...

ustrial construction, was approached by a local company who wanted to build a large group of silos for peanut storage. The concrete barrels of the silos were to be built utilizing a technique called slip forming. It is a construction method in which concrete is poured into a continuously moving form. My father suggested the company contact a construction engineering firm in Birmingham since they had the expertise in this type of building. After receiving a bid of approximately 1.6 million my father was asked to recommend another company to bid so they would have a comparison. The second company bid 1.2 million. My father was then approached for a third time since the bids were so far apart. This time my father volunteered to offer his bid, which came to approximately $600,000 whereupon he was awarded the contract. The concrete foundation was a pad 10 feet thick with 50 tons of reinforcing steel, the last 5 tons of which were omitted (with the structural engineer's blessing), because there was no space to pour the concrete through the mass of steel bars. The slip forming of the barrels took 3 days with concrete poured continuously since any pause would cause a structural weakness known as a “cold joint”. A cold joint is an undesirable discontinuity between layers of concrete that occurs when one layer of concrete is allowed to harden before the rest of the concrete is poured in what is meant to be a single, solid mass. Tom's Foods - The Beginning: In 1925, Tom Huston founded "Tom's Roasted Peanuts", and began selling his peanuts for a nickel a bag. Within two years, Tom's peanuts were being sold around the country generating US$4 million in sales. However, due to unpaid notes Huston lost the company to the bank. In 1932, Walter Richards bought Tom's from the bank and took the company public. By the 1950s sales reached US$16 million. Changes in Ownership: In 1966, General Mills acquired Tom's for US $75 million, and changed the name to "Tom's Foods". In the 1970s, General Mills attempted to launch Tom's chips into national supermarkets and branched off a new vending office snack service. By 1983, Tom's had changed ownership again. Rowntree-Mackintosh paid US$215 million to acquire the company in a mutual agreement. During their ownership,they launched a franchise program for their distributors. Due to the lack of sales, the company was once again sold. TF Acquisition Corporation took over the company in 1988 paying US$200 million. Under this new ownership, they opened new chip plants in Georgia and Tennessee expanding their network of independent distributors. Tom's had goals of increasing sales to up over US$400 million over the next five years. Their goals fell short, and in 1993 Heico Acquisitions took the company over. Over the next couple years, sales suffered falling to US$200 million. As a result Tom's Foods had declared bankruptcy. Today: In 2005, Lance Inc. won the bid to acquire Tom's Foods. Lance has since changed the name to Tom's Snacks Co.. Today Lance distributes Tom's products across the country expanding their brand recognition.