Jason Trice is co-CEO with his brother, Cameron Trice. Their dad, Steve Trice, started Jasco — a home electronics developer and manufacturer — in 1975 as an offshoot of a company his father started in the ‘50s.
They run their family business the way they want to – and that means giving 50 percent of all profits from Jasco-branded products to more than 180 ministries and charities across the globe. Because they are family-owned and controlled, Jason said, they can structure their business to align with their values.
“Having a closely held family business gives us a lot more latitude than if we were publicly traded, for sure,” Trice said. “It’s not about me or my family, it’s what God is doing through Jasco to bless people around the world.”
He said this business shift allows him to think about business differently: It’s only his for a little while.
“This is God’s business,” he said. “We are stewards of it for a little while, and our goal is to leave it better than we found it and to help the next generation to do the same.”
Jasco designs, develops, markets and distributes roughly 4,000 products through distribution partners like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target and Amazon. He said to remain relevant as a family-owned electronics company – or any family-owned business – change must be embraced.
“Technology continues to evolve, which provides great opportunities for innovation,” he said. “Change is hard for the giants, but companies that can be nimble take advantage of those changes. We miss the boat sometimes, but we are right more often than not.”
Since 2000, Jasco has shown growth every year but two, Trice said. And with the increase in demand for electronic connectivity at home during the pandemic, the company saw significant growth during the last two years as well.
“We saw an unforeseen increase in demand – too much demand and not enough supply,” he said. “But I’ll take those kind of challenges every day.”
For the future of a family-owned business, he said family members must work to instill a hard work ethic into the next generation that might – or might not – join the family business.
“I spend a fair amount of time praying and thinking about my kids and reflecting on the way that I was raised,” he said. “I learned the value of hard work and discipline.”
“People say, ‘the first generation starts it, the second builds it and the third generation destroys it,’” he said. “We’re trying to be the generation that builds it into something that lasts and becomes a multi-generational blessing. We’re trying to train the next generation up right to understand the value of hard work and the value of earning money and not just giving them everything.
“We are doing this for the glory of God and not to be a trust fund for family members.”
