The American Society of Baking (ASB) may have been founded 100 years ago as a way to bring bakers together to learn and advance baking, but it has evolved to be a cornerstone of community in the industry. Theresa Cogswell, industry veteran and 2006 chair, noted that not only did she learn from education sessions at ASB’s annual BakingTech conference but she also learned from the connections made at the event. 

“You don’t have to be the best at everything if your network is full of people who are the best at what they do, and ASB was my network,” she said. “I owe a lot of my career to the network I built at ASB, and ASB has a similar effect on everyone. It allows you to meet people you never would meet and get to know them in ways you wouldn’t if they just called your office.” 

While networking happens in every industry and best practices can be shared, it’s a common refrain that what happens at BakingTech goes beyond just LinkedIn connections to actual community building. Cogswell Ramon Rivera, senior vice president, operations and supply chain, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Horsham, Pa., and 2015 ASB chair; and Larry Marcucci, chief executive officer, Alpha Baking, Chicago, and 2001 ASB chair, all cited experiences where friends made at the conference came through for them in both personal and professional ways: attending weddings, lending a listening ear after a hard day of work or helping supply an emergency part.

“It’s a place to build a community,” explained Rod Radalia, vice president of product innovation, Aunt Millie’s Bakeries, Fort Wayne, Ind., and 2021 ASB chair. “We talk a lot at board meetings about growing your network, but it’s more of a community than a network. It’s not just a connection but also friends and collaborators.”

The value of building this community was so important that making space for it was top-of-mind for Radalia during his chairmanship. 

“People need time in the hallways or to get coffee and dinner together,” he said. “It’s during those times that people would bring up the day’s education, and those conversations would reinforce the ideas shared that day and generate more questions.”

All of that helps advance people’s careers and keeps them plugged into an industry that currently faces a labor retention problem. It’s something Paul Rainey, senior vice president, operations support, Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Ga., and 2018 ASB chair, has enjoyed seeing over the 10 years he’s been involved in ASB. 

“I love to go to BakingTech and see how people have advanced and hear about how the people they met kept them coming back year after year,” he said. “And then how intertwined BakingTech has become to their own professional success. They do their own hard work, but then attending BakingTech and being involved in ASB just accelerates their advancement.”

This article is an excerpt from the February 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire special report on ASB Centennial: Legacy, click here.