Contact Committee Presents: An Evening With Ben and Jerry

100 North Jefferson Street,Lexington VA 24450

09 March, 2023

Description

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are the men behind one of the most talked-about and least conventional success stories in American business. Founders of Ben and Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., they built a store-front venture into an ice cream and business phenomenon by harnessing the power of social responsibility and creative management. Born just four days apart, Ben and Jerry met during junior high and remained close through their years at Calhoun High in Merrick, NY. After college and various odd jobs, the two reunited in 1977 to fulfill a dream they both shared: doing a venture together. Settling on an ice cream shop proved to be the winning formula. One year and a $5 Penn State correspondence course in ice cream making later, they opened their first Ben & Jerry’s Homemade ice cream parlor in Burlington, VT. Ben and Jerry realize that by definition, the manufacturing of products creates waste. As they expand into Europe and Asia, Ben and Jerry remain conscious of their impact on the environment and believe it’s possible to be profitable and environmentally responsible. To that end, Ben & Jerry’s is a leader in researching and implementing sustainable dairy farming practices, new, using alternate energy sources, waste reduction and recycling, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and is a member of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES). A model for modern American corporate responsibility and business success, Ben and Jerry have been recognized for fostering commitment to social responsibility by the Council on Economic Priorities, which awarded them the Corporate Giving Award in 1988 (for donating 7.5 percent of pre-tax profits to non-profit organizations); and by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which named them U.S. Small Business Persons of the Year in 1988 in a White House ceremony hosted by President Reagan. Ben and Jerry since have been named James Beard Humanitarians of the Year and the Peace Museum’s Community Peacemakers of the Year.