John Butler
President: Cottingham and Butler

TH: When you were growing up, your father was in the insurance business. When you were 10, 11, 12 years old, did you figure you'd go into the business?
JB: Yes. You see my great-grandfather started our business in his elder years. And he was followed by John Cottingham, his son, after whom I was named. My father, Ellis Butler, married John's daughter at age 18. I think she was just graduated from high school. As I recall hearing, her family was less than enthusiastic at the time about that program. But it was a good marriage and lasted for each of their lifetime. I was always told that I should go into the insurance business and go put some more bricks in the wall. In fact, I think I was out of the service and back here a year or two when it occurred to me that I really had been brainwashed all those years. At first I didn't like that. Then the more I thought about it, the more I thought, "Well, actually, maybe this isn't such a bad arrangement after all." I have enjoyed the business very much.

TH: What were you like as a young boy? What did you like to do? What were your favorite subjects in school?
JB: Well, I was thinking about that before you walked in the door today. Dubuque, you know, was a very different community. I was born in 1931 and Dubuque was feeling severe impact from The Great Depression in the '30s and on into the early '40s. So it was a very different community. It was practically every business in Dubuque, except Sears and Montgomery Wards, were owned by Dubuquers, owned and managed by Dubuquers. So there was a very different community. We had very good schools. It was a fine place to grow up. When I look back, we had some very devoted teachers and it was a good place to grow up. A sleepy little town. Probably one might say very provincial. I'm sure it probably was, but that isn't all bad sometimes. I had a pretty nice childhood. It was a very friendly place and it was a good place. And it still is a good place I think to raise a family.

TH: You were the third employee, and then your brother came into the business, too?
JB: Yes. Of course, we acquired a few other folks along the way, but then brother Peter joined the business when he got out of the service. Then, much later, a much younger brother Tim joined the business. Peter and his wife, Mary, are now living out in Pebble Beach, Calif. Tim and his wife, Nancy, live here in Dubuque. One of Peter's sons, Paul, just joined our company, as a matter of fact. We're very pleased to have him. He had been working in Chicago, and he and his wife are settling in Dubuque.

TH: Are there any other members of the family involved in the company at this time?
JB: My daughter, Susan, is a director of the company, and my wife, Alice, is a director of the company. We have an outstanding board of directors of outside directors.

TH: You see your role or your management position as a mentor or coach. What are the challenges of overseeing a company that is growing so rapidly?
JB: That's a really interesting question, and some days it's a handful and some days when it works, it just makes you feel terrific. We have a very different business plan from most of our competitors in large cities. We almost never get to hire somebody who already knows how to do what we want them to do. Whereas, if we were sitting in Chicago or the suburbs of Chicago, it would be an altogether different scene. We hire based on traits and desire and we have some really bright, bright people and we train them. Of course, that is a harder way to get down the road than if you can assemble people that already know how to do what you want them to do. There are some big payoffs in that you have a culture that's quite, that's your own culture. We just brought in a new COO (David Becker) and he is not from the insurance industry. He's a consultant from probably the most prominent consulting company in the world. A young fellow. Raised in Dubuque, by the way.

TH: How would you describe the culture of the company today?
JB: Everybody just assumes we're going to keep growing 20 percent a year forever, which, by the way, is a lot. It's a lot more than it used to be back long ago, Brian. We talk a lot about being passionate about your career. And if you look passion up in the dictionary, that's just about exactly what we mean. Very professional. They're very, I think, very proud of the success of the company. I didn't do this, you know. It takes a lot of people pushing very effectively to make some of these things happen. We tried to take some of our values and frame them and put them on the wall a few years ago. Our clients are generally owners or executives of fairly large businesses, for which insurance our risk is a big problem to manage it effectively in our society today. They only want to deal with people who are really smart, really professional, really serve them, seek out and understand their needs and then serve those needs and make commitments and keep commitments and tell the truth. I had somebody a few years ago quote our former president. I said, "No, no, no. Telling the truth has not gone out of style." You really have to be rather meticulous about that. If you're going to serve ... so that's the kind of person you would want taking care of your needs. Those things would be part of our culture.

TH: What would you say was, in the business history, was there a moment of truth or a specific turning point for the company?
JB: I think certainly a significant point was when my father died. I was very concerned that the business might go down the drain. One would have those thoughts when one was in his early 30s. Otherwise, I think, we were a very successful, small company. By most people's standards, we were doing just fine. But in the late '60s and on into the '70s, I was very concerned about plateauing and I really didn't want to do that. That scared the heck out of me. I did not like that idea. So we set out to go build a business. It's been a terribly interesting trip. And very gratifying. And harrowing at times, as you might expect. Not everything works out, but most things have.