About Us

Jim started his business career in Cincinnati with Philip Morris, U.S.A. in 1977. He met me that same year, lucky man, and we married in 1980. Claire was born in 1985 and Jay entered the world in 1989. I left my job to be a stay-at-home Mom and we were busy living happily ever after when the company moved us to Russell, KY in 1990. Another company move followed in 1992 and we chose a home in Westerville. In 2003, after 26 years in the big business world, Jim decided to retire and looked to fulfill a dream of owning his own business. At about that same time, Bruce and Linda Fowler, who started the Great Harvest Bread store here in Westerville in 1993, decided to sell, move and look for a new business venture. We met and as they say, the rest is history!

So in June 2004, as our daughter graduated from high school and prepared to leave for college, we became small business owners. Though Jim was a businessman, owning your own business was a new, exciting and sometimes scary undertaking. We were customers before we were owners, so our goal was to continue to provide the great customer service, awesome breads and delicious sweets the community had come to love. That was our goal on our first day as owners and it remains our goal today.

Why did we choose The Great Harvest Bread Company? Between 2003 and 2004 Jim was researching franchises and considering all of his options. When he discovered that the Westerville location might be for sale he took a closer look at GHB Co. He found that the first store opened in Great Falls, Montana in 1976 and the company was continuing to grow 28 years later. Though it’s a franchise, it is called a Freedom Franchise because we can operate our business our way, to satisfy our customers, but we have our “franchise family” to provide tested recipes and processes that they continue to improve upon. We believe it offers the “best of both worlds”. But what we really love is that our bakery is an old-fashioned, “from scratch” bakery! No GHB Co. truck pulls up to unload prepared dough for us bake in the oven! We grind our wheat kernels in our stone mill daily, use pure, wholesome ingredients, no trans fats or preservatives. Each loaf is kneaded by hand. Our simplicity is delicious!

Last but not least, The Great Harvest mission statement says, be loose and have fun, bake phenomenal bread, run fast to help customers, create strong exciting bakeries and give generously to others. Jim and I thought that was a great mission statement. How many businesses have “give generously to others” as part of their mission? How great to really be a friend to our community! After a visit to the franchise office in Dillon, Montana, “all systems were go”!

So that’s our story. Stop in, inhale the wonderful aroma of baking bread, and enjoy a free slice. Thank you for choosing Great Harvest Bread Company as your bread store. Enjoy!