Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/459961
February 2015 | Boating Industry | 21 [ All in the family ] www.BoatingIndustry.com chase insurance and updated the family wills to protect everyone against the unexpected death of any majority stockholder. "It's not a singular decision to do something [to transition] and it's done with. We had to go through 10 years to successfully complete our succession plan, but it kind of goes on autopilot. You don't think about it every day," said Russo. "You only think about it once a year actually when [you] have to sign a stock authorization." Buckeye Marine recently underwent a suc- cession in circumstances Poole describes, quite honestly, as "horrible." Her father was diagnosed with cancer in September 2012 and passed away a year later, and the family didn't have any discus- sions about what would happen to the business. Larry Jr. and Alex Russo's proactive succession planning helped Larry Sr. transition ownership to his sons with ease. "We had to go through 10 years to successfully complete our succession plan, but it kind of goes on autopilot. You don't think about it every day." — Larry Russo, Sr.