department for another Indiana company in 1981, where he worked for 19 years before starting his own company in 2000. Some of the employees who joined Bucher in his new business venture at that time are still with the company, a testament to the environment and loyalty the elder Bucher shares with his employees.
“My father has hired people first that he has found can be empathetic, and then technical. Technical is very important, but people are less forgiving for bad communication,” said Ben.
Ben graduated in 2004 from Purdue West Lafayette with a Selling and Sales Management Degree, and immediately joined the BucherTech team for the next nine years before moving to Peoria to start work on the Great Harvest Bread Franchise. Now that he has been back for a couple of months, he is excited for the future within the family company.
“Every book I read, everything tells me not to work with family, but we’ve always worked well together. My father is the owner, my brother is the lead system engineer; he’s been here ten years. What I like about our family is that we’re here to grow, but mainly, my dad has always been about serving the community,” said Ben.
Ben believes the work culture his father has cultivated at BucherTech is a part of what makes them so successful.
“That is something he’s translated to people here, everyone says it’s a fun environment to be in, and an environment where employees are thought of first before profit. We’re here to make money, but it’s always been about serving people at BucherTech first, and then worrying about the business. It is translated to how we deal with customers too, we have a lot of long-time customers that have stuck with us through the years,” said Ben
Having his own family closer to home has been a great transition for Ben and his wife as well. Moving from central Illinois, and being back in Northwest Indiana has given their kids (aged 5, 3, and 8 months) a lot more to do.
“We’re an hour from Chicago, which is great. We love the Cubs, my five-year-old loves them and having Lake Michigan nearby is great. There are so many nice parks here, places you can go hiking, like the Dunes,” said Ben.
Ben has a great many goals for the business as he moves into his new position as well.
“I’m looking forward to training and leading the team and creating a good work environment. My biggest goal is to continue the level of support we have maintained over the years through our growth.”
