COEUR d’ALENE — When it comes to the importance of leadership, Linda Coppess, Coeur d'Alene Regional Chamber president and CEO, summed it up like this:

“There's almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually invests and develops them.”

She wasn’t talking specifically about Hayden-based StanCraft, but she could have been.

Company owner Robb Bloem on Tuesday outlined the strategy that has fueled its expansion from making and selling boats to operating a jet center to forming its own construction company — and more to come.

He gives the credit to others.

“Our biggest, best, baddest, coolest asset is our employees,” he told about 200 people at the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber’s Upbeat Breakfast at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

“To us, employees are everything, they are literally everything,” said Bloem, who was born and raised in Coeur d’Alene.

“A very passionate thing for me about our employees is creating jobs, and not just jobs, but careers. And not just careers, but really well-paying careers,” he said.

StanCraft has about 160 total employees spread over its holdings and anticipates having 200 by year’s end.

StanCraft Wooden Boat Company was founded in 1933 at Flathead Lake in Lakeside, Mont., by Amy Bloem’s grandfather W.H. “Billy” Young and his son, Stanley C. Young.

Operations began in Hayden in 2003 when Robb and wife Amy moved back to Idaho after being away for 12 years.

It started with three guys working in a small garage. Nineteen years later, StanCraft wooden boats employs 110 on two campuses and has become a national brand.

“It’s been kind of a fun ride. We get to meet all kinds of interesting, really successful people,” Bloem said.

It expanded in 2018 with StanCraft Jet Center at the Coeur d’Alene Airport, where it has a 65,000-square-foot facility.

Its newest venture is StanCraft Construction Group of Northern Idaho that opened in August, has about 20 employees and is headquartered in Hayden.

They’re not done.

“There's a few other little tricks up our sleeve I think we're gonna have in the next few months,” Bloem said.

Key to StanCraft’s success is its employees. The company invests in their growth, but also holds them accountable and has high expectations.

StanCraft is committed to promoting from within. Some in training now are assigned to specific managers for input and feedback.

“We really encourage our folks to become better and better leaders,” he said.

Bloem has a goal for those who retire from StanCraft: They will be wealthy.

“And that doesn't mean they have a jet or a Ferrari or whatever," he said. "But it means that they can leave StanCraft, retire and have very little debt, have a great position in life and do those things, and if we can help them get to that point, then we’re winning.”

It also provides classes on financial health and mental wellness.

Bloem said he skis often because he loves it, but also because he doesn't want to work 24/7 and wants to give employees space to do their jobs well.

His expectations are clear — and high.

“I really put a lot of pressure on them to be better and do better and then be proud of wearing the brand StanCraft because they represent 160 other people, 160 other spouses, 300 children, so it's not just doing better at work. It’s doing better in life and doing better wherever they are,” he said.

Bloem said he hires “really smart people,” makes them work hard as a team and then “just get the hell out of the way and just put responsibility on them.”

StanCraft is a tough place to work, Bloem said, but it is rewarding.

“We require perfection and we require it fast,” he said, because they work around “really expensive stuff."

He spoke of internal pressure on employees, and said they respond well.

“It seems to be working. They seem to like it,” he said.