Milling & Baking News - November 23, 2004 - 21

I N D U S T R Y

With zigs and zags aplenty,
Shoemaker takes NAMA helm
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - It would be that followed included several transfers
unfair to state that Guy Shoemaker was as Mr. Shoemaker ascended the merdestined for flour milling.
chandising and milling management
The new chairman of the North Amer- ladder at Cargill. He spent time at Carican Millers' Association and president gill mills in Saginaw, Texas, and Albany,
of Horizon Milling L.L.C., the nation's N.Y., in merchandising positions before
largest flour milling company, Mr. Shoe- he was transferred back to Minneapolis
maker began his career in accounting as a merchandising manager.
and also has spent time in commercial
In 1987, Mr. Shoemaker became the
management of a poultry operation.
general manager of Kansas mills. At the
But Mr. Shoemaker has been a milling time, the company operated five mills
executive for the last eight years and was there - two in Wichita and one apiece
president of the milling business of Car- in Newton, Wellington and Wichita. The
gill, Inc. in January 2002 when Horizon assignment marked the first time Mr.
Milling was created with the combination of Cargill's milling assets and
those of CHS.
At the annual meeting of the North
American Millers' Association at The
Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, Mr.
Shoemaker was elected the fourth
chairman in the association's history.
Despite a restrained manner, Mr.
Shoemaker spoke enthusiastically but
realistically about the milling industry,
NAMA and the challenges of the current environment. "With issues like
obesity and biotechnology, it's certainly
a very interesting time," he said.
"It's also a nasty time, with characters like Osama," he said a day after a
video of bin Laden was broadcast in
advance of the U.S. elections.
Speaking of health and wellness
issues, Mr. Shoemaker said flour
millers and food makers generally Guy R. Shoemaker
always have supplied healthful products. "With obesity, we need to put our Shoemaker had responsibility for millcreative juices together to help solve the ing operations.
challenge," he said. "It's an interesting
Of those helping him get up to speed,
challenge, one we need to embrace.
Mr. Shoemaker gives credit to Don
"Ours is a wonderful food system. King, who headed milling operations at
We produce food more cheaply and effi- Wichita, and he was especially appreciaciently than anywhere else in the world. tive of the guidance he received from Pat
A reasonable person could connect that Thiessen, who was regional manager at
to our nation's incredible tradition of the time. "I could not say enough good
innovation and productivity. It all starts things about Pat," Mr. Shoemaker said.
with the food which is our fuel."
"We still talk. He's been retired for, I
Mr. Shoemaker's path toward his cur- don't know, quite a while. He is still my
rent post was paved with the assistance mentor today."
of a number of mentors, dating back
From Wichita, Mr. Shoemaker transto the early 1970s, when he was asked ferred to Kansas City where he was the
whether he would consider "shedding Southwest region manager for the grain
his visor." Frederic Corrigan, who later division. In the latter role, Mr. Shoemakwould head the milling group at Cargill, er was part of a major transformation in
approached Mr. Shoemaker. "Fritz asked the early 1990s at Cargill in which the
whether I'd rather be a trader or an ac- company's fabled grain trading division
countant, and I said I wanted to be a was reoriented to collaborate more eftrader," Mr. Shoemaker said.
fectively with its rapidly growing grain
After trading millfeed in Kansas City, processing businesses.
Mr. Shoemaker was transferred to MinIn 1994, Mr. Shoemaker spent 18
neapolis, where his duties shifted to months outside both the grain and
spring wheat merchandising. The years milling divisions. He was assigned to
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A C T I V I T I E S

Albany, Ga., as commercial manager
for poultry products, a business Cargill
subsequently sold.
"It was a difficult business, a very
difficult working environment," Mr.
Shoemaker said. "It was fast paced. For
rigorous hours, it was definitely one
of the toughest assignments I've had
at Cargill. I would arrive at 7:30 in the
morning, go home for dinner and then
go to a plant for the first shift, beginning
at 9 p.m. Further processing would begin at 1 a.m., and I'd get home at 3 or 4.
This routine would take place a couple
of times each week while I was getting
my feet wet in the business."
Mr. Shoemaker described the late
night driving as particularly trying. "My
greatest accomplishment in that job
was never hitting a deer," he said
jokingly. "The front part of the plant
was very unpleasant, especially the
hanging line. But after evisceration,
the plants were pleasant - clean and
cool. It was like any food processing plant that handles perishable
product."
Following the period of rapid-fire
assignment changes earlier in his
career, Mr. Shoemaker in 1996 was
asked by senior Cargill executive
Lawrence DeWitt to become part of
Cargill's senior flour milling team.
In 2002, he assumed the top post of
Horizon Milling.
The enterprising and innovative
nature of Americans also is part of
milling's heritage, Mr. Shoemaker
said. "If you look at NAMA membership, you have people deeply committed to their jobs," Mr. Shoemaker
said. "They love what they do. They are
diverse and intelligent and fun to be
around. It has always been that way,
certainly among the two generations of
millers I have been around."
Mr. Shoemaker said these qualities
have been embodied in the first three
leaders of NAMA. "Craig Hamlin had
incredible foresight establishing NAMA,
leading the process that created the
governance that would make it work
and finding Betsy Faga to run it," Mr.
Shoemaker said. "He put the right mix
of people in place. Buck Rothwell then
organized it and John Gillcrist energized
it. We have had great leadership."
Mr. Shoemaker certainly knows
what NAMA's focus will be while he
is chairman.
"Consumption issues are staring
us in the face," Mr. Shoemaker said.
"Working with George Deese and the
American Bakers Association has been
a marvelous step for the industry, allowing us to get our message out about
the products we make. That will be
Milling & Baking News, November 23, 2004 / 21

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Milling & Baking News - November 23, 2004

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