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THE
CLOVER-STORNETTA STORY |
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Having grown
up on a farm in Northern California not only delivered the meaning
of hard work to Mr. Gene Benedetti, a 1942 USF graduate, it obviously
made an impact on the career he would choose later in life. “My brother
and sister and I helped my Mom work the farm while my Dad worked outside
the home. This was the only we way we could survive back then.” Mr.
Benedetti attended the University of San Francisco on a football scholarship
and decided to enlist in the Navy after World War II started. While
serving his duty overseas he was involved in many beach landings in
Europe. He came back to the United States, but this time landed in
the Washington D.C. area. This is where he met his wife Evelyn, his
one and only for 54 years. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Northern
California where he taught History and coached at Santa Rosa Junior
College. One year later, he began his involvement in the dairy and
creamery business.
After working at the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery for many years,
Mr. Benedetti saw an opportunity when the bottling plant in Petaluma
burned down in 1975. As a result of the fire, the owners of the co-op
were about to sell the distribution business of Clover. It was in
1977 that Gene, John Markusen, a long time friend and sales manager,
Gary Imm, current CEO and Gene’s sons, Dan and Herm, decided to mortgage
their homes and start their own milk and creamery business. All five
have had worked together for years with Mr. Benedetti and had tremendous
respect for each other. Along with mortgaging their homes, they took
out personal loans to lease the bottling plant of Stornetta Dairy
in Sonoma County. In the fall of 1977, Clover-Stornetta became a reality
and the rest is success history. Today, Clover-Stornetta is one of
the premier dairy businesses in Northern California. Of course, the
past 23 years have not been without struggle and sacrifice, as with
any business. Mr. Benedetti believes that without his sons and longtime
co-workers and friends they would never have been able to create such
a dynamic company that now employs 170 people. Now this family-oriented
business employs two of Gene’s grandsons, John Markusen’s three sons-in-law,
and Gary Imm’s son.
It wasn’t until April of 1986 that they put together a plan to pass
the business on to the next generation. Mr. Benedetti, seeing the
writing on the wall knew it was time to pass the torch and let the
next generation run the business. Gene’s son, Dan became the president,
Gary Imm the CEO, Herm Benedetti the Vice President of Human Resources.
In 1995, Kevin Imm became Vice President of Operations, and Mike Keefer,
“John’s son-in-law”, Sales Manager. It is a known fact that 70% of
family businesses die with the founder and owner do not survive into
the next generation. A monumental effort has been undertaken to assure
that this company does not suffer the same fate.
Today, with a plan of succession in place, roles and responsibilities
communicated, as they should be, along with proper compensation packages,
Clover-Stornetta Farms has excelled where most family companies do
not. Count on this Bay area business and North Bay institution to
be around for many generations to come. As Mr. Benedetti will tell
you, “Faith in people is the most important aspect one should have.”
It is obvious that Mr. Benedetti’s faith in others has brought him
and his family the success that can only happen with hard work, determination
and a strong belief system. We salute the founders of Clover-Stornetta,
Gene Benedetti, John Markusen, Herm Benedetti, Dan Benedetti, and
Gary Imm and Paul Ross (now retired) for continuing a tradition of
securing the success for future generations.
We at the University of San Francisco Family Business Resource Center
are proud to have a relationship with Mr. Benedetti and thank him
for sharing this story with us. |
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