Joe Eby and the Huge Heart of Hershey, PA
A Sweet Company With a Higher Purpose
February 2007 By Denny Hatch
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In the News
Hershey kisses 1,500 workers adiosHARRISBURG—The Hershey Co., whose name has been synonymous with U.S. candy-making for more than a century, is moving a bigger chunk of its production to Mexico. A day after Valentine sweethearts across the country enjoyed bags of Hershey Kisses, the company announced a restructuring plan that will scale back its workforce by 1,500 jobs and force some plants to close.
—Associated Press, Feb. 16, 2007
Joe Eby was a thin, taciturn guy who owned a real estate business in Hershey and was married to a peppy, delightful little blonde named Muriel. The Ebys loved the game of curling and always received a private invitation to our Nutmeg Curling Club’s annual bonspiel (curling tournament), the Golden Handle, which was held every year at the Darien Country Club in Connecticut.
The Ebys would drive up from Hershey with the other two members of their team, Muriel’s sister and brother-in-law, Bob and Bev Sponaugle. They brought with them an enormous supply of Hershey Kisses that they dispensed to gleeful curlers of all ages throughout the weekend.
Joe was quiet and self-effacing. It was only when I was researching this story some thirty years later that I discovered that he had been in the Air Force during World War II, had piloted 37 missions over Germany and received six oak leaf clusters. This was not the kind of thing he would ever mention.
One year, in the early 1970s, three other guys and myself entered a men’s bonspiel in Hershey and we drove down in the dead of winter where we were joined by teams from around the Northeast.
It was there that I really got to know Joe Eby and how his life had been changed by the magnificent vision of Milton and Catherine Hershey—a legacy that endures to this day.
Hershey Chocolate Company
In 1876, Milton Hershey started a candy company in Philadelphia, but it failed six years later. At the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, he got hooked on chocolate and bought some German candy-making machinery and had it shipped back to Pennsylvania. After much experimentation, Hershey figured out the formula for making milk chocolate—a secret process known only to the Swiss at the time. He started the Hershey Chocolate Company and the rest is history.
A Company Town
From the Hershey Web site:
Hershey’s success was not simply a matter of luck. Having learned from his past failures, he had become a shrewd and astute businessman. He believed, along with the more forward-thinking industrialists of the age, that workers who were treated fairly and who lived in a comfortable, pleasant environment would be better workers. Accordingly, he set upon building an infrastructure to take care of the people who were employed by his company. He had plans drawn up for a model community that included housing for executives and ordinary workers alike, schools, churches, parks, recreational facilities and a trolley system. Unlike other “company towns,” Hershey’s was not intended to exploit its resident workers, but rather to provide for their welfare. As time went on, Hershey saw to it that the town (named Hershey, naturally) added a community building, a department store, a convention hall, an amusement park, a swimming pool, and schools. Lots of schools.
Takeaway Points to Consider:
* If you own shares in a company where the voting stock is controlled by a nonprofit institution, decisions by the board of directors may be different from those of purely for-profit organizations.* This may be a good thing. For example, it would be difficult to envision the directors of Hershey Trust sanctioning over-the-moon salaries, bonuses and golden parachutes for failed top corporate executives. Nor would they permit the now rampant and fraudulent practice of awarding backdated options.
* If your company is a heavy supporter of a cause—whether it be a school, hospital or cultural institution—let the public, stockholders and your employees know about it. It will make them feel good about buying your products or services and being associated with you.
* Some years ago, I heard a quotation—I think—by David Brinkley, although I cannot find it on the Internet: “Make as much money as you possibly can and give away as much of it as you can possibly afford.”
Web Sites Related to Today's Edition:
Hershey, the Sweetest Place on Earthhttp://www.hersheypa.com/
Hershey Company Web site
http://tinyurl.com/yo6y44
The Hotel Hershey
http://tinyurl.com/dhfb7
All About Hershey’s
http://www.hersheys.com/
The Milton Hershey School
http://www.mhs-pa.org/
Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in Kinshasa
http://tinyurl.com/ysjuh9
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls—South Africa
http://tinyurl.com/23nwwc
Companies Mentioned:
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