Open book

Conditioned Air in Naples spends as much as $50,000 on gasoline for its fleet of repair vans each year — and everybody at the company knows it.

At most privately held companies, employees would never be privy to this kind of financial detail. But Theo Etzel is a proponent of open-book management and shares the company's income statement with 260 employees every quarter.

“That level of additional financial understanding is really good for people,” says Etzel, Conditioned Air's CEO and owner.