There are many reasons why Iola Pharmacy feels like a family for founder Jim Arnott.
In the early years after he and partner Bret Lawrence purchased the former Cooksey’s Drug Store in 1973, Arnott found himself spending nearly all of his time at work. They had a vision for the business, and it took a lot of effort.
During the day, he and Lawrence managed both the downtown pharmacy and hospital pharmacy, then took turns making home deliveries in the evenings.
“I was fortunate my wife and my two daughters supported me, and they haven’t held it against me for not being there on a lot of occasions,” Arnott said.
“I did not want that to happen to the other owners and staff. It was important to keep their families involved.”
That philosophy could explain why several staff members have been with Iola Pharmacy more than 20 or even 30 years. Teenagers who worked for the business in high school returned to start their career or decided to become pharmacists in other communities. Children of two owners now work for the business.
For decades, the company invited family members to attend out-of-state conferences. They gathered locally for annual company get-togethers.
They’ve comforted each other through divorces, deaths and tragedies. They celebrated marriages, births and graduations.
At one point, Arnott attended a conference that discussed the importance of employee satisfaction. He came away from the experience determined to do better about recognizing staff who performed well, only to find out his wife, Mary Ann, had already been doing that for years. She handled human resources and often would slip a note of support to an employee who was struggling, or thanked them for doing good work.
“I learned early on that if you’ve got good help, you better keep them,” Arnott said.
The pharmacy celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend, followed by a week’s worth of events and drawings for prizes.
ARNOTT grew up in western Kansas and found he enjoyed studying science at Pratt Community College. He took a test to see where his career interests might lie. The results were very diverse.
The test suggested he might enjoy farming, but he didn’t have a farm.
It also indicated he might be a good minister. “Of all things, can you imagine?” he said with a laugh.
The third result was pharmacy. He’d always thought of pharmacists as people who were valued in their community.
