The Spotlight

Working Together to Exceed Expectations

As one of our six Guiding Principles, partnership has long been foundational to our businesses. From the beginning, my family has approached every relationship with our partners in the same way: by following through on what we say we are going to do.

Even a seemingly small interaction or transaction, handled the right way, can grow and lead to the development of meaningful, long-term partnerships. In 1978, my father and his brother sold their small waste business to Wayne Huizenga and Dean Buntrock as part of the Waste Management roll-up. On paper, the roll-up looked like a simple transaction. In reality, it was so much more. The mutual respect that developed as part of that transaction became the catalyst for a strong and extremely successful partnership that endured for decades and led to the growth of Blockbuster Video, the founding of Extended Stay America, and, ultimately, to the creation of one of the primary operating companies of The Johnson Group, OTO Development.

Last year my father explained to company leaders his approach to forming strong partnerships: “I’ve always tried to exceed their expectations.” It’s a pretty simple statement, but it’s full of wisdom and sets the standard to which all of us aspire. It’s easy to be a good partner in good times; it takes true strength to be a great partner in bad times.

As part of The Johnson Group, you partner with your team members, customers and communities every day as you put our Guiding Principles into practice. The relationships you foster today are vital to our continued success as an organization, both now and in the future, and we appreciate all the ways you work to make our partnerships not just good, but exceptional.