A good leader in business has a vision and works to articulate it into fruition. Doug Glaze, prior President of NorX, will be celebrating his 50th anniversary with the company in September 2024. His vision for NorX has always been to maintain an environment where the employees feel like family. Throughout his career, Doug has stayed true to his vision to create the welcoming family-like atmosphere that employees of the company enjoy today.
How it all Started
Doug started with NorX on September 25th, 1974. Prior to joining the company, he had worked for Union Oil company in downtown Atlanta, GA. It was while he was working for Union Oil that he was informed by a coworker that NorX was looking for a warehouse employee and he applied. While Doug’s first position with NorX was in shipping and receiving, he remembers spending his first two weeks at the company cleaning the warehouse by sweeping floors and dusting shelves.
In 1975 Doug moved into the sales department at NorX. He then became the Vice President of the company in 1980. Oliver Sale, the company’s previous owner, made it financially easy for Doug to purchase NorX little by little throughout the years. Thanks to his generosity, by the early 90’s Doug owned approximately 45% of NorX and signed a note to purchase the additional 55% giving him full ownership of the company.
Putting Employees First
In 1999, the company was expanding and looking to move their facility. To keep employee commutes short and promote a feeling of working for their local community, the decision was made to choose a location where 90% of their employees lived within 5 – 10 miles. Doug said that moving the company to Lawrenceville, GA has been one of the biggest successes of his career because it helped to promote work/life balance for his employees.
Family First
Throughout everything, Doug’s backbone and advisor has been his wife, Joan. She has been with him every step of the way since they were married in 1970. They have five grandchildren ranging from 13 to 27 years old and Doug said their lives revolve around family time. If Doug has any additional free time, he loves to play golf and hop on his tractor to work the land on the property he leases nearby.
He has also greatly enjoyed sharing the success of NorX with his son, Jeremey Glaze, who is now the President of the company. Doug and Jeremy are very involved in their church. They also own property in the north Georgia mountains that they love to retreat to.
Regarding the partnership between NorX and Mellott, Doug said that partnership has helped to grow the company further than he could have ever comprehended. He realized quickly that Mellott has the same family-oriented values that NorX does, and this has made for a great partnership.
“At NorX we approach everything as a family, whatever it may be. I could never take credit for the success of NorX, our success depends on our employees. God is good.”—Doug Glaze.