Malcom Aslin

Can you take us back to what year you joined the Walsworth board and the circumstances of how that came about?

I’ve been on the board for 15 years. February of 2009 was my first meeting as a board member.

I first met Don Sr. in 1968. I was working for Norm Stewart, the new basketball coach at the University of Missouri, at that point. Norm and I came up with the idea that we were going to try to enhance the Missouri State High School basketball tournament. We were going to do a little booklet that would feature each of the teams, how they got there and the ups and downs of the season.

Don invited me up to Marceline and I met with some folks. They put everything I had gathered together into a book in one afternoon, which I went took around to the schools and their pep clubs. We provided it to them to help raise money for their programs. That was the first time that I was actually in the Walsworth facility and saw what was going on.

I continued to get to know Don more through (MU) basketball, and then in 1972 as I joined what is now UMB Financial, I would visit with Don more about business and banking. Then in 2009, he asked if I would consider joining as one of the first outside directors for Walsworth.

You and Don Sr. have obviously had a long-standing friendship and business relationship over the years. What was your reaction when he first approached you about becoming a board member?

I was honored to be invited. Being on the board of a publicly held company is one thing. And I’ve been on public boards for a number of years. But to go on the board of a family company is really a special honor and responsibility.

For those who don’t understand exactly, what is the role of the board of directors? How do you see your role and purpose with Walsworth?

I think, fundamentally, an independent director’s responsibility is to be an honest broker of what’s going on and provide an independent view without any internal or selfish motives. It’s purely based on your experience and your belief on what is best for the organization and for the family going forward.

Then, once you step past that, look at what your own individual skills are and how you might bring something special to the table. In my case, it was heavily financially related. And also the ability to look more at the macro-economic environment and how that would affect the company. I’ve always followed interest rate trends and economics globally closely, and I continue to do that and offer those insights.

You’ve seen a lot of change in your 20 years here, both from an employee standpoint as well as technological and capital standpoints. If you were going to point out specifics from the past 20 years, what do you think has allowed Walsworth to be as successful as it has been?

Well, the special involvement of family ownership and having the second, third and fourth generations now actively involved in the company is a special thing. Tripp joining the company last fall as the fourth generation is a testament to the future. The fact that Walsworth has been so committed to the employees in the company and to the communities in which it operates sets them apart from many that are totally driven by either revenue or the bottom line.

The Walsworth team is special. Having maintained strong financial capabilities in Walsworth allows the company to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. In many cases, an opportunity arises, and a company is not ready, or a company is ready and there are no opportunities. Maintaining that consistency and being able to take advantage of opportunities, it’s a special characteristic of this company.

You’ve seen us do a lot more commercial printing over the last 20 years. You’ve seen us acquire four additional companies. What are your thoughts on how we’ve diversified a little in terms of our products, and how that’s helped us?

It does a couple things. One, it gives you exposure to a more macro part of the economy but also brings some special risks to the table. Managing those becomes critical. It gives you the size and an ability to really stay on a cutting edge with machinery and a digital footprint that is pretty critical in this industry today.

You just mentioned the fourth generation of the family has joined the company, and we’re continuing to grow. As you look forward into the future, what do you see as the keys for this company to continue to be successful and grow going forward?

You know, there are a lot of companies in the printing industry who have gone out of business. It’s heavily capital intensive and maintaining a good balance sheet and cash flow is critical. But what was once really a machinery, low-tech type business has become a very high-tech business. The ability to stay in front of the power curve from both the machinery and technology standpoint is going to be pretty critical.

You worked at UMB for a while. Was that where you spent the majority of your career?

I determined quickly that I could get my competitive kicks in the business community about as well as I could get it as a basketball coach, and I might have a chance to make a little more money.

While I was getting my MBA at MU, I continued to work as a graduate assistant to Norm. When I received my MBA in May of 1972, I took a job at what is now UMB Financial. I was there for 22 years. For 12 of those years, I was president. I left in March of 1994 to acquire a business of my own – Langley Optical, a wholesale optical laboratory covering Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Oklahoma. I sold that company about a year after acquiring it to a company that was doing a national roll-up.

I then bought a technology company called CompuNet Engineering, a network integrator within a new field called Wide Area Networks. I had that company for a number of years and then sold it to one of our larger customers, Gold Bank. I stayed on that board.

In 2003, Gold Bank had gotten itself in trouble, and the regulators with the Federal Reserve suggested I take it over. The board agreed and I ran that company from 2003 to 2006, then sold it to a publicly held banking company in 2006.

My goal was to get that company sold before a real estate downturn came, and we accomplished that. But as the financial crisis became full-blown, I started looking to acquire, which led to purchasing Alterra Bank around 2009 and then sold it in 2014. Since then, I’ve been on a couple of public corporate boards and also two family-owned companies – Walsworth and LabConco, which is a laboratory equipment manufacturer here in Kansas City.

For the last 10 years, you’ve mostly been on boards and keeping an eye on everything. It sounds like you were in the right place at the right time and sold several of your companies right before the dot-com bubble burst, or right as a downturn was happening.

Right place at the right time. Timing is critical with everything. Hopefully that strategic view of things is something that I can offer to others.

Are you originally from Missouri? Where’d you grow up?

Yes, I grew up in a little town in the southeast corner of the state called Bloomfield.

I graduated from high school there in 1965 and went to Columbia (University of Missouri). I got my undergraduate degree in 1969 and my graduate degree in 1972, with a brief sojourn in the middle for Army basic training, receiving a commission in the Air National Guard and training on the Air Force computer in 1970. I was promoted to Captain in 1976 prior to completing my military commitment.

Was learning the Air Force’s new computer systems a basis for your computer knowledge and everything that would come later?

Yes, it was. It gave me insight into the power that computers and digital technologies could have. This led to the question, how could a bank take advantage of technology to gain a competitive advantage in some part of the financial markets?

We led UMB in a direction of being a service provider to the mutual fund industry. And that, I think, continues to be a very successful part of their business. It was certainly a big part of our growth at that point in time.

Can you tell us about your family?

My wife Kathy and I were married in 1970. We just celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary.

We have two daughters who graduated locally from Shawnee Mission East High School. Lindsey is a registered nurse, and she lives just outside of Boulder, Colorado. Our daughter Meredith is a Managing Director at a private equity firm in NYC. Lindsey was a swimmer at TCU. Meredith went to Missouri’s business school and has been in New York for the past 16 years. She’s married and has two daughters, six and 10-year-olds, who occupy a lot of our time.

After college, did your daughter do anything swimming-related?

No. She qualified in junior nationals by being a state record holder in the 50 free. She determined while in college that people who weren’t swimming were having a lot more fun than she was. (laughs) Swimming 10,000 meters a day is a hard way to have fun.

How about hobbies? What do you like to do with your downtime?

Starting next week, we’re going to spend six weeks in New York with our daughter Meredith and her family. Then after that, we’ll go to Colorado and spend some time with Lindsey. In October, we’ll head back down to Florida where we live from the middle of October until the middle of May.

Where do you live in Florida?

A little town called Boca Grande. It’s really one little town on an island called Gasparilla.

I have a great interest in saltwater fly fishing. I’ve also developed a passion for the juvenile tarpon, snook and Bonefish habitat and the restoration of some of the degraded habitat that has occurred all over the world. In our case, we focus a lot on Charlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay, which is right around the Boca Grande area and is one of the great Tarpon fishing spots in the world.

Is there a specific organization you’re involved with?

I have been involved with the Lemon Bank Conservancy, and we’ve been able to acquire a bankrupt golf course and return it to its natural state. We were involved in the funding for that. Lemon Bay Conservancy continues to do studies for the juvenile tarpon habitat and what might be the best way to bring those habitats back into a natural condition.

There’s another group called the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust; we’ve participated in projects at the wildflower location. We’ve also participated with Bonefish and Tarpon Trust in doing studies of other areas that would be right to try to rehabilitate.

This topic might lead perfectly to this question – what’s one thing about you that most people might not know?

My passion for habitat renewal; most people would not know that. Also, I’m a committed collector of Native American art and I sort of want to be an oil painter.

What do you typically paint?

Mostly beach scenes and seascapes – looking out on it from my porch.

Do you have a favorite book?

I have two favorite books that have influenced my life as much as anything. One is Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis, which was published in 1986 and talks about what went on in the bond markets in the 80s. And the other is Barbarians at the Gate from 1988. It really stoked my interest in what’s involved with both acquiring and assimilating an acquisition.

What about a favorite movie?

I can’t say that I have a favorite movie, to be honest. I’m a pretty voracious reader.

What about a favorite meal?

My family’s favorite meal is one that I prepare – crab cakes.

I do most of the cooking and have for the last 25 years. I enjoy that. Crab cakes are one of the go-tos.

If you had a personalized coffee mug, what would it say?

(laughs) It would probably just have three words: resilient, resourceful and persistent. That’s sort of my motto in life.

When you reflect back, what memory sticks out from your time at Walsworth?

Actually, there are a couple of periods that are memorable. One being the financial crisis from 2008 to 2010, and the other being the pandemic. My memories of how Walsworth managed through those difficult times and actually came out of both of them stronger speaks volumes. Those were key moments for Walsworth.