Richard Thompson has led three emerging companies to exits valued at $3 billion American Italian Pasta Company (which in 15 years grew from a start-up to the second largest pasta manufacturer in the world), Meow Mix and Freshpet. I didn't get a college degree, so I can't be a lawyer or a doctor. We also charter the airplane occasionally, so for me it's still kind of business.Have you ever considered jet cards or fractional shares?I've looked at all that stuff. But within a year after we got married, Kristen said, "You're hanging out at the hangar too much. Rich Thompson is the Executive Vice President, Asset Management at Arcis Golf. The idea for the company started about a dozen years ago while Tierney was sitting around a campfire with friends on summer break. We wanted to provide quality manufacturing with innovation in both product and in packaging.. She liaises with internal stakeholders to manage the design teams workflow and ensure projects are completed accurately and efficiently. Under the arrangement, Tierney is able to work on his business plan and continue to manufacture Mikeys products in two locations in Texas and Michigan. Trey is a graphic designer with experience in UI/UX, branding, and advertising. May 3rd, Trio Generations @ Faircraft BrauHaus Fairport NY, 7-9pm no cover. Our team is ready to find out what works best for you and execute accurately, efficiently, and with an unmatched level of expertise, quality, and customer service. This has nothing but upside potential for the region.. This is a great facility, and it is located at a perfect spot, logistically, in the Lehigh Valley, he said. Sign-up for our weekly newsletter! Linsey is also the host of The Ingredient Panel podcast, where a food scientist, a chef, and a food product developer discuss what's in your food, why it's in your food, and why that matters. Weve done a lot of manufacturing in the Valley, he said. The 165,000-square-foot Stuffed Puffs facility opened in January at the site of the former Guardian Life offices in Hanover Township, Northampton County. Prior to Factory, Michael worked at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Deloitte Corporate Finance and Israel Discount Bank, where he completed both middle market and large cap M&A and capital markets transactions in the Consumer & Retail and Industrials sectors. He enjoys cooking homestyle favorites and experimenting with new culinary trends equally, which means there are always plenty of delicious lunch options for the Factory team and our guests! How did the idea to do Animal Shelter Makeovers evolve?At Meow Mix, we gave a lot of cat food to animal shelters. rich plums and chocolates. The only way a shelter can win is to engage the media in a community-get the local paper and TV or radio stations to come do a story.We got more than 600,000 pet reviews and one million pet photos on Zootoo just doing that. Focused on continuous improvement projects, she boosted efficiencies by incorporating descriptive and real-time analytics into business intelligence tools, which resulted in significant cost savings. in accounting from Binghamton University. Way to go team!, Copyright 2023 Factory, LLC | All Rights Reserved. He earned his BA at Dartmouth and MBA at Columbia University. Every time you do most anything on Zootoo, that shelter gets points. Managing Partner at Factory Richard Thompson is a Managing Partner at Factory based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Leland has an MBA from Columbia University. Among its success stories is Stuffed Puffs, which makes chocolate- and caramel-infused marshmallows. Finally back home in the Lehigh Valley, she helps prepare breakfast and lunch for the Factory team and our VIP guests. in Communications from Kutztown University and M.S. 1980 . Most recently, she worked as a content manager at Lafayette College, helping to tell the stories of a legacy institution in the Lehigh Valley. Accomplished manufacturing entrepreneur Rich Thompson and his team of seasoned pros have spent the last five years luring innovative food, beverage and pet food (Think Freshpet) companies to the Lehigh Valley and helping them to scale up at a business innovation center named Factory LLC in south Bethlehem. Specializing in idea-to-shelf product development, with expertise in nutrition and formulation, she has helped bring over 300 new products to market in retail and foodservice. His knowledge base includes Six Sigma and Minitab software, a certification in SAP, and understanding of forecasting techniques and ERP systems. Richard Thompson | Business Jet Traveler Sold Meow Mix to the Cypress Group in 2003 for $435 million, remaining as CEO after reinvesting in Cypress. Motoko Rich is Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times, where she covers Japanese politics, society, gender and the arts, as well as news and features on the Korean peninsula. Liz is an accomplished graphic designer with a particular talent for branding, typography, and illustration. So I thought, being a pilot and understanding how planes work, we could take it apart and rebuild it, which we did. When youre a small company, you cant hire all that expertise, Cunningham said. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Rich Thompson (14,152 matches): Phone Number, Email, Address - Spokeo One of the men behind Stuffed Puffs, Freshpet, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), One of the men behind Stuffed Puffs, Freshpet has a new food operation in the Lehigh Valley, You never expect to send your son to work and never return home: Lehigh Valley ceremony remembers teen, firefighters, others who died on the job, L.V. Phone: 610-266-6775 Fax: 610-266-7623 Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Why did you buy a Hawker 700, a model that has been out of production since 1984?Because there's a big price difference between it and the Hawker 800. Health Care Trends & Updates Virtual Discussion, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. He's now the CEO of GO7Brands (pronounced "gee-oh-seven"), a consulting and financing firm that assists packaged-goods-focused companies; and the founder and largest shareholder of Zootoo.com, a Web site that he hopes will become as indispensable for pet lovers as Google is for Web searches.As Thompson demonstrates, entrepreneurs tend to approach management a bit differently than the classic corporate CEO. Clinician. Elias earned his B.S. "I build companies," Thompson said during a recent tour of the 40-foot-tall facility that opened in December. I use the airplane to fly there. Rich Thompson, Managing Partner. The building at Lehigh Valley Flex Center, owned and built by J.G. At Factory, Mike assists our brand partners in establishing operational procedures using business analytics to streamline their processes and deliver cost savings to the bottom line. Monitor your investments 24 hours a day, around the clock from around the globe. Just north of Route 22 in Lehigh Valley, along a mile stretch that includes medical equipment, plastic bottle and pet food manufacturers, a new factory for a company called Stuffed Puffs looms with a smiling marshmallow painted across the otherwise innocuous faade. All rights reserved. Previously owned a Cessna P210. Motoko Rich - The New York Times She spent the 20 years as facilities and space planning manager at Rodale Inc., where her responsibilities included property management, employee and vendor relations, space planning, and operations support. Founded American Italian Pasta Company in 1987; it went public in 1997. East Coast Powders Manufacturer | Factory Manufacturing Mikeys and Stuffed Puffs brands were among the Factorys early investments. That sector made up about 18% of the Valleys private sector output, while the national average for manufacturing was 12%. But our Shark Tank events are going to be called The Blast Furnace. Can you come into The Blast Furnace. in graphic and interactive design and a minor in business management (marketing track). The facility is also designed to make products contracted by companies unaffiliated with Factory. Florida Southern College Hosts Ceo 100 Lecture Series Entrepreneur The building at Lehigh Valley Flex Center, owned and built by J.G. In other words, Factory helps get more product out and put that product in more places, which translates to higher sales and net income. One result: Penn State Lehigh Valley has office space inside Factory (actually, like other occupants, its in a converted shipping container that has been painted red and customized) for the schools LaunchBox a business-accelerator program aimed at connecting early-stage entrepreneurs with advisers, funding and more. (Photo/Marco Calderon). Pennsylvania equity firm invests in Honey Stinger 2007 Jim Thompson Europe. Read More . Overnight on Wall Street is morning in Europe. Here's his story. But she is equally adept at opining on human food. Our Story - Factory LLC Tim Pollak was CEO of a top-20 global ad agency and vice chairman of two top-5 agencies, Y&R and Dentsu. Our Lehigh Valley, PA-based and GMP-audited facilities are equipped with top-of-the-line automated equipment for blending, dispensing, and packaging powders. The 165,000-square-foot Stuffed Puffs facility opened in January at the site of the former Guardian Life offices in Hanover Township, Northampton County. Her personal work ranges from photojournalism to abstract art. The mural is a bit of whimsy that belies the super-secret technology within the building: machines that put the chocolate inside the marshmallow. Previously, Rich was the Board Member at Covenant House. But fractionals are not cheap for what you get. To be eligible for Factory, Thompson said owners must show annual sales between $2 million and $20 million and allow Factory to take a majority interest in their businesses. Most recently, she was senior vice president and controller for the U.S. division of the Hain Celestial Group, where her responsibilities included integrating the back office functions of acquired businesses. There is also a pool of $250 million in private-equity funds available to buy stakes in the companies. The innovation at Factory Manufacturing LLC is another example of the Lehigh Valleys manufacturing strength, said Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. (LVEDC). "He has also been in the oil and gas business in North Dakota, founded the American Italian Pasta Company ("the largest pasta company in North America") and bought and sold Meow Mix, earning himself a tidy sum. Its something you want to be around, a private equity group with all the resources that allow a company to have the resources of a $100-million company. He has worked with manufacturers, retailers, and brand development agencies, including Gillette, Dial, H-E-B Private Brand, and Daymon Worldwide. Brian is a seasoned CPG executive whose experience spans all sales disciplines, including cross functional annual planning, category management, trade and shopper marketing, distribution strategies, third-party agency and broker leadership, and DSD. Educator. Website Design by Klunk & Millan, This error message is only visible to WordPress admins. The next thing Krajsa knew, he and other school officials were boarding Thompsons plane to meet representatives at Penn States main campus.