Ed Herr is the third child and the second son of Jim and Mim Herr, the couple who started what is now Herr Foods in 1946 for $1,750.  While he wasn’t born until nine years later, growing up in the house right next to the Herr’s factory in Nottingham, Herr witnessed the company’s growth from a potato chip maker into a snack food industry leader.

From his first paying job washing the company’s 32 delivery trucks in 1968, Ed has seen the company evolve into a $250 million a year business with over 750 distribution routes and 1,500 employees.  As the current president of the family controlled business, Ed’s responsibilities range from general administration of the business to oversight of the company’s activities in the areas of charitable giving and community and corporate relations.

Where did you grow up, Ed?

I grew up in Nottingham in southern Chester County right on the campus of Herr’s.  My dad bought this little fifty-acre farm in 1952.  I was born in 1955 in the West Grove Hospital and grew up in that house.  I remember we had ponies, sheep and a big garden.  I went to school in the Oxford School District.  Southern Chester County is one of the most beautiful places to live in the whole world. I love the landscapes and scenery. We have the best three months of summer, three months of fall, three months of winter and three months of spring. I’ve had the privilege of traveling a little bit and I love where we live.

What was your first job around the house?

My mother and father taught us kids that work can be fun. We all have to work almost everyday of our lives, it’s part of our being.  Even as little kids we would have work/play days on Saturday.  We would get up and do all of our chores, sweep the blacktop, weed the garden, pick up leaves, whatever needed to be done. We would work a half a day Saturday and then have a half a day to play.  I don’t know which part of the day my brothers and sisters and I enjoyed more. Working to us was fun and brought purpose.

At Herr’s, what was your first job?

When I was ten years old, we had a guy by the name of Lou Gehman who was running the plant back then.  Lou knew I liked to work.  He would come and say, ‘Eddie, we have a load of potatoes down here.’  Today we get 15 to 20 tractor-trailer loads of potatoes a day. Back then however, when we got a load of potatoes once a week, it was a big deal.

The potato sacks weighed more than I did!  They came in 100-pound bags and I figured out if you leaned the sacks the right way you could slide them even if they weighed more than you did. It would take us four or five hours to unload the truck and he would give me a quarter. Twenty-five cents was a big deal back then.  I could buy five Reese’s Cups with the quarter I earned unloading trucks.  Reese’s Cups are still a favorite of mine today.

What was your first regular job at Herr’s?

My first real regular job at Herr’s was washing trucks when I was 13.  Today we have over 750 route trucks but at that time we had just 32.

What lessons did you take from working around the house or unloading potatoes that are still with you today?

The thing I took away from those jobs is that work is part of life and it’s a good part of life, it has value and we can enjoy it.  We can enjoy working with other people and placing value on how other people need to work together, on a team and respecting people.  Work was like my sports growing up.  It was how I learned to do things with other people.

What happened that made you decide to make a career in the family business?

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It was a decision that just evolved over time. My dad always said, ‘don’t feel obligated to work at Herr’s.  If you want to work here, there’s work.  But don’t feel like you have to be here.’  For me there is something about a family business that builds a culture of a family of employees. The way my brothers and I get along influences how we manage and treat our direct reports.  We treat our direct reports the same way we treat each other.  That means those managers treat their people the way we treat them.  Over time a family culture develops.  I fell in love with that culture and how a culture like that impacts a community, creates jobs, and creates a livelihood for families that can sustain a community.

What is different about your work as an executive at Herr Foods?

A high school student recently asked me that question.  I told him that unlike when I was doing manual labor where my work was done at the end of each day, as you take on more and more responsibility your work is never finished. You learn to be OK with that. The other thing that happens is your biggest frustration is not the stress of job, you can actually learn to like that.  Rather it’s not having enough time with the people you care the most about.  I have seven children and 12 grandchildren, and with 1,500 employees and seven direct reports (and lots of friends in the community), I don’t have the time to spend with the people I care about the most.  A five-minute conversation with someone is precious.

What challenges do you see for you or the company?

The snack food industry is a very competitive environment and it’s only going to get more competitive.  We have to work smarter and learn how to be intentional about every plan we make.  Whether it’s through Continuous Improvement practices or other productivity measures, we have to figure out how we can run Herr Foods in the most effective way possible so we can preserve these jobs and grow stronger in the future.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

The best piece of advice to be humble and positive came from my dad. This might sound a little weird, but my dad was obviously one of my favorite businessmen. He would often say, ‘Don’t think you’re a big shot. Don’t think you know it all. Just be humble and respect people.  Learn from other people.  Be willing to be a learner.’ My father had a humble approach to life.  I try to remember his humility and optimism every day.