Family Business Magazine spotlights Pella’s approach to stewardship and growth

Pella Corporation is featured in the May 2026 cover story for Family Business Magazine, highlighting how five generations of family stewardship, governance and long-term thinking have shaped the company’s evolution over the last century. 

In the feature, Board Chair Adam Farver reflects on Pella’s founding, the company’s approach to leadership and the responsibility that comes with sustaining a family-owned, professionally managed business across generations. 

Long-term thinking from the beginning 

Pella’s story began in 1925, when Pete and Lucille Kuyper invested in a window screen invention with the goal of creating a manufacturing company that would provide strong jobs and support the Pella, Iowa, community. 

“He never set out to build windows and doors,” Farver says in the story. “He set out to create a company — a manufacturing company in Pella — that would create great jobs.” 

What began as the Rolscreen Company eventually expanded into windows and doors, growing into one of the nation’s largest window and door manufacturers while remaining family-owned and professionally managed. 

 A governance model focused on stewardship 

The article also explores Pella’s governance structure and the separation between ownership, board oversight and executive management. 

Unlike many family businesses, family members are not employed full-time within the company. Instead, stewardship and governance remain the family’s primary role, with professional leaders guiding day-to-day operations and strategy. 

“We demand world-class professional executives and independent directors; in return, we promise to be world-class shareholders,” Farver says. 

Preparing future generations 

The feature highlights how Pella prepares future generations for  

shareholder responsibility through mentorship, governance development and shared experiences designed to reinforce stewardship and long-term thinking. 

Farver noted that successful family businesses must balance preserving what previous generations built while maintaining the flexibility to evolve over time. 

“What we see going forward is doing what we have done, but in all new ways,” Farver says in the article. “One of our values is learning — always be learning, always be looking for the next opportunity. That's what's brought us to where we are today and what will keep us thriving through the next 200 years.” 

As Pella enters its second century, the story reflects on how the company continues balancing innovation, culture and long-term responsibility while preparing for the future. 

To read the full Family Business Magazine feature, click here: https://familybusinessmagazine.com/legacy/stewardship/framing-the-future/