Baking & Snack - October 2016 - 12

First, it's about the people
I always come back from seeing Cordia Harrington,
founder and CEO of The Bakery Companies (TBC),
Nashville, TN, with the feeling that life is to be lived with
exclamation points. She is the baking industry's single
most dynamic individual. She'll challenge you, encourage
you, inspire you and make you a better manager, a better
baker and a better person.
Baking & Snack's visit to her latest venture - Masada
Bakery in Norcross, GA - marks our fourth with her,
and once again, she didn't disappoint. My first was in 1997
shortly after she opened Tennessee Bun Co. at Dickson,
TN. She made the big jump from proprietor of three
McDonald's restaurants to owner of a key component in
that foodservice icon's supply chain. The next time was in
2002 when she opened Nashville Bun Co. as a contract
manufacturer and again in 2011 when she expanded to
handle business outside the McDonald's family.
When I heard two years ago that TBC acquired
Masada Bakery, a company founded by brothers
Hezi and Koby Stein, whom I enjoyed visiting
in 2006 ... well, I couldn't wait to hear about
this next step for all of them.
"We've enjoyed getting to know the Masada
folks," Cordia told me later. "Hezi and Koby are
like my brothers from another mother."
Koby explained that he and Hezi were not looking to sell their company, yet they were concerned
about its future since neither had children in the business. "But once we met Cordia and her team, we knew
this would be an excellent fit," he said.
For Cordia, baking is a calling. "I want to be in this in-

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dustry for the long haul," she told me. "And now I have
my three children active in the business."
Cordia also operates at a very human and personal
level. She described meeting the Masada staff, "They're
like my long-lost kids."
The first thing she did when I arrived at Masada Bakery
was invite a dozen of the local managers into the room to
participate in my interview. That's quintessential Cordia
- always making sure that her team shares the spotlight.
"It's about the people. It's always about the people," she
said more than once when describing why TBC acquired
Masada and invested so heavily in upgrading the facility
and its artisan baking capabilities.
She wanted the Masada staff to tell the story themselves of the "new" bakery under TBC management. They
did, and they did it very well. The one aspect that came
through in all their remarks was that they were pleased
to have a family-owned bakery come under ownership of
another family-owned organization.
Yes, I caught a few looking at her like a whirlwind had
just blown into their lives. It has. Even at well-managed
Masada Bakery, her influence has raised expectations and
excitement. You can see the future shining in the eyes
of the entire bakery team and in the look of satisfaction
from Hezi and Koby knowing that the business they built
is in the very good hands of a new set of leaders.
Anyone who knows "The Bun Lady," as Cordia likes to
be called, can attest to the fact that she does live her life
with exclamation points all around.
Laurie Gorton, executive editor
lgorton@sosland.com

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Baking & Snack - October 2016

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