Lakeshore Advantage President Jennifer Owens talks to Jim Brooks (left) and Dick Haworth about their friendship and philanthropy legacy. Photo courtesy Lakeshore Advantage

Jim Brooks and Dick Haworth share an enduring friendship distinguished by a history of business success and a commitment to involvement in the greater Holland/Zeeland community.

Friends for more than 60 years, they worked their way up the corporate ladders at Holland-based businesses owned by their families to become leading executives.

Haworth is chairman emeritus at Haworth Inc., a worldwide manufacturer of office furniture systems, while Brooks is chairman of Brooks Capital Management and former CEO at Beverage America.

Friends since childhood

They can trace their friendship back to when they were youngsters attending Hope Church in Holland with their parents.

After joining the family businesses, they nurtured their friendship in numerous meetings to discuss their roles at those companies.

“We met on a number of occasions to talk about the unique challenges and opportunities of being in our positions and how we could help grow our family businesses,” Brooks says.

Haworth fondly recalls those meetings.

“Those were enjoyable times because we were trying to figure things out together.”

Beginnings in business

Haworth’s father, G.W. Haworth, founded the company in 1948 as Modern Products, which evolved from a maker of wood furnishing for retail displays to a manufacturer of modular office systems known as Haworth Inc.

The younger Haworth joined the company in 1964 as an assistant sales manager. In 1969, he began his climb through the executive ranks while playing a major role in the development of office furniture systems. Those patented innovations served as a catalyst for the company’s status as a global player.