[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1676-E1677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO K&L ENTERPRISES, INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 1998

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, there is a unique restaurant story in my 1st 
Congressional District of Michigan. At the heart of the story is the 
great American fast food, the hamburger. What makes this story unique, 
however, are the side orders and the condiments: family and faith, 
enterprise and a determination to overcome economic adversity, the 
rewards of hard work, and a 30-year history of partnership and 
cooperaton that have made friendships firm and fast.
  Now that's a meal we'd like to serve up billions of times all over 
the world.
  On Saturday, Sept. 12, K&L Enterprises Inc. celebrates this special 
combo with a gala gathering in Marquette. The guests will have an 
opportunity to study the menu for success that has spawned eight 
Hardee's Restaurants and 14 Subway Restaurants in Michigan's Upper 
Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.
  These businesses generate a total annual payroll of $3.5 million and 
provide work for 500 employees, 50 of them full time.
  The K of K&L is Harry Krebs, who 30 years ago sold his car and, as he 
says, whatever else he could sell that made sense, to get the funds to 
buy his first Burger Chef in Escanaba.
  The L of K&L is Bill LaVallie, who drove up from Milwaukee, Wis., to 
see how his sister and her husband Harry were doing with their 
business.
  ``It was crazy from the start,'' Bill recalls. ``They were working 15 
hours a day, seven days a week, not worrying about inventory, just 
pumping out those burgers.''
  When Harry told Bill there was an opportunity to open a Burger Chef 
in Marquette, Bill didn't hesitate. Despite a snowstorm that seemed to 
continue from December 1968 through the 1st of March, 1969, the 
Marquette restaurant continued in business, and the partnership of 
Krebs and LaVallie was born.
  Bill's brother Terry was in charge of the opening of the Ironwood 
Burger Chef in 1975, working his way toward ownership and a role as 
part of the corporate triumvirate.
  The company weathered the sometimes painful but ultimately positive 
conversion of Burger Chef Systems to Hardee's Food Systems. With the 
inclusion of the Subway franchise, the company's growth in 1989 was a 
remarkable five new restaurants.
  Mr. Speaker, the story of K&L is mirrored across the nation in the 
growth of food franchises. What is remarkable is the way these partners 
and extended family members have expressed their esteem for one another 
and their appreciation for their success.
  Listen to the partners on the occasion of their 25th anniversary.
  ``Uncle Harry'' Krebs says, ``The Lord gave Sandy and I this 
business--we thank Him for that and for the trust and confidence in 
K&L.''
  ``Burger Bill'' LaVallie says, ``I have partners whose honesty, 
integrity and dedication has never been questioned.''

[[Page E1677]]

  People are also the key ingredient for Terry LaVallie. ``K&L has been 
blessed with terrific employees over the years, and that in large part 
is the reason for our success,'' he says.
  From the kitchens of Sandy and Harry Krebs, Bill and Carol LaVallie, 
and Terry and Jeanine LaVallie, those are recipes for success that 
everyone can appreciate.

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