[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 8] [Senate] [Pages 10457-10458] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]BEST HARVEST BAKERY Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise to recognize a significant minority enterprise in my home state of Kansas. The venture is Best Harvest Bakery, and its founders are two highly capable and energetic African-American businessmen, Bob Beavers, Jr. and Ed Honesty. Best Harvest is supplying hamburger buns to 560 McDonald's restaurants throughout the Midwest and will supply a new type of soft roll to the U.S. military. As minority suppliers to McDonald's, Bob and Ed join a growing force that last year provided over $3 billion in goods and services to the system. Bob and Ed got their start as McDonald's employees and rose through the ranks to senior positions. Bob started as crew and attained the rank of senior vice president and a position on McDonald's board of directors. Ed joined the company right out of law school and became managing counsel for the Great Lakes Region. Last year, the two left their secure positions to become independent entrepreneurs and suppliers to the company. Bob and Ed chose to locate in Kansas City, Kansas because, as they said, it is ``the heart of the bread basket.'' I along with many others in my home state welcome them and Best Harvest's contribution to our thriving economy. Mr. PRESIDENT, I ask that this article on Bob Beavers and Ed Honesty, published in the April 2000, issue of Franchise Times, be placed in the Record, and I encourage my colleagues to read the account of these two outstanding African-Americans and their evolving relationship with McDonald's, which has again demonstrated its commitment to diversity. [From the Franchise Times, Apr. 2000] Former Execs Switch To Supply Side (By Nancy Weingartner) Robert M. Beavers Jr. Started as a part-time McDonald's worker earning $1 an hour. At his girlfriend's suggestion, he took the job during his junior year at George Washington University, because it was close to where she lived. He became an intricate part of the franchisee's business and when it was sold, corporate asked him to come to Oak Brook. In his 36-year career with McDonald's, he climbed the ladder to a senior vice president position and was responsible for bringing hundreds of minority franchisees into the system. He was also the first African American on the hamburger giant's board of directors. Edward Honesty Jr. joined McDonald's right out of law school. He worked his way up to managing counsel for the Great Lakes Region, helped start the Business Counsel Program and was a frequent attendee and speaker at the American Bar Association's Forum on Franchising and the International Franchise Association's Legal Symposium. So why would two men who were at the top of their game decide to give up their expense accounts and their impressive titles to become suppliers? In one word--entrepreneurship. It was because of their contacts at McDonald's and the fact that they knew the system so well, they were able to put together a deal where everyone could rise to the top. ``We look at the McDonald's system as a three-legged stool,'' Beavers said. Each leg--corporate, franchisees and suppliers--are necessary in order to keep the stool on its feet. ``No one has been all three,'' Beavers said. Until now. Beavers is part of an investment group, including Berkshire Partners, that purchased Fresh Start Bakeries from the Campbell Soup Company in 1999. Fresh Start's 14 bakeries worldwide supply 24 percent of McDonald's restaurants in the U.S., 64 percent of the Latin America restaurants and 14 percent of those in Europe. Beavers will serve as a director of Fresh Start. In addition, Beavers and Honesty purchased a majority interest in the Kansas City bakery and formed a joint venture with Fresh Start. Honesty is president and chief operating officer and Beavers is chairman and CEO. They chose buns because it's a core product that McDonald's uses in large quantities, and the Kansas City location because it's in ``the heart of the bread basket'' and close to the McDonald's restaurants they supply. While McDonald's is their largest customer, they don't have a written contract. All arrangements with suppliers at McDonald's are by a handshake, Beavers said. That's the way Ray Kroc started doing business in 1955 and the way the company still does it, he said. ``We (suppliers) have to do our part, they (corporate) have to do their part. It makes for a powerful relationship,'' he said. Structuring the deal with a handshake has served McDonald's well, Beavers said, and ``that's the spirit (in which) I want to grow our business.'' Leaving Corporate Part of the reason Honesty was able to join Beavers in the endeavor with a minimum amount of trepidation was that they were able to get McDonald's ``blessing'' before leaping. Both knew that being a supplier to McDonald's was a win-win deal. Honesty had put together a blue binder with his mission statement, attributes and financials and took it to McDonald's purchasing department a couple of years before the Fresh Start deal materialized. He let it be known, he said, that he was interested in becoming a supplier for McDonald's. Meanwhile, Beavers was also looking for a change of pace. When he heard about the bakery opportunity, he spoke to the head of McDonald's, Jack Greenberg, who Beavers said thought it was a great opportunity. It was a great opportunity for Honesty also, who invested his life's savings and stock options in his quest for the entrepreneurial life. He moved his family, a son, 15, and a daughter, 11, from the Chicago area to Kansas City, necessitating his wife to give up her prestigious job as a medical director for Advocate Health Care. Was he nervous? ``I didn't dwell on the nervousness or the `what ifs,' '' he said. ``I hope to remain nervous forever, I don't want to get complacent; I need to maximize my potential. I'm just where I want to be--slightly over my head,'' he said. Because of their positive experiences with McDonald's both men knew they wanted to remain in the family. Their training at McDonald's, including sweeping the floors and learning how to make a hamburger, prepared them to build their company based on McDonald's winning recipe. Beavers' experience on the board for 19 years gave him a ``good understanding of how a public company is run and great insight into developing a brand.'' Honesty's dealing with the legal side of the business taught him about fairness and how to settle problems at the business table rather than in court. In business, he said, you're in it for the long haul, and the ones you met on the way up are the same ones you'll meet on the way down,'' he contends. [[Page 10458]] While McDonald's will always be their No. 1 customer-- ``Always dance with the one who brung you.'' Honesty quips-- Great Harvest has room in its production schedule to develop other business. One contract they've won is with the U.S. military to develop a soft roll that can be used as rations during the military's war games. ``It's an exotic, tough bun to make,'' Honesty said, but could prove to be a lucrative one now that they've got the military specs down pat. They're also looking into doing private labeling for supermarkets, Beavers said. One thing the pair wants to ensure down the road is that the bakery remains a minority venture, Honesty said. Beavers welcomes the opportunity to bring two of his four grown children into the company. And even though they've left their corporate jobs, they still consider themselves a part of McDonald's extended family. A very important leg on that three-legged stool that keeps McDonald's centered. ``We've got a passion for McDonald's,'' Honesty said. the bun part of the business Name: Best Harvest Bakeries Location: Kansas City, Kansas Production capacity: 3,000 dozen buns an hour, 17 million dozen buns, or soft rolls, a year Shifts: Five days a week for three shifts Size: 32,000 square feet Employees: about 47 Customers: 560 McDonald's restaurants, the U.S. Military, which just awarded Best Harvest a contract to make a bun that serves as rations during military ``war games'' (all the oxygen is taken out of the package so the bun stays fresh for three years). Goal: ``To become the premier supplier of grain-based products having outstanding quality in a service environment that exceeds our customers' expectations while ensuring that our customers receive unsurpassed value from our relationship.'' ____________________