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Kathryn Beich, Inc.
2 Access Way
Bloomington
McLean County, Illinois
(Transcribed by: Teri Moncelle Colglazier)

kathrynbeich.com

It was a time when chocolate was made only in the winter and hard candy in the summer because candy manufacturers did not have the luxury of air-conditioned plants. It was 1894 and proximity to a ready supply of milk was crucial for candymaking. That helped Paul F. Beich persuade Milton Hershey of the famous candy clan to move his plant from Chicago to Downstate Bloomington to be closer to dairy farmers. Eventually Beich went into the candy business himself, and the company that made Whiz bars, Katydid peanut clusters and Golden Crumbles would stay in family hands until his great-grandson, William A. Beich, sold it after heading operations for almost 20 years. William A. Beich took over the Paul F. Beich Co. even though he never wanted to be a candymaker. The company got its start using candy as a fundraising tool, said Mr. Beich's son David. Its subsidiary, Katherine A. Beich Co., became one of the nation's oldest and largest fundraising supply businesses, with its products sold by schools, youth groups and sports leagues. In the early days, the company's slogan, "Beich's -- Say Bike," adorned tins and cardboard boxes of hand-dipped chocolate creams, nut clusters, caramels and taffy that were produced in two Bloomington factories and a third plant that was built on Green Street in Chicago. In 1939, the company passed to Mr. Beich and his brother Paul M. "My father said what he always wanted to be was an attorney, but his father wanted him in the candy business and back then you did what your father said you were going to do," Mr. Beich's son said. Mr. Beich received a mechanical engineering degree in 1944 from the University of Illinois and married his childhood sweetheart, Patricia Ann. He then served with the Navy on a weather ship. Mr. Beich rejoined the company in 1946 and completed a two-year apprenticeship in chocolate manufacturing in Sweden. He became vice president, then chairman and president after his brother's death in 1967. Soon after, the company decided to focus solely on producing candy for fundraising. In 1984, Mr. Beich sold the company to Nestle USA and retired. He devoted his time to running his 900-acre grain farm in Bloomington and to doting on his wife. [excerpts from William A. Beich obituary] Bloomington Kathryn Beich office closing BLOOMINGTON -- Kathryn Beich, the fundraising arm of a longtime Bloomington candy company, has been sold and its office here will close June 30. The sale will not affect the nearby Bloomington Nestle factory, which was separated from the fundraising division in the late 1990s. Plant Manager Carlos Cortez said the plant, with more than 500 employees, produces only a small amount of fundraising products. Khristina Clevenger, director of human resources at Kathryn Beich, said 37 office workers in Bloomington will be affected. The displaced employees will be offered a “generous severance package” as well as outplacement assistance such as career counseling services. The roughly 100 people who comprise the sales work force were hired Friday by Great American Opportunities, the Nashville company that purchased Kathryn Beich, Clevenger said. Company officials said the purchase brings together “two of the largest and most successful teams of professional fundraisers dedicated to school and non-profit fundraising.” Katydids and Golden Crumbles, popular Kathryn Beich brands, will become part of Great American Opportunities product line. “Great American Opportunities is committed to growing their business and the resulting scale of this purchase will strengthen their service to schools throughout the country,” said Michael Holzworth, president of Kathryn Beich Inc. Terms of the purchase were not released. Holzworth said the consolidation was driven in part by the need to counter several recent business challenges including rising commodity and energy prices. “This business decision was driven by marketplace conditions and is by no means a reflection on the performance of Kathryn Beich or its exceptionally committed and talented employees,” he said. Paul Beich started the Beich candy company in Bloomington in 1892. Kathryn Beich started selling her family’s confectionery products to Central Illinois organizations for fund-raising purposes in 1952. The company was sold to Nestle in 1984 and the name changed to Kathryn Beich Inc., a Nestle Co. In 1999, the manufacturing and fund-raising units were split and Nestle dropped the Beich name from the plant but kept it for the fundraising products. Lincolnshire Equity Fund II, a New York-based investment fund purchased the Beich fundraising company in 2002. Great American Opportunities is one of the nation’s oldest fundraising companies. It has more than 200 fundraising consultants and trainers and serves 48 states. It was founded in 1855 and has helped raise nearly $750 million for schools and non-profit organizations since 1975, according to the company. [The Pantagraph - 26 Apr 2008 - by Mary Ann Ford - mford@pantagraph.com]