Mark Sonderen is happy to have handed over the reins to Spokane-based Sonderen Packaging Inc.—the company his parents Albin and Mary started in 1963—to the third generation in a family of business leaders.

“My son and daughter now have the company,” says Sonderen, who retired in 2014, after leading the company for 36 years. “I keep one share of stock for a tiebreaker, so I'm still listed on the board, but that will probably be done in another year.”

When he took over the company, it had about 20 employees with $2 million in annual sales. By the time he retired, leaving the leadership in control of his son, Matt, and daughter, Keva, the company had grown to 120 employees with over $20 million in annual sales.

Sonderen, now 72, began working around the equipment and doing other labor at the carton-making company when he was 11.

“We didn't have a gluing machine for a certain type of box,” he recalls. “We had to bring the boxes home, and my two older sisters and I would handle them in front of the TV and sit on them to set the glue.”

After high school, he attended Gonzaga University his freshman and sophomore years, in part to stay close to the plant.

“Then for a year of experience, I went to Hillsdale College, in Michigan, for my junior year,” he says. “That's the only college my mother would let me go to that was conservative enough.”

He returned to Gonzaga where he met Valerie, his wife of 48 years.

“So we’ve been close to Gonzaga ever since,” he says.

Sonderen took the helm of the company in 1978 when he was 26.

One day, during the leadership transition period, Sonderen asked his father, “Gosh have you ever had this situation? He said, ‘No, I guess that’s your problem, not mine.’ He got up and left.”

Sonderen says he didn’t know at that moment if he was ready, “But I figured I knew enough to keep moving, and I could see a vision for the company.”

The company specializes in making paper cartons for the food and beverage industry, and one of its its largest customers has long been Beaverton, Oregon-based Reser’s Fine Foods. Other customers it has gained over the years include makers of confections, electronics, and ammunition.

While Sonderen Packaging has seen strong growth over its history, it was staggered by huge challenges along the way, Sonderen says.

In June 1998, for example, the plant at 2906 N. Crestline, in Spokane’s Bemiss neighborhood, was destroyed by a massive fire.

Sonderen says people asked why he didn’t just take the insurance money and fold the company.

“We had a good company, and it needed to be supported,” he says. “It didn’t take much to decide to rebuild. I was 45 years old. I’d be a bad example for my kids if I retired.”

Coincidentally, th111e Pacific Coast Paper Box Makers trade association was meeting in Coeur d’Alene the night of the blaze.

“I had friendly competitors from California and all over that were willing to run product to help us through,” he says. “Equipment suppliers came over, and we started ordering equipment right away.”

It took about a year to bring the business back under one roof, he says.

Sonderen says a customer reminded him that the company made it through the disaster because of relationships built with customers, suppliers, competitors, and employees.

“He said, if any of those are against you, it wasn’t going to work,” Sonderen says.

A decade after the fire, the Great Recession brought another threat to the company shortly after Sonderen invested $3.5 million in new equipment and expanded the plant at by 40,000 square feet to its current size of 130,000 square feet.

“I was kind of arrogant,” he says. “On previous downturns, we always had customers that would counter imbalances with the mix.”

During that recession, however, everyone went down together, he says.

“That 2008-09 downturn was probably the worst,” he says. “We had a 30% drop (in activity). I’d just done some investing in the company, and that was a squeeze that time.”

The company had recovered fully from the recession by the time his son Matt and daughter Keva rose to majority owners and began leading the company as co-presidents about 10 years ago.

Keva Sonderen says she and her brother didn't feel compelled to enter the family business as they were growing up. Rather, their interests in the company gelled as they became adults.

"One of the reasons we have been successful with the generational transition is that it was our choice," she says. "We were never pressured to join. I had no idea I would end up here."

She adds, however, her dad was always a mentor who led by example.

"I was a student of how he would build relationships ... focused on the people side of business to be more human and authentic," she says.

He still has connections with some employees. "There are still people here who have known him or a very long time," she says. "He can still be professional and care personally about people." 

She says her father helped her and Matt navigate treating each other as professionals instead of siblings. "We each have very different strengths," she says.

Mark Sonderen adds, “I recognized where each of their aptitudes were. I hoped they would realize it for themselves, and it worked out exactly that way. Keva oversees sales and (company culture), and Matt’s on the finance, equipment, and system-management side.”

These days, he says, it’s best for him to stay out of their way when it comes to the business.

“The last few years they haven’t been asking much for advice,” he says. “They have taken over and have been making the decisions that move the company forward. The company is growing in volume, and they’ve invested a lot in new equipment.”

The family remains close to each other, as the Sonderen clan lives in the Five Mile area on Spokane’s North Side.

“Matt has a house on the corner of the property, and Keva’s next door,” he says. “So we’re kind of tribal.”

He and Valarie enjoy being close to their five grandchildren. “I can see I’m headed to be a bleacher grandparent—giving the family support to get them to their sports and those things," he says.

Meantime, Sonderen remains physically active.

“I do outdoor sports. I’m a waterfowl hunter,” he says, adding, “I’ve been a downhill skier since I was 14.”

Sonderen says he and a couple of friends try to hit the slopes on Mount Spokane a couple times of week during the ski season.

The family also has a home at Priest Lake, Idaho. “I go up there year-round,” he says. “I like the winters up there. I can still snowmobile on trails.”

In post-retirement summers, Sonderen, extended family members, and friends, have gone on whitewater rafting adventures, including in the Grand Canyon, on Idaho’s Salmon River, and down remote rivers in Canada.

He’s currently involved in many community organizations and has been the president of Rotary 21 and the Boy Scouts of America Inland Northwest Council. He also has served two terms each on the boards of the Association of Washington Business and Greater Spokane Incorporated.

"We're fortunate he has a lot of hobbies," Keva Sonderen says. "He loves work, but he believes work is not life."

She says one of her favorite quotes she's heard about her father is: "If you don't have fun with Mark, it's not his fault."