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NWA Founders is a voice for Founders, Owners, and Builders driving growth in Northwest Arkansas, and is hosted by Cameron Clark and Nick Beyer.
'NWA Founders' is a voice for Founders, Owners, and Builders driving growth in Northwest Arkansas, hosted by Cameron Clark and Nick Beyer.
To recommend a guest or ask questions, reach out at nwafounders@gmail.com and follow us on YouTube and LinkedIn for video content.
[00:00:00] Todd Simmons: A lot of people ask me, why are all those big companies located in northwest Arkansas and I'm not sure there's anything else you could do,
[00:00:08] Nick Beyer: how you process risk, and then as you've taken over since 2012, what does that risk look like, you know, in your tenure?
[00:00:15] Todd Simmons: The sooner you can think through those kind of five things and kind of begin to balance those, the better you create a culture like that where leaders can come into their own.
That element of grace with a healthy dose of all this is true and this was a really hard season, but here are the things that could have done very differently and had a, a much better outcome.
[00:00:36] Nick Beyer: What are some differentiators that you feel like at Simmons we do this and it is part of our DNA, it's part of our culture.
[00:00:42] Todd Simmons: We built our own clinics over 20 years ago. That's, I think, a, a big differentiator. What. Is your vision for the future of the next generation in northwest Arkansas? Well, that's a, that's a big
[00:00:53] Cameron Clark: question.[00:01:00]
Good morning, Todd. Morning. Thank you so much for joining us. We're sitting here in Silo Springs in, uh, the main office of Simmons Foods, and I mean, your family has had one of the biggest impacts here in northwest Arkansas community and, and just business people's lives. All, all the above. And excited for you to kind of tell some of that story.
I was trying to think first though, what is your earliest memory of working in Simmons Foods?
[00:01:34] Todd Simmons: Wow. Well, so that would probably be an official paycheck came in 1990, the summer of 90, and I. Was working at our Jay, Oklahoma plant. And, uh, my first memory was we used to do tests on, on folks to see if they had different, like carpal tunnel or other [00:02:00] things.
And I failed the test and I thought, oh my gosh, you know, my first thing I did, of course, the poor, the, the nurse who was, uh, doing the test on me, he was like, I, I'm, I'm gonna get fired. Like the, the, you know, and, and, um, not many people knew who I was. I just, I showed up and was gonna start working. My name's
[00:02:19] Cameron Clark: Todd.
[00:02:20] Todd Simmons: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I couldn't, I couldn't start working because I had to have a surgery actually. Um, and it was from, probably from basketball or something. I had developed a, a cyst or something. And so, um, it was, it was kind of funny. So I started, um, uh, almost a false start, got right back to work after that.
And, uh. And started working in the plant. And in fact, my boss, or the, my boss's boss, I guess at the time, was running the plant. He just retired, uh, last week. Oh wow. At 63 [00:03:00] years of, of tenure here at Simmons. And so he challenged me that first week I was back and could work on the line to a, a live chicken hanging contest.
And so here's a 17-year-old kid, you know? Um, and, uh, and this fellow, I don't know how old he was then. I, he was probably way younger than I thought. Yeah. But it was, it was really fun. Yeah. So I, I but intimidating too, so. Sure. Yeah,
[00:03:29] Cameron Clark: go ahead.
[00:03:30] Nick Beyer: Talk, talk about the poultry business back then here. Just kind of growing up in this area, the, the region specifically, there was a lot of bigger players.
Now, I don't know what it was like back then, but what,
[00:03:40] Todd Simmons: there were more, more companies back then, but in the nineties, you know, Peterson Farms, but still Georgia's, Tyson, others like that, that were, you know, still very impactful in the region. And, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's been interesting to see the, the [00:04:00] consolidation, but then also the fact that, you know, three of the, or four of the five big players, I guess Hudson Foods mm-hmm.
Was, was there, they got purchased by. Tyson and, and we bought Peterson in, in, uh, 2008. So I think, uh, it's been a little consolidation, but there's still just great people, a lot of wonderful farm families that, that grow chickens and, and, uh, support an awesome protein.
[00:04:33] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:34] Todd Simmons: For, uh, for the world.
[00:04:35] Nick Beyer: And so many people have moved to Northwest Arkansas now.
They may not know. I mean, is there something specific about the region, the state, that, you know, that it's almost like this poultry capital in some ways? Like is there something special that,
[00:04:50] Todd Simmons: you know, it's interesting. I don't know why completely. I know why we are here and I can get into that. Mm-hmm. Um, but [00:05:00] really back in the day it was, it was the George family and the Tyson.
Family and then a lot of other folks who were either in the feed business or, uh, grew live birds. And, um, in the early days it was, is today we're an integrated industry, so vertically integrated where we own sort of farm to table the process. And back then there were folks that had, uh, who, who had a feed mill or a, a, a company that might grow, or a farmer who might grow birds.
Mm-hmm. And buy feed from the feed mill. And then my grandfather was in Nebraska working for Cudahy meat packing, and he had buyers who would go to the Kansas City live markets and purchase [00:06:00] cattle, pigs and chickens. Call them live out to western Nebraska, and they process those, um, animals and, and then distribute meat to a lot of different folks.
Um, and so at one point he had a customer named Frank Plus who said, you know, bill, I need more chicken. And he asked his, his folks who are buying chicken in Kansas City, well, where are these chickens coming from? And said, well, they're all coming up from northwest Arkansas. And so he said, well, I guess that's where we need to go to get more chicken.
And so he had his first employee, a, a guy named um, Wallen, Chuck, um, heck of a name. His, uh, his son was the dean of the business school at uh, JBU for many years. Um, [00:07:00] but Joe Walen, Chuck. Came down as our first employee. He's an accountant and started the business. Well, we didn't, it really was just getting a, a license and finding a spot.
[00:07:14] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:07:14] Todd Simmons: Um, and he came down here and started processing chicken. And so he was a processor, uh, a dedicated chicken processor back then, mostly they were meat packing companies that
[00:07:26] Cameron Clark: did all different types of meat. So, and that was in 1949?
[00:07:30] Todd Simmons: 1949, yes.
[00:07:32] Cameron Clark: Hmm. Um, and, and I, I want to kind of tell this whole story, but let's zoom out first Yes.
And talk about this, the company as a whole, what all the company does right now. 'cause there's three main arms of the business right now. Correct. The
[00:07:47] Todd Simmons: Correct.
[00:07:47] Cameron Clark: Um, and
[00:07:48] Todd Simmons: Yep. So we've got what we can just say chicken.
[00:07:52] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:07:52] Todd Simmons: Um, so the chicken side of the business is for people, and we do, um, [00:08:00] about. Uh, 60% of the business is food service for major, uh, restaurant companies in North America and, and Southeast Asia.
So we do, we do a lot of different products for many of the brands that you run up and down the street. Uh, sure. Seeing and hopefully eating, uh, just order chicken whenever you're out there. And, uh, and then about 40% of our business is retail. And so we do value added, fully cooked, breaded portion control products for, um, retailers and
[00:08:41] Cameron Clark: all private label,
[00:08:42] Todd Simmons: all private labels, some control brands where a buyer may want something to come in for, for football season or something.
Mm-hmm. To that effect. And so, um, but we really. We de-bone all of our product and then further process it in [00:09:00] some manner. Um, and our operations and our poultry business are in the central part of the, of the country really, Arkansas, Missouri, and, and Oklahoma. And, uh, then we have our animal nutrition business that takes a lot of the parts of the chicken that people don't eat and upgrades it into animal feeds and or pet food ingredients.
And, uh, that business has operations on the east coast and then here in this, in this region. And we supply the large pet food manufacturers, uh, folks like Nestle, Mars, uh, general Mills, hill Science Diet, those kinds of people. And then our own pet food business. So we have a pet food business that. Is all wet pet food.
It's canned pouches and plastic cups like a yogurt cup.
[00:09:57] Cameron Clark: Yep.
[00:09:57] Todd Simmons: Et cetera. And, [00:10:00] and that business is about half contract manufacturer for the large pet food brands. Yep. And then half private brand for major retailers across North America and, and really the world. So, um, all three of those businesses have grown over time.
Most recently the, the, they kind of grow in, in different seasons. So, um, chicken tends to grow in pretty large chunks. And, and so, uh, with that, our animal nutrition group grows. And then, um, our pet food business has grown very steady and, and very rapidly mm-hmm. Over the last. 12 years. So it's been been great.
[00:10:52] Cameron Clark: Yeah. Let's, let's go back to the beginning of the story where you're at. So, right. Um, grandfather [00:11:00] Bill,
[00:11:00] Todd Simmons: mm-hmm.
[00:11:00] Cameron Clark: In 1949 comes down to Northwest Arkansas and just want everyone to know kind of the, you know, the impact of the legacy. But, uh, talk, talk about, you know, his, his journey and the business there, um, getting started and did the business move to silo under, under his leadership?
[00:11:20] Todd Simmons: Yes. Uh, we built a facility here in 1952 and, uh, that operation, you know, who knows what the actual facts are, but the facts as we, uh, like to say is at the time it was one of the world's largest chicken. Uh, production facilities. Mm-hmm. Because there really weren't many that, uh, like I mentioned before, that were dedicated solely to processing chicken.
[00:11:52] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:11:52] Todd Simmons: And so, um, my grandfather was a real innovator. He, uh, he would try [00:12:00] just about anything. And so in the fifties, most chickens were still, the, the feathers were taken off and they were bled out. But a lot of times they were sold New York dress with the viscous still in the bird.
[00:12:19] Cameron Clark: Hmm.
[00:12:19] Todd Simmons: And so they were iced, et cetera.
Now, then eventually it progressed to, um, eviscerating the bird and that viscera needed to go somewhere along with the feathers. And so. Quickly, my grandfather got into the rendering business and that's where our animal nutrition business started back in, in the early fifties. And so we would cook that product down into protein meals and, and sell 'em to pet food manufacturers and cattle feed lots and that sort of thing.
[00:12:53] Cameron Clark: And was that the product that Sam Walton's dog kind of, there was a, a partnership there if I read that right? Or
[00:12:59] Todd Simmons: [00:13:00] was that later on? Yeah, uh, that was later on. Okay. And so, but but soon into the fifties, my grandfather started innovating into other chicken products like canned chicken. And so one of those products was a, a whole chicken in a can, which was interesting to say the least.
I can't imagine it actually. Uh, but on the
[00:13:24] Cameron Clark: shelf now today.
[00:13:25] Todd Simmons: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And so, but he was trying to figure out how do I fully cook chicken? And one way is in a can, well. Whether it did well or not, it didn't fill up the production lines. And so he decided to pivot and start producing pet food. And so the, our famous story is that he had a Ford icon line van that we built a replica of recently.
Mm-hmm. When we built a new plant Oh, cool. In Dubuque, Iowa. And, uh, [00:14:00] and he had one of his chicken salespeople, a guy named Dink McKinney. I love the names, names. Back then we had a guy named Blondie Berlin who was a truck driver. And, uh, but really cool, uh, cool names Dink, my grandfather allegedly said, dink, we're gonna start making pet food.
I'm gonna fill this van up. You can come back whenever it's sold. And so he luckily dink. Kept coming back, and eventually he started selling product to this guy Sam Walton, who had started this business, um, Walmart. And, uh, we don't have any receipts from the Five and Dime, but we were selling, dink was selling in this region to all of the various co-ops and anyone who carried pet food, uh, our brand [00:15:00] called BOLO Dog Food.
Mm-hmm. And so, um, BOLO has since been retired. Yeah. But back in the day, the story goes after my grandfather passed away. My dad was running the business in the late seventies. Mr. Sam called him and said, Hey, uh, your BOLO dog food sells better than my Walmart brand, and I'm wanting a, I'm, I basically would like you to produce.
For me, and I want to change the name, I want to name it after my favorite bird dog, Roy and dad said, well sure, uh, send me a picture of Roy. We'll make up a label and we'll get it started. So that's the origin story from my dad's perspective on, um, the, uh, the start of Roy and the relationship with Walmart on that particular product.
And today we [00:16:00] still, we produce, um, a lot of their special kitty, their Roy and um, certainly have, have gotten to, to grow as they grew, and it's been a great relationship.
[00:16:14] Cameron Clark: Sure.
[00:16:14] Todd Simmons: So that's fun.
[00:16:16] Cameron Clark: Um, but yeah, that was when pet food really started to take off. Correct. In that or Right. Maybe years before then. So,
[00:16:21] Todd Simmons: yeah.
So in the, we were, we. We probably in that time period in the late seventies were, were growing, but we were a chicken company that did a little pet food. Mm-hmm. And, uh, pet food became more of a serious part of our business. And then in the two thousands is when we really started to, to make very intentional investments to acquire and grow our pet food segment.
[00:16:55] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm. And so talk about just bill's, you know, as, [00:17:00] as he was growing the business and then transitioning to your dad.
[00:17:05] Todd Simmons: Mm-hmm.
[00:17:05] Cameron Clark: Um, what was, you know, going on during that stage and
[00:17:08] Todd Simmons: Sure. My grandfather, as I mentioned, big innovator, obviously a huge risk taker, an entrepreneur, and dad tells the story of just having.
Dad had to take care of cattle. So we were in the cattle business as well, and partly because, not because my grandfather thought it would make money, but that's what people who were successful did where he grew up. Yeah. And so, um, and, and that's, that's how my, my dad says it. And so one of the first things that dad did when he took over was get outta the cattle business.
And so, um, but I, I think, you know, the fun part about the legacy of, of [00:18:00] innovation is we've been able to carry that forward. Now, one of the things that my grandfather was not a proponent of was the vertical integration of the industry. Part of that is because I think he was very consumer back focused person.
His innovation was all about what? What does the back then the quote housewife want and how's that going to evolve? And he was gonna run to where, or skate to where the puck's going. Right? Yep. And it felt like if we focus on live production and making feed and hatcheries and all these other things, it'll move us away from thinking about what the consumer wants.
Sure. And, and there's some neat, um, sort of interviews like this where, where he talked about that. Now the unfortunate thing is he, he was sick. He got [00:19:00] sick, um, and was in, in and outta the hospital for like eight years. Hmm. And my dad, he ended up passing away. My dad took over when dad was 26 or 27. Wow. And, uh, the business was, was a successful business, but it was during a hard time in the, in the poultry industry.
And so. It's the chicken business is, is notoriously cyclical. Mm-hmm. And the cycles can be pretty severe. And so, uh, dad took over. We were not vertically integrated. The rest of the industry was already rapidly, had already moved or was moving that direction. Owned hatcheries, owned feed mills. And so we had not, uh, owned a hatchery or a feed mill.
And so that was a sort of a catch up that my father started to do. And dad was, whether by, um, maybe he [00:20:00] had to, but he's very focused on how things work. Mm-hmm. And he's very focused on production and
[00:20:06] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:20:06] Todd Simmons: And that sort of thing. And so it's interesting 'cause I think I'm probably, uh. More like my grandfather from the perspective I grew up on the sales side of the business.
Certainly worked in the plants and yeah. And understand ops, but I'm more inclined to the consumer backside. Mm-hmm. So who knows what the next generation will be like. But um, so my father took over when he was young and really played a lot of catch up in, in trying to get to where the industry was from a productivity and efficiency perspective.
[00:20:42] Cameron Clark: And what year was that
[00:20:44] Todd Simmons: roughly? 19 74, 75. And then he continued to grow the business. We made some large, relatively large acquisitions in the early eighties and then into the nineties and, um, [00:21:00] and sort of, um, began to build the. The base of what we have today.
[00:21:06] Cameron Clark: Sure. Yeah. The eighties was a decade of acquisitions, essentially.
Just a lot of, lot of,
[00:21:11] Todd Simmons: and early nineties. Okay. From a, on the chicken side of the business.
[00:21:14] Cameron Clark: Okay.
[00:21:14] Todd Simmons: Yeah.
[00:21:15] Nick Beyer: Do you remember watching your dad go through those acquisitions? What, I mean, some of the memories you have, even a series of acquisitions like that from a capital perspective is intense. Yes. Not even mentioning the actual execution side.
Sure. So like what are some of your memories from that time period?
[00:21:32] Todd Simmons: I remember, uh, writing with he and Lynch Butler, who was, who was dad's right hand person for, for decades, was my boss for a while, a great person and family. And so riding in, in the back of, of my dad's car with he and Lynch visiting plants, [00:22:00] um.
Getting car sick because the roads in northeastern, Oklahoma and southwest Missouri and in this part of Arkansas are, are crazy. And, um, as a kid and just, you know, I was 10 yeah, maybe when, when they were doing this and, um, and just hearing them talk about the opportunities, but then also seeing the, the blood, sweat and tears side of things and the personal guarantees that I didn't really understand or know, but I knew there was a lot of stress.
And so, uh, to grow a business at any stage is, is challenging. But, uh, he was taking some, some significant risks to, to try to get Simmons to a place where we could compete with some of the bigger players. So, wow.
[00:22:53] Cameron Clark: Um, and then so you, you, you said like 1990 is kind of when you stepped in as [00:23:00] late teenager Yes.
And kept work working in the business a little bit. Um, talk about the nineties, talk about the, your, you know, your hands in there, some shape or form. Your dad's still at the helm here. What was, was that decade like there for the business and you
[00:23:17] Todd Simmons: Yeah, I think so. I spent time in the summers during college, working in the business as an hourly team member in different, all different aspects and just trying to understand how the business worked and what it was like from the perspective of our, our team members and mm-hmm.
And that was awesome and valuable experience. I think that as I moved into, I, I started in sales. And doing sort of route sales in the West. We, we supplied back then fresh chicken to, uh, Kentucky Fried Chicken and, and some large retailers. [00:24:00] And so I spent time going store to store, checking on product and, and that sort of thing.
Uh, learned a lot. Uh, we were in the nineties moving towards a more value added mix, less fresh. Uh, we, we, in the late nineties built a fully cook operation and, and continued growing that direction. We, we purchased a company that, uh, did portion control product for large restaurant chains like Darden and, and Chick-fil-A and some others.
And so that was certainly a, a steep learning curve because before we. We had some really challenging customers, but the product mix was not as challenging and the specifications weren't as tight. And, um, we [00:25:00] were really learning, sort of assembling the airplane while we were flying it at, at some points, moving into the value added arena and those, those really challenging customers.
So it was a good time to be on the sales side of the business because you got to, you had that baptism by fire of really understanding when you were winning with customers and then when you disappointed them, what that felt like. And, uh, and so that, that, uh, uh, is probably what is most etched in my mind.
And how, how do you really grow a business in a way, uh, where you. Move into new markets, move into new products without stubbing your toe. Sure. And, and disappointing your great customers, uh, as you, as you do so, so, and did you ever
[00:25:58] Cameron Clark: doubt or were confused on [00:26:00] if it was, if you wanted to take the next leg, leg of the race with the family and the legacy?
I mean, no. I, I, I think I was, for some
[00:26:11] Todd Simmons: reason, always this was my dream job. Like I've, I'm so blessed to be able to, to be in this position. Uh, I do think certainly there were times maybe when other people wondered like, should he be here? And, uh, and so I think that, that I, I was in, in meetings and in roles that I luckily quickly figured out.
I knew less than the people who worked. Technically for me and that I needed to flip the script and understand I really work for them and need to view, whether you call it servant leadership or whatever. At the end of the day, my job is to [00:27:00] make sure we, we align with the culture, we align with our team members, and how do I remove barriers and set, maybe help set strategy and direction, but, but how do I help our teams be as successful as they can?
And, and, and when you are in a role where you know a lot less than folks that, that are, are working for you, you know, you need to quickly figure that out or you are not going to be successful. And so, um, it's, it was a, I've always wanted to do this and luckily I had. My dad was a great mentor and still is.
Mm-hmm. He's still chairman and still very active and, and that's a blessing. I have friends that have a similar role in their family companies and, and their fathers, you know, had poor health and maybe passed away early. My dad had that [00:28:00] experience and, and that'd be, that'd be really hard. And, uh, so I've been blessed in that way too, to have him hanging around.
Yeah. And, uh, and giving a lot of input and it's, it's great.
[00:28:13] Cameron Clark: Well, leading up to this, spoke to, you know, multiple people inside and outside the organization. And what I was shocked, 'cause most people told me like, the culture's real there, the cul like, Hey, just make sure you talk about the culture's real there.
And I was like, okay. Okay. Um, but I assume this started with, with Bill and, you know, as just. Evolved over time. I mean, the values that are on your website, how did, how did that start within the family and how has it kind of grown in the organization over the years? Well, I think, I think when you,
[00:28:53] Todd Simmons: again, I wasn't, I was maybe five when my grandfather passed away.
Mm-hmm. Four or five years [00:29:00] old and don't have any memories that are probably real core memories. I have stories that, that, and pictures of me with him. But the legacy that, that he left was one, certainly of innovation and, and entrepreneurship. And, and two, one of, of building a business with some great people and, and the ability to sort of challenge and.
Lead a group of people is, is great, but also to let them run ahead and lead, I think was was one, one of his great, um, legacies. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and he was also an industry leader, so he, he just because they we were a smaller company didn't [00:30:00] mean he wasn't trying to help drive where the industry needed to go next.
And I think my dad took that and ran with it. Um, and, but I think the core culture of, of putting people first and really, uh, building a place where people would want their kids to work and their friends, um, I always say we, we. We love, we're pro nepotism. Yeah. We want, but only the family members who at Thanksgiving dinner are helping clean up the kitchen at the, at the end, you know, like we don't need the ones that are sitting on the couch.
You know, we want, uh, we want people though to, to have generations that have worked here and, uh, contributed because that means you've built a place that people want to, they want to be there and they have that same, it's different but similar [00:31:00] investment in the legacy of, of the business and in that stewardship mentality.
So I think, I, I credit dad with taking the, like that bootstrap entrepreneurism, the innovation drive of there's gotta be another or better way. And, and then transforming that into how do we. Recognize and empower our, our people at all levels and, and build a culture that is based in integrity and, uh, really is, is a, a great place to work.
[00:31:41] Nick Beyer: Sure. And what are some differentiators that you feel like at Simmons we do this and it is part of our DNA, it's part of our culture,
[00:31:50] Todd Simmons: right? I, I think, look, there's a lot of great companies in northwest Arkansas and we've been fortunate to, to sort of grow [00:32:00] up around the, you know, all of them. Walmart, hunt, Tyson's, all these in their right.
Cultures that are, have, have gotten 'em where they are. Mm-hmm. And, and so you can, the fun part is sitting there going, wow, okay, that's pretty interesting. They did that and, and it's been effective. Uh, you know, we're, we've been really focused on how do we meet our team members where they are and, and build a, a culture around our values.
So, and, and, and really when our, we had our, our chaplains program came from the Will Gardner, who was our, um, head of payroll. So, uh, you don't wanna [00:33:00] upset Will. Um, and, uh, and so, uh, he's signing your checks, but he came to us and was like, Hey, I've got an idea. He is, he was a preacher on, on the side, if you will, and.
He said, I, I think we ought to have a chaplain program. And um, our head of HR at the time, Steve Gardner, not, they weren't related Will and Steve Gardner, but, uh, they, they were like, I really think we need to do this. I'm like, okay, well let's, let's do it. I talked with dad and, and it was really a, an opportunity, again, meeting our team members where, where they are, how do we come alongside people in the times where they celebrate in the times where they're mourning in the challenging times in their lives where, uh, they need someone not to be.[00:34:00]
Uh, as I tell our chaplains, we, we are not wanting you to go around. Whacking people over the head with a Bible. Yeah. That's not our mo. We are, we happen to be a a Christian family. We are a faith friendly organization, but those values are, are very, uh, clear and evident and we want them to be in our workplace.
So we have 26, I believe, um, chaplains throughout the, the organization. Some of those are, are part-time at some of our, our smaller facilities. But we had, I believe it was over 11,000 through the third quarter, 11,000 discreet visits with team members.
[00:34:52] Cameron Clark: Wow.
[00:34:52] Todd Simmons: And our chaplains. And what we're able to do is really, it's an an employee assistance [00:35:00] program that is.
Uh, turbocharged. Yeah. Through, uh, faith and, and really help people find resources they need, uh, help understand why maybe their performance is, is not where it used to be or they're not able to make it, to work, um, consistently and try to figure out how to, how to help. That's, I think, a, a big differentiator.
Yeah. And, uh, and having a system where you can, where you can really understand, um, on a confidential basis, what are the broad challenges that, that we're seeing across our team?
[00:35:43] Cameron Clark: And we're all people. Yeah.
[00:35:45] Todd Simmons: Yeah. We're not just widgets that, you know, are, are, and so how do we, how do we understand what the challenges are?
And with that then we've, we've iterated different services like our. Our clinics, we have [00:36:00] mm-hmm. We built our own clinics over 20 years ago. And, um, understanding that a lot of our team is, uh, their shift work, uh, type jobs. If they take off to take care of their health, it's a pay cut. So if they have to take off a day in any week to go take care of their health, it's a 20% reduction in pay.
So what if we build clinics that are accessible near our operations? And so now we've, I believe we've got five operating and we're now shifting into telemed and trying to understand how to deliver services to all of our locations. 24 7. Um, and we're gonna figure out how to do that. So it's been wonderful for our team.
We're self-insured, so we have the [00:37:00] ability to, to control costs and, um, on that side, and really the more folks we can get through the, our clinics, the better because it's fixed cost. And, uh, if we can see people and help them with their health, then great. Um, so I think those kinds of things are differentiators.
It's, it's not, uh, directly producing more chicken or pet food or animal feed, uh, products, but, but it is creating a, a differentiation as you, um, asked and, and I think a value that you don't get every everywhere so,
[00:37:44] Cameron Clark: so good. Uh, and I mean, that was. 20, early two thousands. I mean, that was, that that was early, yes.
[00:37:50] Todd Simmons: Early
[00:37:50] Cameron Clark: adopting. Yes. That, that
[00:37:52] Todd Simmons: as well too. Yes. I
[00:37:53] Cameron Clark: want people to understand, understand that. It's not like a, it's like,
[00:37:55] Nick Beyer: you know, was that an ideation between your dad and you? I mean, 'cause that seems pretty [00:38:00] aggressive in general. Yes. Coming from a big, I used to work at a big company and then, but even the timeline of it 20 years ago makes it even more aggressive, right.
Of an idea.
[00:38:10] Todd Simmons: Well, I think what we were seeing is that we had, um, a demographic and like I mentioned folks at work on, on an hourly
[00:38:23] Nick Beyer: mm-hmm.
[00:38:24] Todd Simmons: Uh, wage and, and shift work that, that we're really trying to manage budgets.
[00:38:33] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:38:34] Todd Simmons: And we ha but what we also saw was an inordinate amount of emergency room visits and cost.
[00:38:42] Nick Beyer: And
[00:38:43] Todd Simmons: so team members would. Wait until they absolutely had to, or it was an emergent situation. And then they, they were, they had to go to the doctor and when they did, it was a terrible [00:39:00] situation and extremely expensive. So
[00:39:02] Cameron Clark: yeah,
[00:39:02] Todd Simmons: for the team member and a self-insured company. And so it became almost obvious it was the same Steve Gardner and that same group of people who were like, we should do this different.
Let's, let's see if we build this thing. And, and the ironic thing is I'm like, yeah, just charge 20 bucks and for a visit. And that was way less than what a charge was. And no one came. And then, so I said, charge 10. And then finally I was like, well, hey, if you're a part of our program, make it free. And, and then people started coming in droves and.
That was great. So that was sort of our, our first recognition that, oh, this makes a ton of sense. Now. The, the challenge is, is, is [00:40:00] then, you know, how do you maintain services and what does that look like? And so we, we have a great doctor's group that we contract with that provide, um, we own the clinics and then we have a group that provides the, the personnel that takes care of the team members.
Yeah.
[00:40:17] Cameron Clark: So, and so early two thousands you're saying, is when the pet business really starts to kick off, correct? Mm-hmm. And I imagine you've kind of hopped around through the company at that point. When did you shift to, because you took over CEO in 2012, right? Yes. Right. And then when did you shift to like a more kind of lead leadership in the company and then also like pushing more sales initiatives?
Tell us about that. Sure. My, my. Sort
[00:40:44] Todd Simmons: of journey was sales, and then in the poultry side of the business ended up really being responsible for the customer touch points, [00:41:00] r and d, quality sales and marketing.
[00:41:04] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[00:41:04] Todd Simmons: And then in oh three, 2003, I became COO of our, our chicken side of the business. And then in oh six got responsibility for our pet food business.
[00:41:17] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[00:41:18] Todd Simmons: Um, at the same time, I, I had our HR group IT and, and finance accounting that reported to me as well. So we were, uh, transitioning pieces of the business over time.
[00:41:35] Cameron Clark: Sure.
[00:41:36] Todd Simmons: Um, first pieces inside the business and then, um, and early on I had spent time. When I came back from my sales job, my first job, uh, working in environmental IT and hr, and those were areas when I was really young and did [00:42:00] not know what I was doing.
[00:42:01] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:42:01] Todd Simmons: And, uh, was responsible for areas, but, but really learning those areas. And so that was, that was an invaluable time, but then moved back into the business and roles where I was running, um, different segments. So as in oh six, we had made an acquisition and we're integrating that. And, and there was a, a major recall in the pet food industry that was a, a situation where.
A manufacturer in China was adulterating a, an ingredient. Oh wow. So they basically were putting melamine, which is a effectively a plastic, um, into protein
[00:42:58] Cameron Clark: mm-hmm.
[00:42:59] Todd Simmons: Powders [00:43:00] and uh, and so it mimicked in tests it would look like there was more protein than there actually was. The terrible circumstance was that was going into baby formulas, that was going into pet food formulas.
And one of our major competitors menu foods in the pet food industry, um, was purchasing from this particular Chinese manufacturer. And a lot of other industry players were as well. We were just by happenstance, were not in the segment that. We were producing loaf products, not cuts and gravy. And this product was used in cuts and gravy in making the cuts.
And so unfortunately they had this terrible recall. They survived it. Um, but eventually as they got the business righted, the family that [00:44:00] owned the majority share was, was ready to, to sell. Yeah. And so we decided that this was an opportunity where there were some great team members, great assets, and we could make a shift to being not just a, a chicken company that did a pretty significant amount of pet food, but really diversify our company.
[00:44:27] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[00:44:28] Todd Simmons: And so we, we bought Menu Foods in 2010 and it was a public, Canadian public company. We took them private and uh, have. Grown the business basically nearly threefold, maybe fourfold now in the last, um, 15 years. So it's been a, a really nice, um, segment of our business.
[00:44:54] Cameron Clark: And the area at the time. Just your, you personally and then, and, and your, your [00:45:00] family have had such an impact in northwest Arkansas that time kind of coming outta the nineties, Northwest Arkansas Councils forming that talk.
Talk about maybe the energy of the businesses collectively as a whole. Y'all, your perspective is very unique. Um, you know, just to someone who's just maybe just coming here for the first time and just understanding like what, how vital were those years for the area and obviously your business. I think, you know, during my time,
[00:45:30] Todd Simmons: the last 30, let's call it, 35 years of, of working here and being back in northwest Arkansas.
I think that, you know, certainly the early days were, we were underdogs. You know, it felt like no one, you couldn't get a lot of respect saying you're from Arkansas.
[00:45:56] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:45:56] Todd Simmons: You, uh, certainly people were like, what is [00:46:00] Northwest Arkansas? Um, why would I move there if you're trying to recruit anybody mm-hmm.
To come work? And so certainly the, the Northwest Arkansas Council, which my dad was a founding member of, uh, we're, they were already driving. We've gotta have an airport here. Oh, by the way, having one of the largest retailers at the time and one of the largest trucking companies, we probably ought to have more than two lane roads in and out of this place.
And so, you know, whether it was advocating for this area. In our own state for Yeah. Not to mention nationally, um, was, was really a challenge. And I think now as we've progressed, uh, certainly what's been amazing is these entrepreneurs who built [00:47:00] all the companies that are here, uh, certainly did it during a time where it was not easy.
[00:47:07] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[00:47:08] Todd Simmons: And I think that you asked why is the chicken industry here? Or why? And and a lot of people ask me, why are all those big companies located in northwest Arkansas? One of the things is, I'm not sure there's anything else you could do other than figure out something to do and work your rear end off and, 'cause if you've tried to dig a hole in northwest Arkansas to plant crops, or do, you can't, it's rock.
You know, it's just a, so we live in, in a place that's sort of hard scrabble, um, you know, hills where you're gonna have to figure something out to make a living. And luckily there were some really enterprising people that, that built these businesses. And, and I think it's just, it's a [00:48:00] place where, uh, there's a lot of that bootstrap mentality and, and I'm so proud to be, to be from Arkansas, from this part of Arkansas and, and, uh, and to be able to be here and build something.
Because I, I do have a, an underdog mentality. I love like the fact that if people aren't gonna give you credit, fine. You know, let's, let's show 'em, um, and never look back. So, um, I think, so based on that, the change has been really going from you still get the, well Arkansas, you wear shoes, you know, but a lot less often.
Yeah. And, uh, the cool thing is that the different communities in northwest Arkansas have their own sort of, you know, culture and [00:49:00] vibe or whatever you want to call it. Yeah. And, and that's wonderful. I think that there's some really Silent Springs is, is a great place to raise a family. Uh, all these, and, and it's a really great pretty community with a stream that runs through it and this neat downtown.
Um, super proud of being from here, but Fayetteville is, is a great place all the way up Spring Springdale, and you start seeing these emerging communities that are, you know, ton that's just blasted out of nowhere. Um, you know, Rogers in Bentonville and Bella Vista. It's just a, I mean, the, it's really gonna be interesting to see what the next 25 years look like here.
And a lot of that foundation was built in the nineties, in two thousands. And, and here we are, you know? Yeah. And, and it's, [00:50:00] it's really fun to see.
[00:50:02] Cameron Clark: So leading up, you're taking over different realms of the businesses l slow, slowly over ti over time, 2012, become CEO. Maybe talk about that transition and then we want to kind of get to where we're, where we're at now, but, uh, um, yeah, talk about that transition a little bit.
Uh, sure. Perspective.
[00:50:20] Todd Simmons: I, I think, so 2012, we, we were still integrating our, our pet food business in that acquisition of menu foods. Uh, I effectively brought on, um, becoming CEO had a few more direct reports added, but really was still kind of, and, and you're always learning, hopefully. And, uh, and so still learning the different aspects of the business and was able to begin [00:51:00] to build.
A team of folks that, that really were my team, if you will. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:51:08] Cameron Clark: I mean,
[00:51:08] Todd Simmons: um, we, we had some, some great leaders that had, had come through working for my dad and for Lynch, and that was a, an era that was, was awesome. And a lot of, as I was running our poultry business, I had built a team there that, that, um, most of them I had hired or sure had grown up in the business alongside.
And then some of those folks moved over to run parts of our pet food business and then our animal nutrition business. We, we had some retirements there and, and hired some new folks in and, and it was, it was, you know, there was a lot of learning
[00:51:52] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:51:52] Todd Simmons: There of building a team and then learning how to lead a team [00:52:00] and.
Strategically sort of manage the, the resource spend. Mm-hmm. So I'm a big fan of Steve Graves. Yeah. And, um, he, in fact, in the late nineties, his Cornerstone group back then came in to do help us learn strategy and, and coach some of our executive team. And I was lucky enough to be, be a part of that as a, as a really young person.
And, and even today, you know, that the things that he talks about are Ring True as a CEO learning how to, how to drive the direction slash focus of an organization. How do you manage the speed pace of initiatives? Hmm. [00:53:00] And then, you know, how do you understand the resource allocation? How do you maintain the culture?
These are all things that, and then how do you, how do you manage risk? I think the sooner you can think through those kind of five things and, and kind of begin to balance those, the better.
[00:53:26] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:53:26] Todd Simmons: Um, I probably, I feel like I'm just now starting to figure that out after, you know, 13, uh, years in, in this seat.
And, uh, and that's a, an interesting situation where, um, I think we, we have such a short term mentality. A positive thing about being a family owned business is we. Our patient capital.
[00:53:59] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[00:53:59] Todd Simmons: [00:54:00] Probably too patient a lot of times, but I, I think we have, as a society or the financial world, had some really high expectations for human beings.
And, uh, and so you, you know, CEOs, you know, there's a lot of people get paid too much or whatever. Well, you look at their tenure and it's not very long. Yeah.
[00:54:27] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:54:28] Todd Simmons: And so, um, having, I think a good measure of grace for leadership, um, because people are learning.
[00:54:39] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:54:40] Todd Simmons: And, and I think you look at a Doug McMillan, he's exiting at, uh, a much higher level of.
Of understanding and performance than when he came in now and he had a long runway to get where he was, uh, to even be ready for that role.
[00:54:55] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[00:54:56] Todd Simmons: I think, um, and, and kudos to, to [00:55:00] Walmart for having that kind of patience and, um, fortitude and, and uh, and understanding of how to really allow leaders to become, come into their own.
Yeah. If you will. So how do
[00:55:18] Cameron Clark: you create a culture like that? Like where leaders can come into their own? There is grace
[00:55:23] Todd Simmons: that's really hard. Um, I think that, uh, uh, I think that, you know, you look at, if you can think from a team perspective or a, a sports team, like in basketball or whatever, there are seasons where.
Folks don't perform as well as, as they normally would. And that season may be inside of a, any given year.
[00:55:51] Nick Beyer: Yeah.
[00:55:51] Todd Simmons: Mm-hmm. Or a period of time. Some of that may be due to the personal things going on or just may be an industry condition. Um, [00:56:00] but balancing accountability with, um, you know, the learning process and performance.
Mm-hmm. I think you've just, you've gotta have that element of grace with a healthy dose of, of, okay, now all this is true.
[00:56:22] Cameron Clark: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:56:23] Todd Simmons: And this was a really hard season, but here are the things that. We could have done very differently and had a, a much better outcome.
[00:56:32] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[00:56:32] Todd Simmons: And having those really honest conversations and then having follow up that said, no, no, no, we're not gonna go back there.
This is where we're, we're headed and we've learned. And so I think, um, the challenge though is convincing maybe those individuals, teammates that they need to have the same perspective and growth. And so I think that that transparency [00:57:00] around performance is really important. Hey, we didn't do well in this business unit and here are the things we learned.
Everybody on the same page.
[00:57:12] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:57:12] Todd Simmons: Mm-hmm. We're not gonna throw rocks 'cause we're all living in a glass house. So those are some of the things where, um, leading three fairly distinct business units and in. Different industries and or, you know, marketplaces, some are, are pretty closely related
[00:57:33] Nick Beyer: mm-hmm.
[00:57:34] Todd Simmons: But have, have allowed, you know, given me an experience that, that has, has been, huh, okay.
You know, I've learned from this particular experience and can apply it this next year when a similar situation is happening in, in the animal nutrition business unit. Mm-hmm. Um, and market [00:58:00] forces or other things that are, that are going on. So, um, and being really transparent with, with my team and our executive leadership on, here's what I'm.
Thinking and seeing, are you all seeing the same thing?
[00:58:15] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:58:15] Todd Simmons: And let's not have sidebar conversations where, eh, so and so still didn't cut it this year or whatever. Yeah. I don't know. We, we already talked about that.
[00:58:24] Cameron Clark: Yeah.
[00:58:25] Todd Simmons: So those are some of the, it's, but being extremely, uh, transparent I think is, is one of the keys
[00:58:33] Cameron Clark: to Megan as
[00:58:34] Todd Simmons: a successful Yeah.
[00:58:36] Nick Beyer: Talk about risk because you kind of highlighted how our area was kind of built out of these risk takers. And then I think just summarizing Bill being like the risk chief risk taker of just even pushing the envelope from an innovation perspective, it sounds like your dad was a risk taker from like a financial perspective.
Acquisitions. Mm-hmm. A lot of under a lot of financial just. [00:59:00] Um, obligations from those, what, what is, how has that formed your appetite or, uh, even just how you process risk and then as you've taken over since 2012, what does that risk look like, you know, in your tenure? No, that's a comp complicated, you
[00:59:17] Todd Simmons: know?
Yes. I, I, I think that certainly, I think there's an element of the stage of your career and or we talked about before we started parenting and the different, you know, risks you're willing to take, uh, maybe with your first child versus your third child or something to that effect, where it's like, ah, they'll be fine.
You know, like, and so, but on the other hand, I think in my youth, if you will, I probably. [01:00:00] Didn't recognize or wasn't willing to acknowledge the amount of risk that I was putting the organization through in order to get to a strategic point in the future mm-hmm. That I thought we should be. And, and there does, there may need to be some of that righteous indignation in, in any entrepreneur or business leader in order to transition an organization to a, a new place.
[01:00:31] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[01:00:32] Todd Simmons: Um, now I, I think in hindsight, you, in hindsight, certainly there were many things that I could have done better to really pull in the, the reins or shift our strategy to be less. Um, and [01:01:00] so over time, what I think as I, as we look forward, um, those strategic risks need to happen in relatively smaller chunks.
We're a much larger organization today, and so, but incremental strategic investment is, is sort of our, our positioning. Mm-hmm. As we look at the future, uh, continue to keep a balance sheet that's, that's robust, but also build in, Hey, how do we, how do we manage customer risk in a way where we're very tied to each other?
[01:01:45] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[01:01:46] Todd Simmons: And our success is each other's success. Um, how do we build contracts with our customer base that. Allows us to get an appropriate return, uh, [01:02:00] but also manages risk factors, uh, like, you know, cost of inputs and different things like that where we don't experience major balance sheet shocks. And, um, so I think maybe as I've gotten older, my risk tolerance is less.
It probably though is because of experiences of, of sleepless nights Yeah. On man wish we would've done that different, and how do I get myself or the organization in a better place? So I think that's the, just, you know, what do they call that wisdom?
[01:02:43] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm. I don't, I don't know if, but, um,
[01:02:45] Todd Simmons: anyway. Yeah.
[01:02:46] Cameron Clark: And when we talk about the now, what, what is your primary focus now, you know, in, in today's.
Version of the company here. I think we have [01:03:00] the best leadership
[01:03:02] Todd Simmons: team and we have the, the best sort of go to market group or team that's really focused on do we understand our customers and their needs and how are we positioning to skate where the puck's going as far as e-commerce or what's happening in the food service industry, and how do we really meet our customers what, where their needs are.
Mm-hmm. We've, we've played a lot of catch up over time to try to figure out how we, we need to, what product mixes, what kind of packaging, all those kinds of things, and we will continue to have to do that. Um, but man, we've got a great group of people that understand the marketplace, [01:04:00] the products that we think are gonna be in demand in the future, and then a, an operating team that can fulfill that.
And so, um, I think building the systems around our teams to be able to, as, as AI comes into play, to really be able to, to drive decision making faster.
[01:04:31] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[01:04:31] Todd Simmons: To get the information sorted in a way that our teams can make the best decisions the fastest and be able to deliver to our customers. And, and so we'll continue to, to focus on growth and.
We'll continue to focus on areas in the business where we can drive efficiency. So there are a lot of really hard jobs in, [01:05:00] in all three of our business units. And how do we figure out how to automate some of those jobs that are really
[01:05:12] Cameron Clark: labor
[01:05:12] Todd Simmons: intensive? None of us very labor intensive. No one wants to do that work.
Mm-hmm. Necessarily. Mm-hmm. It's work that needs to be done. And so how do we help assist team members and or. Um, automate those roles that that helps to, um, really drive efficiencies and, and a better place to work. Yeah. Frankly,
[01:05:35] Cameron Clark: allow them to do something else.
[01:05:37] Todd Simmons: Right. No, that's a, there's no question. Um,
[01:05:39] Cameron Clark: yeah,
[01:05:40] Todd Simmons: and that's, that, that's a great thing about the chicken industry as well as there's been a lot of automation and the, the roles in, in our operations have become more and more sophisticated and our team members make more money, and that's all a very good thing.
[01:05:58] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm. Can you talk a [01:06:00] little bit about the scale of Simmons for someone who's not familiar of it? And it can be whatever you, whether it's revenue or number Sure. 9,500 employees or whatever that is mm-hmm. Plants across the us Sure. Just stuff like that where people can really get a grasp of, wow. Like, I did not know they did that, or I did not know they, you know.
Sure, sure.
[01:06:19] Todd Simmons: Yes. Um, so we produce. Gosh, so we're, we're over 3 billion in revenue. We have about 10,000 team members. We have operations in our, our poultry side of the business here in northwest Arkansas. Really from Fort Smith Van Buren up here to Silo and, and our Benton County operation. And then in southwest Missouri, literally Southwest City, Missouri.
[01:06:55] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
[01:06:55] Todd Simmons: Uh, and, and then, uh, a few operations in [01:07:00] Oklahoma. So then we have three, four main pet food operations, one here in Silo Springs and, and then two in Emporia, Kansas and one in Dubuque, Iowa. And so we, um, we then have four. Operations in our animal nutrition group. Um, two on the East Coast. Mm-hmm.
In, um, Delaware and Pennsylvania. And then we have one in Southwest City and one here in silo. So it's about 26, 24, 26 facilities and, um, and really just awesome team members running the business 24 7. And we produce like 65 million cases of pet food. [01:08:00] We're one of the largest, we're certainly one of the largest wet pet food manufacturers in the world.
Um, and we make for all the major retailers and. All of the major brands. Mm-hmm. And, and so that's an exciting thing mm-hmm. To see, uh, our business continue to grow and expand. Um, and our, and the fun part is when you look at our customer base on the, on the chicken side, it's all the people that you want to go eat at it for lunch or dinner and, um, and, uh, and all the places that, that our team members shop.
And, and so it's, it's, uh, it's really been a, a great to, to have a strategy that, as we call it, win with the winners. And that the fact is like, it, it, it's [01:09:00] happening. Mm-hmm. And, and trying to keep up with some of that growth is challenging, but, uh, a lot of fun.
[01:09:07] Nick Beyer: That's
[01:09:08] Todd Simmons: awesome.
[01:09:09] Nick Beyer: And then maybe a business unit that, I mean, my assumption is over the last 10 years, pet food, I mean, I don't know this, you probably have all the numbers in your head, but I don't know what percentage of families own pets a lot more now than 10 years ago.
Yes. 70, 80% is my, just a guess. So talk about maybe that business unit, the growth y'all have experienced and just Yeah. How, how you've kept up with that. Mm-hmm. And what, what, where you see that going?
[01:09:39] Todd Simmons: Sure. I think so. We felt like the pet food business was a great place to be. People love pets and certainly as the, uh, baby boomer generation continued to get a little older, they were gonna have more pets.
Uh, the, [01:10:00] the, the pet demographic, if you will, has, has shifted to smaller dogs. And more cats. Supposedly there's more cats in the US now than there are dogs, which is interesting sign of the times maybe. And, um, and, uh, not end of times we, we love our cat people and, uh, and so, but it has been a really great business for us.
We, in 2010, prior to the menu acquisition, I think we were in the a hundred million revenue range and we're well over a billion in revenue today. And so we've, we've had wonderful growth in that business and we'll, we see that continuing. It's, it's more, certainly more complex, a lot more packaging types [01:11:00] and a lot of innovation happening.
The, the fun part is, is wet pet food has, has a lot of opportunity for innovation and, um, we're excited to be in the middle of that.
[01:11:14] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[01:11:15] Todd Simmons: So, yeah.
[01:11:16] Nick Beyer: And then my last specific business question is, a lot of your business is to customers, maybe then it gets to the end consumer.
[01:11:25] Todd Simmons: Mm-hmm.
[01:11:26] Nick Beyer: I'm sure somewhere along this 70 plus year timeline y'all have talked about, well, should we have a consumer facing brand, or you have had a consumer facing brand, and so how have you stayed focused on what Simmons is good at and, and as you guys have built this, or how, how, how would you consider that, you know
[01:11:46] Todd Simmons: mm-hmm.
[01:11:47] Nick Beyer: A consumer brand versus
[01:11:48] Todd Simmons: Sure. I, I think we, when you grow up in an industry that has massive [01:12:00] competitors that have. Very established brands, Tyson Foods mm-hmm. Is a great example. Um, you know, the pet food industry with, with Alpo or Mars pedigree, you, you, you kind of find places where, not where you can hide, but where you can be successful.
Yeah. And trying to go head to head with major brands is just not, has not been what we think we can be successful doing. Mm-hmm. I think that now that has shifted because, you know, legacy brands are, are not out of favor certainly, but let's say they're the niche brands are in favor. And so if you can find a, a place to play when you have [01:13:00] more.
Sort of production, efficiency and scale and, and you can slot that, those products into those lines, I think that you can be somewhat successful.
[01:13:13] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm.
[01:13:15] Todd Simmons: In the chicken side of the business, we have typically played in more control type brands. Mm-hmm. In and out sort of products. We, we make some fantastic products for our food service customers and we, we have awesome r and d that can produce great products for our retail private brands and some really unique stuff that we can try out.
If it does well, then the retailer may want to take it as a, as a regular item. The same in the pet food side of the business. We, we have brought innovation to our customers and wet pet food and. They've [01:14:00] chosen not necessarily to, to run with that innovation. And so we have taken it into certain products and built some control brands to test that innovation and really understand the consumer.
And that's allowing us to, to figure out, okay, where is the consumer going? Mm-hmm. Fresh pet food is a, is a big, um, you know, emerging area of that market. Well, are there other, are there versions of that product that may, may be shelf stable, that don't directly compete with some of our customers on the fresh pet side, fresh pet food side that, that customers may want to try out?
[01:14:43] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[01:14:43] Todd Simmons: So we've done some of that and we will continue to, to see where that goes.
[01:14:49] Cameron Clark: Mm.
[01:14:49] Todd Simmons: Um, and understand really to try to understand the consumer.
[01:14:54] Nick Beyer: Mm.
[01:14:55] Cameron Clark: Um,
[01:14:55] Todd Simmons: that's cool.
[01:14:56] Cameron Clark: Well, we wanna be respectful of your time, just kind of getting towards [01:15:00] where we're wrapping up here. Couple, couple more questions toward the end.
You have you, I mean, I feel it from talking to you here and I've just heard it a lot. You have such a personal responsibility. You feel personal responsibility for the growth of the area and for Simmons Foods. When you think about the future, what is your vision for the future of the next generation in Northwest Arkansas?
[01:15:26] Todd Simmons: Well, that's a, that's a big question. I, I, I do really appreciate, uh, getting to grow up in a place like northwest Arkansas where you see these really. Whether it's business people or community leaders who've done so much. And, and so you're sort of like, wow, that's, that is unbelievable, uh, achievement. And it continues to happen with people from [01:16:00] here.
I mean, you don't have to be born in northwest Arkansas to be a northwest a Arkansan, I guess. But what's fun is to see, uh, the people who have grown up inside of these organizations, whether it's JB Hunt or, uh, Tyson, or, or Walmart, which are all, by the way, family, uh, businesses really.
[01:16:32] Nick Beyer: Mm.
[01:16:34] Todd Simmons: But many of the leaders who've been really successful.
Are from here and they run large organizations. And, and the same can be true said for, for our communities and all that. My perspective is really the business community. And so my hope is that, is that next [01:17:00] generation sees that and goes,
[01:17:01] Nick Beyer: yeah,
[01:17:02] Todd Simmons: you don't have to be, I mean, it's fine if you go to Harvard or go to wherever, but you don't have to be quote, a genius or quote special.
You can be, we can be ordinary people doing extraordinary things and, and to continue to, whether it's starting your own business or working inside an organization like Simmons Foods or, or Walmart or whatever organization, uh, that, that you can do amazing things and. It takes just humility, grace for other people and a lot of hard work.
And so that's sort of my hope is that we continue doing that.
[01:17:51] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[01:17:51] Todd Simmons: That folks that are, are bootstrapping their business today here, uh, will continue to drive that and [01:18:00] that many of us who can help remove barriers for that kind of growth and innovation and, and business building and community building for that matter.
So, I don't know if that answers your question, but, you know, it's, it's a stewardship mentality really, of not only the, you know, thinking about our family business, but thinking about the areas where we live, work, and play. Mm-hmm. And how do we steward this to be. A great place that's not a concrete jungle, that's not, you know, how do we protect the things that make this place special, but then also lean into the future.
Yeah. And so I think, I think it can be done and, and, um, just look at the last 30 years of, of folks that have been doing it here and it's, it's pretty amazing.
[01:18:59] Cameron Clark: You [01:19:00] believe in the future of it.
[01:19:01] Todd Simmons: Oh, yeah,
[01:19:01] Cameron Clark: yeah,
[01:19:02] Todd Simmons: yeah. How do you define success? Oh, man. So, uh, having your, so I think, what was it, Carlos Slim who is a, a, you know, a successful business person in Mexico.
Talked about, I'm not trying to build a better world for my kids. I'm trying to build better kids for the world. And so, uh, I think seeing my kids become young adults, wanting them to be just productive humans in the world and care about people, that's the most success you can have. 'cause, 'cause, um, you can easily not have that by focusing on work and or being involved in other [01:20:00] things other than being a parent and raising your children.
And so, you know, certainly it's great to do, be able to do those things and also have great kids. But if you, if, if you miss that and, and it's, and it, you know, all the cliches of looking at a couple of guys that have younger kids. It's true. Like you blink and they will be outta the house. Um, and that is, it's hard.
[01:20:31] Cameron Clark: Mm-hmm.
[01:20:32] Todd Simmons: Um, you, it's hard to frame your mind around wanting your kids to be successful and go do things and, and then also be like, but don't you remember you were just, this, you wanted me to read to you, you know, when you went to bed. And so, uh, so just, you know, don't wish away, uh, their childhood for sure.
Um, and, uh, but as we talked about, [01:21:00] man, it's, it's hard when they're young and, and, uh, and it gets hard when they, when they, you know, fly the nest. Yeah. Or the coop to use a chicken. There you go. Analogy. So, yeah. Raising great kids for the world would be probably the best definition of success.
[01:21:19] Nick Beyer: Mm-hmm. That's
[01:21:19] Todd Simmons: cool.
So, yeah.
[01:21:21] Nick Beyer: Well, one of the things we do at the end of every episode is we just try to highlight what we learned today, Cameron and I learned, and then what we think people who listen to this podcast who are in northwest Arkansas or in the business community, are gonna learn from Todd. And I think the first thing that was very clear from the moment we were in your office and you gave us this book talking about your grandfather is innovation and everybody's gifted at different things.
And you kind of, you kind of even said, you, you've, you feel like that's the vein that runs closest to you and your grandfather is this idea and this desire for innovation. And so I think the two examples that you gave, um, were people and business so that the healthcare [01:22:00] perspective, I just, I think I said, I mean, it's just aggressive.
Yeah. And you, you walk that on a timeline 20 years ago. I mean, that's almost crazy, right? And so I just think that's like pushing the boundary of innovation. Um, and it's been at the benefit of your people. And so thank you for that. And then I think this idea of pet food, you know, 20 years ago, I don't think anybody would have put a dot and forecasted where pet food was gonna go.
And so from a business perspective, um, a lot of innovation and from a people perspective, a lot of innovation as well. So super, super clear. I think the second one is values. And, uh, just seeing that from the people we've interacted with, from the people we know who work here, um, from this conversation today, it's just very clear that y'all are a value centric organization and the way people are treated, the things that are important, it's all, all stems from your values.
And so, um, I think the piece that was really clear, you talking about the chaplain program, the, the words that I wrote down were meeting people where [01:23:00] they are and if you have employees, which, which we both do in our own businesses. People go through hard things. Mm-hmm. And to create a system, you have 10, I think you said 10,000 employees or something now to create a system where you can actually help employees with those hard things and not just say, well, that's your home life.
You know, when you're at work, I need you to be laser focused. Like those things are connected. Right. And, uh, I don't know, just, just hearing about that, it's a very clear, that stems from the values that you have, that your dad had, that your grandfather had, and that now these leaders that have multiplied across your organization have so really, really cool, um, to hear that.
Thank you. Absolutely
[01:23:41] Cameron Clark: appreciate.
[01:23:42] Nick Beyer: And then the last piece is impact. Um, I think your personal impact on team members who work here that we know. I mean, your personal impact on the Northwest Arkansas Council in our area is just, it's, it's undeniable. And then I think the, the one thing, and I like, I don't even know if [01:24:00] I told you this, but I was outside with Anita, um, making coffee before this, and she told me she's like.
When I started, there was a couple that worked in a plant and they just retired. She said they had over 80 years of combined experience at Simmons Foods between them, and that doesn't happen, Todd, unless you have an impact on your employees' lives. And so just really clear hearing that in this conversation out there.
It's just, it's, it's really clear that that is a, a focal point of yours and your leaders. So thanks for all that you do in our community. Thanks for your time today and uh, this was awesome.
[01:24:39] Todd Simmons: Thank you very much. Yeah, thanks for your time. Y'all coming over to asylum? Absolutely. It's an easy drive, right?
Yeah. More people should do it. Yeah. Not bad. Thanks, Todd. Thanks. Thank you.
[01:24:49] Cameron Clark: Thank you for listening to this episode of NWA Founders, where we sit down with founders, owners, and builders driving growth here in New Northwest Arkansas. For recommendations are to connect with us, reach [01:25:00] out at nwa founders@gmail.com.
Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, then please consider leaving a rating, a review, and sending it to someone who you think would benefit from it. We'll see you in the next episode.