WASHINGTON — Top executives from The Bama Companies, Bimbo Bakeries USA (B.B.U.), Dawn Food Products and McKee Foods Corp. will participate in the American Bakers Association's “E.L.D.C. Baking Industry Leadership Forum,” to be held during the International Baking Industry Exposition (I.B.I.E.) on Oct. 8 in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The executives include 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.
Ms. Marshall was named the c.e.o. of her family’s business in 1985. Tulsa, Okla.-based Bama provides frozen baked goods to large-scale restaurant chains, including the nation’s largest hamburger chain, largest pizza chain and largest retailer.
While at the helm of Bama, Ms. Marshall has grown the organization to a $300 million company all while putting a precedent on quality. Bama won the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge Award for Quality in 2004 from the US Department of Commerce.
Ms. Marshall has been chairman of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, and was one of the first women asked to join the Young Presidents Organization, Oklahoma Chapter, in 1990. In 1993, she was named one of the Top 10 c.e.o.s by Industry Week magazine. She was selected Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 1997. In 1998, she was named to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce Business Hall of Fame. Recently she was nominated as one of Oklahoma’s Most Admired c.e.o.s by The Journal Record of Oklahoma City.
Effective June 1, 2013, Mr. Penny became president of B.B.U., based in Horsham, Pa. He is a 33-year veteran of the baking industry, serving B.B.U. and its predecessor companies in various roles including, most recently, as B.B.U.’s executive vice-president.
He began his career in Kraft Bakery’s northeast finance function and advanced through several roles of increasing responsibility over the next decade. In 1990, he was appointed to director of strategic planning and productivity for Kraft Baking and, in 1993, became general manager of the Intermountain Market Area in Denver. He became vice-president and general manager, northeast market area in 1997 and executive vice-president for George Weston Bakeries in 2007.
Mr. McKee heads McKee Foods, a manufacturer and marketer of branded sweet baked goods, cereals and grain-based snacks. The brands include Little Debbie, Sunbelt Bakery, Fieldstone Bakery and Heartland Brands. In mid-September, the company reintroduced the Drake’s brand, acquired from Hostess Brands, Inc. earlier this year.
As co-chairman of Dawn Foods, 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.
Moderators will be E.L.D.C. co-chairs Connie Vaughan, McKee Foods Corp., and Pete Frederick, Milner Milling Co., Chattanooga, Tenn. Kelly Knowles, senior political director at the A.B.A. and E.L.D.C. staff liaison, will be master of ceremonies.
Tickets for the event may be ordered in advance at www.americanbakers.org. They also may be purchased at A.B.A.’s I.B.I.E. Booth No. GCL1 or at the doors of the event.