Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013 - 12

Industry Activities 

Dawn's Jones urges young
executives to network
LAS VEGAS - Top executives from
The Bama Companies, Bimbo Bakeries USA (B.B.U.), Dawn Food Products and McKee Foods Corp. participated in the American Bakers
Association's "Executive Leadership
Development Committee (E.L.D.C.)
Baking Industry Leadership Forum,"
on Oct. 8 in Las Vegas.
The executives included Paula Marshall, chief executive officer of Bama;
Fred Penny, president of B.B.U.; Miles
Jones, co-chairman of Dawn; and Mike
McKee, president and c.e.o. of McKee
Foods. The panel shared their knowledge on the industry, current trends
and the leadership skills needed to
successfully navigate their companies
in these challenging times.
As co-chairman of Dawn Food Products, Mr. Jones is the second generation of his family to lead the Jackson,
Mich.-based company. Dawn Foods
currently supplies a complete range
of products, including Dawn mixes,
bases, icings, glazes, fillings, frozen
dough, par-baked and fully baked
products and equipment to bakeries
and the food industry.
During the panel, Mr. Jones urged
young executives to become active in
the A.B.A. and the E.L.D.C. and take
advantage of the networking opportunities.
"It's important to talk to leaders
in the industry who have succeeded

and pick their brains to see how they
have succeeded, how they solved
their problems and how they decided
to grow and how they managed that
growth," he said.
Noting that "the baking industry
has always been near and dear to
the Jones family's heart," he emphasized the positive aspects of the
baking industry.
"We literally make things that make
people smile," he said.
However, the baking industry faces
economic and political threats. As a
result, Mr. Jones encouraged bakers to
become involved in A.B.A.'s political
activities and advocacy effort to make
sure that the industry's concerns are
heard on Capitol Hill.
"The voice that Congress hears most often
and the voice they hear
most loudly will, in most
cases, have the greatest
impact in their decision
making," he said.
As a global company, Jones
Dawn Food Products
must also deal with a number of multicultural issues that require special
skills to handle appropriately.
"International leadership is not
for everyone," Mr. Jones told attendees. "It's very demanding. It's
challenging. It can also be a very rewarding personal experience."

Penny sees consolidating B.B.U.
cultures as key to success ahead
LAS VEGAS - After multiple acquisitions brought together several different baking companies, Bimbo Bakeries
USA needs to work to create a single,
centralized organizational culture,
said Fred Penny, president. Mr. Penny
spoke on a number of issues related to
B.B.U. and baking as a panelist in the
E.L.D.C. Baking Industry Forum Oct.
8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The American Bakers Association
event was held during the 2013 International Baking Industry Exposition,
which spanned Oct. 6-9. Panelists in
addition to Mr. Penny included Paula
Marshall, chief executive officer of The
Bama Companies, Inc.; Miles Jones,
co-chairman of Dawn Food Products;
and Mike McKee, president and c.e.o.
of McKee Foods Corp.
12 / October 29, 2013 Milling & Baking News

Having grown to be the largest baking company in the United States,
B.B.U. is focused on effectively bringing together executives with a wide
range of backgrounds and perspectives, Mr. Penny said.
"We're a company
that in the United States
with Grupo Bimbo has
grown quickly through
acquisitions," he said.
"I've come to realize
that we are a company Penny
with people who have
come from many places."
Bimbo as a corporate entity is a
relative newcomer to U.S. baking.
B.B.U. was created in 1994 when
Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. acquired
La Hacienda, a California tortilla

Specifically, international leaders
need to delve into local cultures and
understand their customs.
"They've got to be able to discern
what aspects of their leadership style
they're going to alter to fit the local
culture," he said.
But he said Dawn Food Products
is not willing to compromise on the
company's core principles, including
its mission statement, ethics and the
way it conducts its business.
Additionally, communication needs
to be concrete. Often, during an international business deal, Mr. Jones
said a manager may "need to have
the same conversation four or five different times and four or five different
ways" to ensure that all sides are in
agreement.
Throughout his career, Mr. Jones
was mentored by his father, Marlin,
and brother, Ron, who both demonstrated how a business needs to be
both conservative yet compassionate in order to succeed in the baking
industry. He said one of the most
rewarding experiences is seeing an
employee who joined the company
at the entry level grow within the
organization and make it to upper
management.
Being leaders of a family-owned
business, Mr. Jones said he and his
brother talk about how many employees often spend more of their waking
hours at work than with their own
families.
"That puts a lot of responsibility on
us," he said. MBN
company. Later in the 1990s, B.B.U.
acquired Pacific Pride Bakeries of San
Diego and Mrs Baird's Bakeries, one
of the nation's largest regional baking
companies. In 2002, B.B.U. acquired
the western U.S. baking business of
George Weston Ltd. and seven years
later acquired the eastern portion of
the business. Most recently, B.B.U.
in 2011 acquired the North American Fresh Bakery business of Sara
Lee Corp. The Weston and Sara Lee
businesses were amalgams of many
different baking companies that
were accumulated over many years
through numerous acquisitions.
"Our people come from different
organizations, different backgrounds,
different corporate structures - some
centralized and some decentralized,"
Mr. Penny said. "It's obviously a large
company. So, we're trying to create, as
all companies want to do, a culture,
and a certain way of working around
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Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013

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