[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3384]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

 Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I wish today to honor Bob Hufford, 
an icon in the Missouri food industry for the past 63 years. He 
announced his retirement from the Associated Wholesale Grocers, AWG, 
board of directors after four decades of service with the last 11 years 
having served as its chairman. AWG is a retailer-owned cooperative 
serving over 2,300 retail member stores with a complete assortment of 
grocery, fresh meat, fresh produce, specialty foods, health care, and 
general merchandise items.
  During Bob's tenure as chairman, AWG sales grew from $4.5 billion in 
2004 to almost $9 billion in 2014, while patronage paid to members grew 
by 155 percent. Bob helped direct the addition of the Fort Worth 
division in 2007, the replacement of the Oklahoma City distribution 
center in the same year, and the addition of the gulf coast division in 
2013. During the same period, Bob grew his own company, Town and 
Country, in Fredericktown, MO, to be one of the largest employers in 
southeast Missouri with over 10,000 employees.
  Bob's passion for the food business was sparked early in his life by 
his father's work for a meatpacking company. Bob's first job was 
working in a local supermarket, while going through high school and 
later college. He became a sales representative for the National 
Biscuit Company, otherwise known as Nabisco, in 1958. While working for 
Nabisco, Bob called on two grocers, Max Penner and Wayne Gott, who 
recognized his leadership skills and work ethic. In 1970 they invited 
him to become a third partner in a new 5,000-square-foot store in 
Fredericktown, which Bob accepted.
  From that modest beginning Bob grew his business to 44 stores 
currently operating. Recently, Bob converted his company into an 
employee-owned company, allowing his employees to share in the store's 
profits. Today Bob serves as the CEO of the company, which operates 
stores in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. He and his wife 
Marsha have a wonderful family of five children, eight grandchildren, 
and two great-grandchildren. Many of his family members have worked in 
the business next to Bob.
  Bob was named Missouri grocer of the year and inducted into the 
Missouri Grocers Association Hall of Fame, along with his good friend 
and former partner Wayne Gott.
  I ask that all my colleagues join me in congratulating Bob Hufford on 
his decades of success. I wish him the best in his well-deserved 
retirement.

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