01 May CEO Insights: Twenty Years with BEMA: From a One-Person Office to a Global Baking Family

In 2005, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith topped the box office, the Chicago White Sox won the World Series, and Tiger Woods put on the green jacket after winning The Masters. I remember that last fact well because I watched The Masters from my hotel room in Chicago that Sunday evening, the same evening I met with Rich Hoskins, BEMA’s chairman at the time, as I prepared to walk into the BEMA office the next morning for my first day as president and CEO.

Prior to my role at BEMA, I was working as the marketing manager for what was then ShickUSA and is now Coperion. One of the owners, Mark Ungashick, found out I was interested in the BEMA job, he encouraged me to take the leap, doing everything he could to help me get the position. I’ve never forgotten that even though my leaving would create a hole at Shick, Mark was most concerned about what the best thing was for me. Twenty years later, I’m still trying to follow Mark’s example with those around me.

Twenty years sure sounds like a long time, but when you love what you do, those twenty years feel like they passed in the blink of an eye. In that time, BEMA has grown from an office of one – me – to encompass a staff of six and a membership that numbers in the 200s.

From Small Beginnings

One of my first acts as president was to move the office from Wilmette, Illinois, to Kansas City. I hired Gay Poteet as the accountant, membership person, receptionist, board liaison, minute-taker, and anything else I needed her to do and Jennifer Prusa as a part-time meeting planner. Together, our small team hit the ground running, planning our first BEMA convention. We started in April and hosted 125 attendees in Hawaii just two months later in June.

BEMA has grown so much since my first convention. We now average almost 500 attendees at Convention, yet it holds that same family atmosphere as my first Convention as president of BEMA in 2005.  In fact, that’s one of the things I love the most about our BEMA membership – it always feels like family.

But the truth is, things have changed in 20 years; some of the things I’m most proud of include:

• Our participation in IBIE.  When I first started, my position didn’t even attend the IBIE committee meetings.  In the early days, Rich Hoskins suggested BEMA take the lead professionally managing IBIE sponsorships, which led to BEMA selling sponsorships. Now, we have grown our IBIE involvement significantly and continue to manage sponsorships, along with a comprehensive education and demo program that will have more than 250 learning opportunities at this year’s upcoming show.
• Helping BEMA and IBIE grow our international contacts by attending shows and building friendships with bakery associations and trades shows from Brazil to Singapore, Taipei, Japan, and Germany.  This includes hosting our BEMA international pavilions in Moscow, Dubai, and Germany, showing just how much BEMA has grown and how interconnected the baking industry is all across the globe.
• Getting the opportunity to serve alongside BEMA’s board members and chairman. Even as the board rotates, the commitment our board members have to serving the BEMA membership and the industry remains strong. I have been blessed to work with some of the smartest and most talented people in our industry. BEMA’s success owes a lot to every person who has served on our board in the past 20 years.

So much has changed in the past two decades. Skinny jeans are no longer the it fashion statement, the Chicago White Sox haven’t come close to winning the World Series since 2005 (and in fact have found some incredibly creative ways to lose already this season).

But one thing that has not changed is my love for this industry and the people who are a part of it. I am so grateful for each of you in our BEMA family. You have made the last twenty years some of the best years of my life. I can’t wait to see where BEMA goes in the next twenty.

Cheers,
Kerwin