As my 25th birthday draws closer and closer, I’ve begun to look back at what I’ve accomplished throughout my life. Truth be told, I don’t have that many years to look back on or completed goals of which to be proud.
The companies featured in our special milestone anniversary issue cannot say the same.
Some of these companies have been around only a little longer than I have. Some are older than my grandparents. But all have weathered storms, adversity and roadblocks to survive, and so this issue is dedicated to recognizing that.
It is also dedicated to celebrating what these companies have accomplished. Perhaps the greatest common denominator of them all is a commitment to growth. In a few cases, that growth was necessary to survive. In others, the company was poised to thrive and just needed to take the leap.
If that is the most common theme, a close second is that these companies were all founded by great leaders - leaders who had visions for the future that, once realized, far exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. These companies were founded by men and women with produce in their blood, something easily seen when you consider how many sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, and nieces and nephews still work for the institutions built by their ancestors.
Growth and expansion and great leadership may have built these companies and made them great, but there is something even more remarkable they all have in common. During my interviews, as I asked the executives of these companies how they planned to celebrate this outstanding milestone, I received near-identical answers from them all: we will celebrate by giving back.
Businesses do exist to make money, but charity is virtuous and a hallmark of integrity, and so for these companies to thrive as businesses and still fund charitable causes they way they have done is commendable. For nearly all to celebrate their successes by giving back to their community, though? It defies belief in the best way.
Of course, one doesn’t need to look far to discover why these companies are generous. They were founded by men who devoted their lives to produce, and at its heart, produce is about providing sustenance for others. If they instilled their personal values into their companies as they seem to have done, it’s no wonder that these companies have stood the test of time with enough resources left over to help out their communities. This issue will honor these men and women as well.
The oldest company celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2016 is 90 years old. The youngest are 25. From California to Florida, from grower-shippers to produce brokers and every job in between, The Packer is honored to commemorate all the companies included within this section.
