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20 | I NSIGH T • J a n u a r y 2 0 15 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m "I felt ready," Anika, 40, says of the big contracts they took on in 2013. She credits her dad with building the foundation for their success through his smart financial moves and avoidance of debt. Gary, 70, remains president but handed his daughter the reins to run the company as general manager and vice president five years ago. He, in turn, is pleased with her leadership. "e enthusiasm of youth helps," Gary says of Anika, who three years ago assumed 45 percent ownership of the company. "She has a good, rounded knowledge of this industry. She has to know what she's talking about, more so than a male in this business. (Anika is one of only two women running Toyota forkli dealers in the U.S.) ey give her one chance, so she does a very, very good job of informing herself of the ins and outs of this business." Humble beginnings D orothy and Lloyd Conger started the company in 1955, when they le Sheboygan to take an opportunity to buy a small forkli service business on the northeast side of Green Bay. Anika says her grandfather was eager to work close to the Northwoods where he could hunt and fish (though starting a business le him little time for that). Lloyd died in 2008 but at 91, Dorothy still pops in now and then to see how things are going. She recalls the couple sold their house for $3,000, rented a farmhouse and took the money to start their business in a small garage on the premises (they shared a bathroom with their landlord, a potato farmer). Lloyd repaired forklis and Dorothy handled the office work. eir children did odd jobs or played nearby; Gary was 11, Bruce was 7 and Tana, 4. "I would never have expected it to get this big," says Dorothy, who stopped working at Conger in the mid-1960s. "My husband would have liked to see it now." Against his convictions about not wanting to work with foreign companies, Lloyd was convinced by a particularly gregarious Toyota distributor to take on the brand in 1970. As the No. 1 rated fork truck brand in the U.S. — with a reputation for durability and reputation for the Toyota Lean philosophy — it turned out to be a very good move. Heavy Lifting c o n t i n u e d Lloyd and Dorothy moved their business to the current location in 1975. Gary tells the story of how his dad decided to quit five years later. "One day he asked my brother and me to come into his office. He was 57, and he said he was going to retire. We asked, 'When?' and he said, 'Noon.'" And he did. He gave up smoking cold turkey and he gave up the business cold turkey. He said 'I can handle the big issues, but all the little stuff gets to me.' So we purchased my parents' interest in the business in 1984." Gary bought his brother out in 1996. eir sister, Tana Winkka, who had always worked in the business, stayed on as office manager. Meanwhile, Anika had studied equestrian science and business at William Woods University in Missouri and earned a bachelor of science in business administration. Aer graduation, she enrolled in pre-med courses at UW-Green Bay. Within a year she knew medicine was not for her, either. She had worked in the family business in the summers, doing "My horses are my therapy," says Anika Conger-Capelle, who rides several times a week, a pastime she shares with her 12-year-old daughter and her mother (who no longer rides). She has won national titles in both Western style and English style competitions with her American Quarter Horse named Classic Promotion, "Doug" for short. Conger ToyotaLift Founded: 1955, by Lloyd and Dorothy Conger as Lift Parts Service Co. Ownership: Anika Conger-Capelle, vice president and general manager, 45 percent; and Gary Conger, president, 55 percent Employees: 92 Locations: Green Bay (headquarters), Wausau and Neenah Annual sales (expected in 2014): $32 million S U B M I T T E D P H O T O