Reviews

Salt & light company

Life with Flavor: A Personal History of Herr’s. By Jim Herr, with Bruce E. Mowday and June Herr Gunden (Barricade Books, 2012, 182 pp. $22 U.S.)

In 1946 Jim Herr heard about a potato chip business that was for sale in Lancaster, Pa., for $1,750. Although snack foods weren’t really part of his Mennonite culture, he thought making chips was something he might be able to do. So he took out a loan and bought the company.

He had no idea how fast his learning curve would have to be. The former owners pledged to stick around for two weeks to teach him the trade, but two days after the sale was completed they took off and were never seen again.

Undeterred, young Jim pressed on. With the help of one part-time employee he peeled, sliced and cooked potato chips, then packaged them and sold them door-to-door. His wife, Mim, did the bookwork at night.

Herr kept up with the times and expanded his cooking and distribution capacity. “The whole snack food industry exploded in the 1950s,” he relates. People were moving from the country to the cities as manufacturing grew. A new invention called television boosted Herr’s market as people munched on chips as they watched. New seasonings were added, from barbecue to salt and vinegar, as well as other snacks like pretzels, dried meat sticks and tortilla chips.

While not an exhaustive history, Life with Flavor is a delightful memoir told in avuncular fashion by a man who seems to have good-naturedly weathered the ups and downs of business in the post-World War 2 era. Along the way he relates the vicissitudes that come with being an entrepreneur — a devastating fire, potato shortages, inventory that goes bad and the inevitable business mistakes which “are just part of life, especially if you tend to take risks.” He relates “decision points,” such as when the company began a profit-sharing plan for employees, or how they dealt with handling waste in an environmentally responsible manner. It’s fascinating to get an inside look at the Herr family business culture. “There is a tremendous advantage to running a business as a family,” Herr writes. Early exposure “makes it easier for kids to learn the value of money management, of dealing with customers, of relations with employees, and just general knowledge of how to operate a business, such as working long hours.”

Herr died in April, 2012, after the manuscript was completed but before the book had gone to press. By then, the company he founded had 1,500 employees and annual sales of more than $250 million. It ranked in the top five independently-owned salty snack food companies in the country.

Near the end of the book he says, “The best gift you can give your employees is to keep the company good and solid, so they don’t have to worry about job security. It’s gratifying that in 65 years, we have had no lay-offs due to a lack of business.”

Jim Herr brought the snack food industry not only flavor but also spiritual zest. Sprinkled throughout the book are Proverbs that illustrate vital business principles, such as “Don’t withhold repayment of your debts. Don’t say ‘some other time,’ if you can pay now” (Prov. 3:27,28), or “The Lord demands fairness in every business deal. He established this principle” (Prov. 16:11).

Also endearing is the listing of personal business principles at the end of each chapter (see sidebar).

“I believe the Great Creator is the model entrepreneur,” Herr writes early in the book. “He made us to be creative and to work hard at something, just like He did.”

Clearly, Jim Herr learned those lessons well. — Wally Kroeker

A sample of Herr’s principles

• If you are in a profession you don’t enjoy, be willing to make a change. I’ve known people who resign themselves to a job they detest and then complain about it their whole lives. • If you want to create a business you have to be on the lookout for an opportunity. It doesn’t usually just come to you – you have to be willing to make the effort to look for it. • Don’t give up too quickly. At first I thought I had made a wrong decision about making potato chips, but as I stuck with it I learned to appreciate the business. • Be open to giving employees opportunities to diversify in their career paths. If a new position is needed, perhaps someone you already employ would be energized by the challenge of learning something new. • Every company has a “culture.” Identifying your values and staying true to them helps give your company a firm footing. • Never stop looking for opportunities to be a blessing to someone else. ◆

How I changed my mind about business

A pastor’s journey from skepticism to affirmation

by Phil Ebersole

When I started seminary in 1977, not long before I began my first pastoral assignment in the Mennonite Church, there was a prevailing sense that biblical leadership was quite different than the kind seen in business.

Leadership, we believed, should be egalitarian, meaning everyone leads (which in practice meant that no one led). “Strong” leadership was not desirable. “Good” leadership meant one should never step out ahead, but rather ask everyone where they wanted to go.

It was not uncommon to feel that business and church did not mix. We knew businesses provided jobs and income for people, but in general business was seen as more likely in the wrong than in the right. If a business was doing well and turning healthy profits, then it was probably doing something unethical.

Many churches seemed ready to roll out the welcome mat for those seeking to follow Jesus as teachers, healthcare professionals, social workers, farmers, electricians and plumbers. But, if you worked in the corporate world or owned a business, you belonged on the sidelines.

Many businessfolk may have received a subtle (or not-so subtle) message: Even though you haven’t chosen the “higher path” of social services, teaching or healthcare (and may even be doing something questionable as you make a profit) feel free to come to church, participate in worship (but stay on the fringes) ... and we’ll gladly take your money in the offering plate.

That was the context when I came out of seminary. I look back now and wonder what I communicated to the business members in our church, unconsciously and in stories woven into my sermons. I regret if I reinforced the above notions.

Things started to shift as I encountered business owners who operated their companies with high integrity and with values rooted in their faith, all while making a profit. I noticed entrepreneurs who dreamed, risked, worked hard and made a positive impact in the community. I noticed business owners with a clear Christian faith, loving what they do, and doing it well.

Another big shift occurred when I served as executive director of ASSETS Toledo, a community economic development program established by MEDA. It was an unexpected privilege to be part of and to learn from this program.

I was profoundly impacted by ASSETS. On a very small scale, I witnessed elements of what MEDA is doing globally (creating business solutions to poverty), with changed lives being a result.

ASSETS was a nuts-and-bolts program to help lower-income persons start or reinforce a very small business

— a microenterprise. It included a very practical 12-week, 24-session business plan course as well as a mentoring component and a microloan program. My work as director took me into various sectors of the city of Toledo and northwest Ohio. I visited Mennonite business leaders, other Christian entrepreneurs, black churches, the mayor’s office, city and county Phil Ebersole government leaders, Rotary and the chamber of commerce, non-profit organizations and other civic leaders. My task included recruiting business leaders to teach the class sessions, building collaborative networks and relationships, raising funds, and cultivating a board that owned the vision. As a pastor I had always had one foot inside the church and one outside, but this step outside the congregational setting stretched me far beyond where I had been before.

I began to see the world through a different

lens, rather than only through the window of the pastor’s office. I began to see the world more from the standpoint of business owners, professionals, managers and leaders. Here is part of what I learned:

• I’m grateful for “I saw how a small business leaders. When these leaders in the business can be church and community believed in this microena significant way terprise program, they rolled up their sleeves to escape poverty and went to work. These men and women and establish a in business offered insightful ideas, shared solid business principles, sustainable living.” financially supported it and volunteered their time to teach and mentor the participants. I witnessed faith in God put into practice. They got things done. • The discipline of business can help alleviate poverty. God’s call to stand with and for the poor is clear throughout Scripture, though we are not prescribed one way to do this. I saw firsthand how operating a small business can be a significant way to escape poverty and establish a sustainable living. • Businesspeople in our churches put their faith into practice. I met Christians in business, both in my Mennonite world and in other Christian churches, who sought to integrate their walk with God and business. I’ll mention two such ways: a desire to serve others and make ethical, value-based decisions in the “messy middle” of life; and giving their time to teach, mentor and help lead the program as a board member.

Today, my hopes for church and business are these: • I hope businesspeople in our churches will be welcomed and given support. This means we will eliminate any message that business owners and leaders are second-class or fringe members of the church. The church will welcome their participation and input, not just their financial resources. I hope our congregations can express gratitude for business members who provide products, services and meaningful work in our communities. • I hope the church and business leaders will learn from each other. Certainly, some frustrations can be expected, e.g. “the church moves too slow” (business leader) and “business leaders want to move too fast” (pastor). However, what wisdom can business leaders offer the church to fulfill our purpose and calling? How can the church help business members face tough ethical questions, wrestle with decisions that don’t have a clear, immediate answer, and consider the biblical call to be stewards of all that is God’s? We need each other. • I hope the church will celebrate where the poor are lifted out of poverty through business solutions. Yes, we need relief and development work where there is poverty. Yes, sometimes an immediate meal, shelter or clothing is needed. And yes, “creating business solutions to poverty” is having an incredible impact on alleviating poverty. • I hope for a growing awareness that our daily work is a critical place to live out our Christian faith. This includes embracing all the various settings and vocations where God calls us.◆

Phil Ebersole, Denver, has been appointed to a short‑term MEDA position as interim chaplain for business and church relations.