Food service company unveils new brand, celebrates employee ownership
A sea of smiling faces donning blue Kellner Foodservice shirts filled the company's parking lot Friday morning. The crowd waited outside in the warm sun, eagerly awaiting the big announcement: MJ Kellner Foodservice would be 100 percent employee owned.
"The employees of this company are what make it work," said Bill Kellner, who made the employee-ownership possible and was the last family namesake to own the century-old business. "I did not want to sale the business to another company."
The company's new brand identity also was unveiled during the celebration. The M.J. Kellner logo now features the tagline "exceeding all of your food service needs” and was displayed on a company semi-trailer and warehouse.
Employees applauded Kellner and said they were grateful for his decision.
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John Cochrane, a sales consultant from Farmersville, has been with the company for 16 years.
"It's a tremendous opportunity for everyone involved here. For somebody that has been here as long as I have it's really nice, but my daughter is here also," Cochrane said. "If she stays here in her career, it's going to be worth a lot for her towards retirement. It's something the Kellners didn't have to do and they did it. I couldn't be more thankful for it."
Jason Greiner, Jacksonville, called the transition "a huge plus." He's been a salesperson at Kellner for eight years. "It's almost like having a second retirement for all of us as employees. We have a 401K as well, but to have that to look forward to in the end, it means our company is looking out for us in the utmost regard," Greiner said.
"There's not a lot of businesses that are employee-owned," said credit specialist Kari Garrison, Springfield, who has been with the company for two years. "It's awesome they care so much about the employees that we now have ownership of the company," Garrison said.
One of Springfield's oldest businesses, Maurice Kellner, Kellner's grandfather, started the company in 1920 as a wholesale sugar distributor. Bill Kellner's father, H.J. Kellner took over the business and expanded it into a full-line food service, equipment, and supply distributorship. Bill Kellner joined in 1975 and added salespeople.
Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder attended the celebration and declared August 26 as Bill Kellner Day and the week of August 28 as MJ Kellner Foodservice employees' week.
An employee's stake depends on the number of years with the company and salary.Employees will be paid for ownership when they retire, according to Kellner.
"It's a commitment to longevity, especially in today's environment," said MJ Kellner Foodservice president David Rikas. "I think showing them you're going to be around in the future, you get them to commit to being and here and being part of something special."
Rikas has been with the company for 38 years and started as a warehouse manager. There were 22 employees when he started. Today, the company has 96 employees including salespeople, warehouse staff, and others.
"I'm excited," Rikas said. "This has been a dream. First the building, now employee ownership, and this new brand release, for me towards the end of my career, it's all coming together. I'm excited for the next generation."
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield businesses: MJ Kellner Foodservice unveils brand identity
