People, Places, and... Baker Commodities Breaks Ground on Cold Storage Facility Baker Cold Storage, a division of California-based Baker Commodities, and Lineage Logistics, the second largest and fastest growing refrigerated warehouse network in the world, broke ground on a new 250,000 square-foot cold storage facility on private property within the Port District in Long Beach, CA. The state-ofthe art facility will feature a freezer, cooler, and refrigerated cross dock for truck, container, and rail service. When complete, it will be the largest near-port facility of its kind in Southern California and a symbol of the strengthening regional economy. Scheduled to open in 2015, the building will be 20 percent more energy efficient than others already in operation, and will attract more than 100 new jobs to the area. The site, which was owned for more than 75 years by J.H. Baxter and used for treating wood products with preservatives and wood treatment chemicals, is contaminated by residue from these operations. Baker and Lineage have developed a comprehensive mitigation plan that will clean up the brownfield site and make it viable for the first time in decades. From left, Jim Andreoli Sr., Baker Commodities; Long Beach Vice Mayor Robert Garcia; Port of Long Beach Commission President Doug Drummond; Gary Guesman, Controlled Environment; and Bill Hendricksen, Lineage Logistics. Bliss Industries Founder Dies William Lynn “Bill” Bliss, founder of Bliss Industries, Inc., passed away in February in Oklahoma City, OK, at the age of 79. He founded Bliss Industries in 1979 with his sons after designing his own hammermill, which he named the Eliminator. Bliss was a longtime member of the American Feed Industry Association and very active in the group’s Equipment Manufacturers Conference. He grew up on a farm just southwest of Newkirk, OK, where he raised and showed calves, lambs, and pigs as a member of 4-H and Future Farmers of America. Bliss later worked in construction and formed Bliss Construction Company, building feed mills in several states, many of which are still in operation today. He was also a sales representative for several companies, selling feed mill equipment. In July 2007, Pennington Allen Capital Partners, a private investment firm, established a partnership with Bliss by acquiring 75 percent of Bliss Industries. Upon his retirement in 2008, Bliss sold his 25 percent ownership to Pennington Allen. Pork Group Elects Officers The National Pork Producers Council elected new officers at its annual business meeting in March. Elected as president of the organization was Dr. Howard Hill, a consultant for Iowa Select Farms and a pork producer from Cambridge, IA. His pork production business, H&K Enterprises, includes hogs and cattle. Dr. Ron Prestage, a pork producer from Camden, SC, was elected as presidentelect. He is part of the family-owned Prestage Farms, which includes hogs, turkeys, cattle, and cropland for hay. Prestage is primarily responsible for the sows and turkeys on the farms in South Carolina and a swine operation in Mississippi. Elected as vice president was John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, IA, who raises hogs for Cargill, Inc. Tyson Foods Among “Most Admired” Fortune magazine compiles a list of top companies each year for its “America’s Most Admired Companies” and Tyson Foods, Inc. has made the list. Tyson Foods was one of six companies to make the list in the food production category and is the only meat company. “To receive this type of recognition is very humbling,” said Donnie Smith, president and chief executive officer of Tyson Foods. “It serves as a reminder to the hard working Tyson team members that they’re doing important work each day – helping to bring families together around their tables with safe, affordable, quality foods.” Fortune assesses leading businesses in 57 industry sectors. It partners with the Hay Group, which surveys executives, directors, and analysts within their respective industries to rank the companies on nine criteria, including financial attributes, corporate social responsibility, and product quality, among others. Tyson Foods has perennially been on the contenders list for “most admired” recognition, but 2014 marks the first time since 2007 that it has received the top designation. Among the survey respondents, Tyson Foods scored its highest ranking for innovation. On the campus of the company’s corporate offices in Springdale, AR, is the Tyson Discovery Center, its hub of food innovation. The center houses the company’s research and development team, complete with home and commercial test kitchens, focus group facilities, and a 40,000 square foot pilot plant that duplicates processes in Tyson’s production plants. Fortune is the second major financial magazine to recently recognize Tyson Foods. In the December/January edition of Institutional Investor, Smith and Tyson Chief Financial Officer Dennis Leatherby were named “2014 All-American Executive Team” within the food category. 62 April 2014 Render www.rendermagazine.com
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