“ELDC is honored to have respected and well-known leader in the baking industry, George Deese, to serve on our Leadership Forum,” said ELDC Chairman Tim Marron, BCW Food Products. “As chairman and ceo of Flowers Foods, Mr. Deese will share his self-defined guiding principles of integrity, quality, service, commitment and innovation that steer the company’s culture, which stresses the value of every employee and the impact every employee has on the overall success of the company.”
George Deese’s career with Flowers Foods began in 1964, when he joined the company’s sales department. He was promoted successively to district manager, sales manager, and executive vice president for the company’s Atlanta bakery, its largest at the time. In 1980, Flowers promoted Deese to president of the Atlanta bakery and shortly after, named him regional vice president with responsibility for six bakeries in the Southeast. From 1983 until 2002, Deese served as president and chief operating officer of Flowers Bakeries, the company’s largest operating group. In 2002, Deese was appointed president and chief operating officer of Flowers Foods. In January 2004, the company’s board of directors elected him president and chief executive officer. In June 2004, Deese was elected to the Flowers’ board of directors. He was appointed chairman of the board in January 2006.
Mr. Deese has served as chairman of ABA and for nine years served on the ABA board and executive committee. He also has served as a founding board member of the Grain Foods Foundation and vice chairman of the board for Quality Bakers of America (QBA), as a member of the QBA board for 15 years, and is a past president of the Southern Bakers Association. Mr. Deese currently serves on the board of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, as a trustee of the Georgia Research Alliance, and on the Mayo Clinic Florida Leadership Council.
Mr. Deese, joined by Pat Callaghan, president, Pepperidge Farm Inc., and other baking industry leaders to be announced, will discuss core strengths needed by effective leaders; the importance of peer groups like ELDC and SBW to foster young executives; the value of involvement in ABA to achieve industry success and build valuable networks, as well as, provide seasoned insight on the outlook of the baking industry's future.
ELDC and SBW’s Industry Leadership Forum to be held on Sept. 28 at the Las Vegas Convention Center is a ticketed event. Ticket order forms may be accessed on the ABA Web site at this link.
To learn more about this important industry event, please contact ABA Director of Political Affairs Kelly Knowles at kknowles@americanbakers.org or by calling 202-789-0300.
About the American Bakers Association:
ABA is the Washington D.C.-based trade association that has been the voice of the wholesale baking industry since 1897. ABA has a long and dedicated history of representing the interests of the wholesale baking industry before the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, state legislatures and international regulatory authorities. ABA represents approximately 80 percent of the wholesale bakeries in the U.S. and their suppliers.
Source: American Bakers Association