EVERBEST ORGANICS -- MUNGER MICHIGAN
Bay Future, Inc. Partner Awarded "Michigan's 50 Companies to Watch 2014"
May 8, 2014
By: Trevor Keyes
EAST LANSING- Everbest Organics, located in Bay County's Merritt Township, received the prestigious award of the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch for 2014. The event that was attended by over 800 small business leaders and guests was held Tuesday night at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University.
The event is an annual awards program honoring second-stage companies (ones that are typically beyond the startup phase of their business who are now focused on growth) that are headquartered in the state of Michigan and have demonstrated high performance in the marketplace or have exhibited innovative products and services.
Founders of the event include the MEDC (Michigan Economic Development Corporation), Michigan SBDC(Michigan Small Business & Development Center) and the Edward Lowe Foundation along with U.S. Small Business Administration - Michigan and Small Business Association of Michigan.
These organizations projected the economic impact of the 2014 Michigan 50 Companies to collect revenues of $145 million and 2,100 jobs created or retained for this year.
The program was opened with remarks by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and was filled with success stories involving second-stage business in the state. Snyder also thanked the business leaders in the room for their contributions and for helping to "garden" Michigan's economy.
Jim and DeAnn Sattelberg, co-owners of Everbest Organics, said that since the company's founding in 2002 they have had the enviable challenge of satisfying high demand of product in an ever increasing market. "It has allowed us to grow roughly 25% each year for nearly each of the 11 years Everbest has been in business," Jim Sattelberg said. "This has helped our family-owned business to grow in to the largest certified organic dry bean facility in the state, but also to earn a reputation as one of the highest quality facilities, as well."
Everbest is one of the first organic processing facilities to implement the British Retail Consortium, which is an internationally accepted food safety program, helping them expand in to different international markets.
Everbest Organics provides their clients with organic and non-GMO, or non-genetically modified organism, crops that are then cleaned, processed and packaged for shipment to domestic and international markets. Along with Jim and DeAnn, this family business is co-managed by their two sons Ben and Matt and their families.
Bay Future, Inc. acting interim president Trevor M. Keyes said, "We are so very proud of Everbest Organics and their contributions to Bay County in a very short amount of time. After purchasing a long vacant industrial facility in Munger, the Sattelberg's have invested millions of dollars in renovations and upgrades to their facility and have infused capital in to our community at the same time."
"This award is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and success that companies doing business out of Bay County, the Great Lakes Bay Region, and the state of Michigan are known for - and will continue to be known for well in to the future," said Keyes.
Alumni businesses of the 50 Companies to Watch from Bay County are Bay View Foods/Mr. Chips (2011) Dice Corporation (2010) and Emcor, Inc. (2009).