Gm 591 Project Proposal

2803 Words12 Pages
GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior Project Proposal Overview of Organization The organizations that will be the topic of discussion in my final project paper is Zapp’s Potato Chips. Zapp’s was founder in 1985 by Ron Zappe, a life-long entrepreneur who turned away from the oilfield after the oil bust and started what would become affectionately known as "The Little Chippery in Gramercy" and one of the state’s most enduring brands. Zapp's is a brand of potato chip made in the United States. The chips are cooked and packaged in Gramercy, Louisiana. The chips are kettle-cooked in peanut oil (instead of vegetable oil,…show more content…
After founder Ron Zappe died in June 2010, President Rod Olson started sifting through e-mails that Zappe had exchanged five years earlier with interested buyers. Olson, who began his career in sales at the company’s outset in 1985, considered bids from public companies and a private equity firm before agreeing to sell to Hanover, Pa.-based Utz Quality Foods in January. Olson says Utz’s undisclosed offer best suited Zappe’s wishes for the future of the business. Above all other sale considerations, Zappe wanted assurance that his grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be able to enjoy Zapp’s distinctly flavored, kettle-cooked potato chips. Zappe also sought expanded distribution, brand quality retention and security for about 200 employees at factories in Gramercy, California and Pennsylvania. Zappe and Olson met with Utz representatives and other interested buyers in early 2010, while Zappe was receiving chemotherapy treatments for throat cancer. Olson says Utz emerged early on as the bidder with a business culture and management philosophy most similar to Zapp’s, with its 90-year history as an independent, family-owned…show more content…
Utz, according to a Zappe Endeavors news release, has more than 2,400 in four manufacturing facilities in Hanover, Pa. Zappe Endeavors had been finding ways to grow beyond the region under longtime manager Rod Olson, who took over as president following the death of founder Ron Zappe last year. It had acquired the Dirty Potato Chip line in the mid-1990s and factories in California and Pennsylvania. Zapp’s was founded in 1985 by Zappe, a life-long entrepreneur who turned away from the oilfield after the oil bust and started what would become affectionately known as "The Little Chippery in Gramercy" and one of the state’s most enduring brands. /news/business|112999164 Comments (4) In the mid-1980s, Ron Zappe's fortunes went south. The Houston resident owned small companies supplying pumps and other machines to Texas and Louisiana oil producers. When falling oil prices slowed these producers, Zappe's companies were no longer profitable. What's a guy in his early 40s to do? Demand that government subsidize oil producers? Lobby for price supports for pumps? Seek government funding for career retraining? Or collapse helplessly under the weight of cruel

More about Gm 591 Project Proposal

Open Document