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Steve and Jack Newick stand in front of their seafood restaurant at Dover Point. Photo:  Amy Root-Donle

A pat on the back for a job well done. Popsicles given to servers after a busy shift. A $10 gift card to a department store as thanks after a magazine recently named Newick's the best restaurant in the region.

During one oppressive heat wave last summer, Newick's Seafood Restaurants even went out and bought misting fans so employees could get some relief.

The no-nonsense and affable old salt known as Jack Newick just shrugs when asked about secrets to employee retention.

"They get treated like human beings," he says, fresh off the docks after landing part of the day's catch. "They can talk to us."

But respect is just the starting point, it becomes clear in sitting down with Jack Newick and his CEO son Steve Newick in the no-frills office they share, the walls adorned with sea maps and photos of some of Jack's prized fishing vessels. On the desk is a copy of "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, a business strategy book, and two computers the men use to track everything from nautical knots to shipping and receiving.

Steve notes some companies undervalue people in certain positions, such as the dishwasher in a restaurant. Father and son trade looks and shake their heads in unison. Almost together, they say they'd be nowhere without their dishwasher.

Jack notes it goes further than that, of course. He says Newick's was one of the first restaurants in the area to offer health insurance benefits, one of the first to offer 401K retirement benefits.

Newick's has about 300 employees, half of whom work from the company's choice location at Dover Point, where customers can look out the window to see the vessels unload the goods. Other Newick's locations are in Merrimack and South Portland, Maine. Established in 1948, Newick's is also online at www.newicks.com. All three locations are home to some of the original staff. On the serving floor, Gloria is still taking orders after nearly 40 years. Scott, the district manager, has nearly 30 years under his belt. And then there's Steve Newick, who grew up with the place.

"In a family business," Steve says, "Everything takes on a personal nature." Jack is a restaurateur and entrepreneur. But first and foremost, the guy is a fisherman, like his dad before him. One of his sons also fishes. At 67, and looking 10 years younger than his age, Jack says he's ready to devote more of his time to lobster pots, a return to his roots - the sea. He has already handed the top duties over to Steve, 32, but he is a hands-on businessman who people will find front and center, not just on the docks or in the back room.

It's a family business, to be sure. And as such there are inherent challenges, personal and professional. But the greater the risks, the greater the rewards, the two tell Seacoast Ventures.

"Happy employees make happy customers," Steve says, taking a break from lunch of a cup of chowder at his desk. "People can express their own individuality." His point is there is no canned greeting at Newick's, which gives employees more freedom to be themselves. The only canned items, really, belong to the glorious gift shop at the restaurant, a throw-back of a roadside attraction, where one can buy a lobster T-shirt, fudge, and a host of gimmicky items, from pens to aprons.

Newick's has no fancy operational chart. It endeavors to streamline and reduce layers of bureaucracy whenever possible. The goal is producing something of value and passing that value along to the customer.

It is, "Family first, business second, horses third," according to Jack, who says with a glint in his eye that his interest in thoroughbreds is a story for another day.

The business plan has worked for decades and it is clearly still working. Newick's has managed to boost sales by nearly 5 percent in the current restaurant market, one not exactly ripe for growth, given the high cost of doing business. In 2006, they started catering, and the lobster bakes and clam bakes were an immediate hit.

"It's kind of a nice way to make a living," says Steve, about a job where success is measured by how many people smile. Adds Jack with a smile of his own, "I'll tell you, it's never dull."