On November 20, 2011, The Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship invited John Sheptor, President and CEO for the Imperial Sugar Company (ISC) to share his experiences with students and members of the greater Houston community. In his presentation, Sheptor offered his perspective on topics such as unlocking the value of a unique idea, extracting results from vision, building a capable team, finding the optimum pathway and preparing adequate resources for the journey. Sheptor’s talk testified to the criticality of students’ studies in finance-related fields, and it further provided them with an occasion to take knowledge obtained in the classroom and translate it in terms of “real world” situations.

Sheptor’s address, which was titled, “Entrepreneurial Success – A Roadmap For The Journey,” conveyed to the event’s attendees that his talk would likely inspire intrigue and questions for their professors to wrestle with in the coming weeks. Sheptor stressed that cash planning, management of the company’s culture and competitor scenario analysis were equally as important as the core business plan. He encouraged entrepreneurs to pursue ideas that had broad targets rather than narrowly defined customers requiring perfect execution. Sheptor emphasized that the entrepreneur will spend as much time with their financial sponsors and stakeholders as they will in pursuing their idea demanding finance and social skills. He concluded his remarks giving Imperial Sugar Company examples of entrepreneurial actions related to business transformation.

The lecture was featured as part of the college’s Distinguished Entrepreneur Speaker Series. In the past the series has headlined several other notable business leaders such as Michael C. Linn, Chairperson and CEO for Linn Energy who served as the keynote speaker in 2009, and more recently in 2010, Dr. Bernard Harris, a former astronaut and successful entrepreneur. Following the format several previous speakers have adopted, Sheptor spoke candidly and openly on both the challenges and successes of entrepreneurship. As Ken Jones, Director of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Houston notes, “Mr. Sheptor utilized the Imperial Sugar Company as a great case study for facing challenges and how one can respond to them.”

With a turn-out of over 150 attendees, the presentation proved to be relevant to a diverse audience and applicable to a variety of entrepreneurial enterprises. Jones remarks on the ability for audience members to relate to Sheptor’s talk commenting, “Although Imperial Sugar is a large company, Mr. Sheptor is still faced with many of the same entrepreneurial challenges as someone who is managing a much smaller company or just starting out.”

Audience members were able to ask Sheptor questions specific to their own interests during his talk and in the question and answer session following which in turn, created a more conversational atmosphere. Not only did Sheptor make himself available on a more personal level throughout his presentation, he also attended the reception held prior to the speaking engagement and stayed following the event to talk with interested students. In one-on-one interactions with students and business-interested individuals, Sheptor allowed for his experiences to serve as learning resources for future entrepreneurs.

Carson Nunnallys was the most recent student to participate in Imperial Sugar Company's daylong summer intern program

Sheptor explains that every summer for the past three years, he has invited up to five youth to participate in the intern program and serve as his assistant for the day. The program provides the young interns with the opportunity to gain valuable insight into how a business operates and the qualities necessary to lead. He usually has at least two to three students accept his invitation each summer. He emphasizes that he takes the first step in extending the invitation but it is up to the young person to contact him and set up a day for the internship.

When asked if she was excited about the opportunity to serve as an intern to the President and CEO of Imperial Sugar, Carson replied, “You have no idea how excited I was to come here today and work alongside Mr. Sheptor. It is an honor.”

Carson offers that she came to the internship seeking a better understanding of what a president and CEO of a company does. She also hopes to get a insight on the traits of a successful businessperson and learn how she can implement these qualities into her own life.

The high school senior met Sheptor this past May at the annual fundraising concert and gala held by Virtuosi of Houston, an organization dedicated to increasing education and performance opportunities for Houston’s exceptionally gifted middle to high school age musicians. An accomplished violinist who has been playing since she was five-years old, Carson has been a member of Virtuosi for the past three years.

Because of ISC’s avid support of the organization and Sheptor’s background as a musician, he was invited to speak with the student orchestra on how the skills he developed as a musician have greatly benefited him in his career, first as an engineer and most recently as the leader of ISC.

Carson conveys how impressed she was with Sheptor’s talk to the orchestra. “I was inspired after he described how he connected his musical education and abilities to his career. After he finished, he motivated me to be successful in my life.”

John Sheptor and Carson Nunnallys

When asked what prompted him to extend Carson an invitation to participate in the intern program, Sheptor quickly mentions he was impressed with her talent as an gifted musician. He points out how during the gala concert she was seated in the audience side of the row, which illustrates respect from the director and her ability to play more sophisticated parts of the program.

It was also her fierce intensity and passion that caught the attention of Sheptor during their first meeting. “She was a very active listener and focused on what I was saying,” said Sheptor. She was able to create a communication between us in such a way as to inspire me to be even more articulate in what I was trying to communicate to the group. “

After his talk to the young musicians, Carson approached Sheptor to introduce herself and thank him for his support and participation. She recounts how at the end of their conversation Sheptor invited her to participate in the summer intern program. Although she was extremely busy most of the summer performing with Virtuosi, she was determined not to let the summer pass without taking Sheptor up on his offer.

“I’m blessed to be in an organization that has given me a chance to meet so many wonderful people, many who have become great mentors, colleagues and friends, said Carson. “I wouldn’t be sitting here with Mr. Sheptor if it weren’t for my involvement in the youth orchestra.”

At the start of the day, Sheptor describes how he and Carson discussed her goals and dreams for the future, which not surprisingly included becoming a professional musician. Sheptor admits he was frank in his discussion with her, pointing out that many talented young people aspire to be professional musicians, but sadly, the actual opportunities are few. He recommended that she consider alternative career objectives that would allow her to focus on music and perhaps other interests such as her passion for creative writing.

She admits that she hasn’t completely decided on her career path at this time. However, she does plan to attend college. Her dream is to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., because of their reputable music school. She is also looking at several other prestigious colleges and universities including Oberlin, University of Southern California, Rice University and Lawrence. After Sheptor’s recommendation, she is now considering doing a minor in public relations so she can put her love of creative writing to use.

Sheptor remarked that he is always pleased when the one-day internship turns into an ongoing mentoring relationship. He currently has three young students, one who was a summer intern three years ago, that he is mentoring. He has conversations with each of the three on a regular basis and encourages them to share what they have experienced and learned since the last time they met.

“Mentors are important in every stage of our lives,” he asserts. “They help populate our lives with ideas and solutions to problems.”

Although she was only halfway through her day, Carson remarked that she had already discovered so many new possibilities. Before the day ended, she was given a homework assignment to follow up with Sheptor and provide him a status on her education and career efforts. Carson concluded by saying she looks forward to future meetings with Sheptor and to share how she has applied what she has learned from her internship in her life.

Alejo Orvananos

Recently, John Sheptor had some assistance in carrying out his responsibilities as president and CEO of Imperial Sugar Company. On August 10, he was joined by ten year-old Alejo Orvananos from Sugar Land, Texas who served as an intern for the day.

“As part of Imperial Sugar’s ongoing support of youth initiatives, I invite a small number of students to spend a day with me at the company each year and see firsthand what it is like to be a president of large company,” said Sheptor. “At the end of the day, I hope that the intern will leave with a vision that he or she can one day lead a company.”

The first thing you notice about Alejo is his confidence and how he clearly articulates when he is speaking to you. He obviously made an impression on Sheptor who met the promising young entrepreneur at this year’s annual Lemonade Day Tasting Content that kicked off Houston’s Lemonade Day. Imperial Sugar has been a title supporter of Houston Lemonade Day since 2009. This was Alejo’s second year to participate in the program and both years this industrious youth has taken home the award for the Healthiest Lemonade at the tasting contest.

According to Sheptor, Lemonade Day provides him with a wonderful opportunity to meet talented young boys and girls who exhibit a strong sense of business and leadership qualities. It was no surprise that he was immediately impressed with Alejo’s confidence, creativity and strong business skills that were especially remarkable in someone his age. As a result, Sheptor invited the elementary school student to be part of the company’s day-long intern program.

By lunchtime, Sheptor and his young assistant had covered quite a bit of ground.

Sheptor began the day by explaining to Alejo the primary duties of the president of a company. This is something that Sheptor does with every new intern in order to give them a clear idea of what the position requires. Alejo took detailed notes of this conversation and was able to quickly list the responsibilities, which include developing and implementing a business strategy, investor relations, and ensuring the welfare of employees, among many others.

Sheptor commented that at the end of the day, he goes over the list of responsibilities once again with the intern and, together, they relate it to the day’s activities. “If each young person that interns with me can walk away from the day with a firm grasp of what a company president does, then I have instilled a valuable lesson that I firmly believe will aid them in their future career.”

Later, Alejo assisted the Imperial Sugar Company president in reviewing several design options for the cover of the company’s next annual report. When asked what is the purpose of an annual report, Alejo replied “It’s to let investors know what is going on in the company.”

As far as feedback, Alejo noted that one design was too contemporary and didn’t highlight the company’s extensive heritage. Sheptor agreed when Alejo commented that he did not like a particular photo of a model used on one of the cover options.

Sheptor also shared with Alejo some initial logo design concepts he is considering for some possible branding actions. The new logo would better reflect Imperial Sugar’s evolving portfolio of innovative sweetener solutions that go beyond sugar. The duo spent time looking over about a half dozen design options and narrowing the choices to two concepts. Alejo declared that the design he liked best invoked power and strength, which he felt suited the company’s image.

Sheptor emphasizes that the intern program is part of his company’s commitment to preparing the next generation of business leaders. He points out that most professionals who have been successful in their careers developed a vision for their future early in their lives.
Sheptor adds that Alejo has already developed an initial plan, likely due to the guidance of family members, unlike many college students that he has interviewed who have yet to establish a clear path for their career.

“Successful people start early in their lives with these types of visions so I think it is important for current business and community leaders to give early opportunities, like supporting Lemonade Day, that allow the upcoming generation of leaders to gain insight on what they can accomplish.”

John Sheptor with Alejo Orvananos

Alejo eagerly discusses how his participation in Lemonade Day has helped him gain valuable business experience in areas like product development and marketing. In addition to providing outstanding customer service, Alejo acknowledges that using Imperial Sugar was an important element of his success during Lemonade Day. Both years he used Imperial Sugar in his lemonade but this year he decided to add Imperial’s Wholesome Sweeteners blue agave syrup to enhance the flavor of the beverage and create a healthier drink that would appeal to many customers.

This year he also upgraded his stand from just a table to an actual booth with signage. Alejo proudly explains that a big part of his success this year was his location. When his first preference for a location was already taken, he took the setback as an opportunity to seek and obtain a highly visible spot in Houston’s popular Galleria shopping mall.

As for his part, Alejo gives much of the credit to his father, a financial advisor, and to his grandfather, who graduated with a master’s degree in business from Stanford University, for instilling in him an appreciation for entrepreneurship and business.

Alejo Orvananos

Although Alejo will only be entering fifth grade at Commonwealth Elementary School in Sugar Land this fall, he reveals that he has given serious thought to his potential career plans. He mentions that he may become a financial advisor like his father and because he loves math. He admits with a smile that he would also like to become a professional tennis player. He laughs proudly when he talks about winning all his matches in a recent tournament. With his drive and determination, it’s not hard to imagine his athletic skills on the court.

At the end of the day, Alejo reflects on his experience. “I was very excited to come to Imperial Sugar today,” he says. “I knew it was going to be a life changing experience and I was going to learn lessons that I will be able to use in the future.”

At the end of the month, Sheptor will welcome another young intern, a high school senior and talented musician he met through the company’s support of Virtuosi of Houston. He hopes that she gains the same benefits of the experience that Alejo received as well as 11 year-old Cristal Garcia, who served as president for the day earlier this summer.”

“What I get to do most days is fun,” Sheptor tells Alejo. He admits that his job requires hard work and making difficult decisions but he finds it enjoyable. “It is critical that you enjoy what you do in order to be truly successful.”

John Sheptor, President and CEO of Imperial Sugar Company, is one of several community and business leaders featured in a new video produced by Lemonade Day.

Lemonade Day, held each year in cities across America, is a fun, experiential learning program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business using a lemonade stand along with fundamental life skills.

Prepared for Life, the organization behind Lemonade Day, is using the video to show Houston corporations, city officials, schools, and community and faith based organizations the benefits of Lemonade Day on the entire community. It is also being used as a tool to help expand the program to additional communities across the country by igniting passion for Lemonade Day.

“I’m so excited to share our newest video on Lemonade Day,” said Julie Eberly, Chief Expansion Officer for Lemonade Day. “John’s [Sheptor] compelling words are the finale and power behind this video. When I shared it last week with Chicago leaders and today with Philanthropy Roundtable, they agreed that John and Imperial Sugar continue to be amazing partners with Lemonade Day!”

The video begins with a number of smiling youth, along with their families and friends, declaring how much they “love” Lemonade Day. The video goes on to features interviews with young entrepreneurs who talk about the skills that operating a lemonade stand requires. The youth also discuss their sales goals and what they intend to do with the money they earn. Some indicate they will use the proceeds to pay for college while many others say they will donate some or all of the money they earn to a charitable organization.

One young girl talks about the importance of location and attracting attention to your stand in order to drive sales. She proudly shows off her pet goat that she used as a marketing tools to attract customers to buy her lemonade.

Michael Holthouse, a Houston entrepreneur and founder of Lemonade Day, points out that Lemonade Day teaches skills that are not currently being taught in schools, including leadership, cooperation, managing money as well as developing a vision for the future that allows children to identify their personal assets, their goals, and how they can they achieve their portion of the American dream.

Along with John Sheptor, the video features short interviews with other business and community leaders including Adam Meyerson, President of Philanthropy Roundtable. In the video, Meyerson proclaims that “The program has grown explosively in Houston and is now positioned for national take off.” He goes on to add that “We at Philanthropy Roundtable believe that Michael’s [Holthouse] vision of 1 million stands across America on a single day is achievable.”

This past Lemonade Day, more than 150,000 youth participated in Lemonade Day in over 30 cities across the U.S. In Houston alone, there were approximately 50,000 lemonade stands scattered across the city.

Dallas Dance, chief middle school officer for the Houston Independent School District, announces in the video plans to offer the program to all students in grade levels 6th through 8th so that ultimately, over the next three years, every single middle school student in HISD will participate in Lemonade Day.

Sheptor concludes the dynamic video by announcing “Today we will plant the seeds that will change lives to produce presidents, entrepreneurs and institutional leaders. Through this program, we will transform families, communities and, to a great extent, our world.”

Sheptor began the assistant CEO summer program several years ago as part of the company’s ongoing support of initiatives that benefit youth. Imperial Sugar has been a lead sponsor of Lemonade Day since its second year and recently provided support to Virtuosi of Houston, a local fine arts program for young musicians.

Cristal Garcia - Assistant CEO for the Day

Cristal was the fifth young student Sheptor has selected since he implemented this program. As his junior CEO, she was presented an opportunity to see first-hand what it was like to lead a major company, including participating in meetings with executives, directors and managers. Cristal’s path to her intern position at Imperial Sugar began when she met Sheptor at the annual Lemonade Day Tasting Contest held this past spring. He has participated in this event for the past several years as part of the company’s sponsorship and it has provided him with the opportunity to meet some amazing, young entrepreneurs.

“When I meet someone as confident and articulate as Cristal, I begin to consider them for my CEO intern program,” Sheptor explained. “I ask them about their business plan, school interests and life dream. If they illustrate commitment to their future regardless of their life circumstances, I invite them to write to me to tell me about their results on Lemonade Day, or Junior Achievement or the project context of our introduction. If they take this next step, I present them the possibility to work together for a day or sometimes longer. I feel that youth must experience many sequential business experiences in parallel to their formal education for them to build the confidence and skills necessary to be successful leaders of economic change. Imperial is supporting youth along with many other proactive companies to make this possible. It is critical for our country’s future.”

Sheptor adds that by inviting these eager, young entrepreneurs who participate in Lemonade Day to experience a real office setting, provides them with an entirely different exposure to business outside of doing a lemonade stand. He goes on to say that operating a lemonade stand is important life lesson because it fosters the development of business skills through such activities as developing a business plan, creating their product, selecting a location, deciding on pricing, promoting their product and sharing a part of their profit with a need in their community. Sheptor believes that offering those youth that showed a special interest an opportunity to see what it was like to work in a formal business environment would be a great supplement to what they learned through Lemonade Day.

“She makes a very stunning first impression,” Sheptor says about Cristal. “At the Lemonade Day Tasting Contest, she convincingly explained why her product was an excellent purchase, clearly explained what she was going to do to make her business successful and confidently expounded upon her plans for her next venture this summer.”

According to Cristal, she and her mother were both thrilled when Sheptor visited her stand at the Lemonade Day Tasting Contest. She laughs when she tells the story of how her mom encouraging her in Spanish while she talked to Mr. Sheptor.

“Mr. Sheptor told me that I was a very talented young lady,” Cristal smiles as she remembers the meeting. “He gave me his business card, which made me my mom really excited. He came back later and, with a big grin, told me and my mom that he understood Spanish. My mom was embarrassed but I thought it was funny.”

Cristal Garcia with John Sheptor, CEO of Imperial Sugar Co.

During her day as an intern, Cristal joined Sheptor in a meeting to review packaging designs for NatureWise™ Sweeteners, a new brand of all-natural sweetener solutions the company recently launched. During the meeting, she had a chance to taste some of the new sweeteners and provide her feedback. Sheptor explained to her the importance and necessity of nutritional labels on food packaging. At one point during the meeting, Sheptor asked Cristal if she thought one of the package designs might look better if it included a honey bee. Without hesitating, she responded that a bee on the package would be “creepy.”

“I got it all wrong,” laughs Sheptor.” I was hoping to add a bee to the design but Cristal’s comment gave me insight that perhaps that a bee would not help market the product and perhaps might alienate some consumers. Cristal set me straight on this issue.”

Despite her age, Cristal is a serious entrepreneur. This was her third year to participate in Houston Lemonade Day and to compete at the annual tasting contest. She didn’t place this year at the contest but she is proud to tell you that she did win 2nd place last year in the Healthiest Lemonade category.

Cristal will not be sitting idle this summer. She will be selling flavored shaved ice, or raspas, as they are called in Spanish, every Saturday and Sunday in front of her home. She sells a large size for $1 and a smaller size for $.50. Cristal plans to save all the money she makes this summer and put toward her dream of owning a shopping mall. She is adamant when she declares that she does not want to rent mall space but wants to own it entirely. She already has a name picked out: ‘Cristal’s Village’.

Cristal is fortunate to have the strong support of both her parents, who she says were just as excited as she was when asked to be an intern for one day.

Aside from meetings, Cristal accompanied Sheptor to a lunch with other employees at the company’s corporate office in Sugar Land. She also connected with another summer intern at Imperial Sugar, Unyime Ekott, a young woman who recently immigrated from Nigeria, now living in Houston, who will be entering her third year of college at St. Thomas University.

Cristal, who is bilingual, will be a 6th grader this fall at Gerald D. Cobb Middle School in Houston. When asked what are her favorite subjects she quickly responds writing but admits she’s doesn’t write as well as she would like. Math is not one of her favorite subjects but she smiles when talking about how she is strong in math and will be taking a pre-advanced class in math when she enters 6th grade this fall.

Later this summer, Cristal will again be serving as a CEO Assistant, this time for Dr. Laura Murillo, President and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest in the country. Sheptor opened this door for her as part of his commitment to guide her into her next experience. Needless to say, by the end of the summer, Cristal will have developed a quite impressive resume of accomplishments.

Cristal concludes her day by telling everyone how eager she is to begin school and share her experiences this summer with her teachers and classmates.

“Lemonade Day provides a “feel good” human interest story that spotlights family, community, and entrepreneurship at its best,” says Julie Eberly, Executive Director of Prepared 4 Life. “Lemonade Day is an amazing success story for hundreds of thousands of children across the U.S. – each with their own unique experience and outcome. It is the fastest growing cause in the country because it empowers people of all different ages and backgrounds to make a real, meaningful difference while reinforcing that business is good.”

Lemonade Day began four years ago when Prepared 4 Life set out to get young people ages 3 to 17 interested in entrepreneurship and community involvement. It has now been adopted by nearly 30 cities in the United States and Canada.

By starting, owning and operating their own business – a lemonade stand – kids of all ages learn to set goals, develop a plan, secure an investor and create a product. The kids get to keep the money they make and are encouraged to save a little, spend a little, and share a little with the community.

This year, Imperial Sugar was once again a lead sponsor of the program in several Texas cities, including Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Thanks to the company’s generous support, Lemonade Day has been able to empower youth to create their own entrepreneurial experience by setting up and operating their own lemonade stands.

As part of the community support that is important to the success of Lemonade Day, three representatives from Imperial Sugar, including John Sheptor, President and CEO of the company, fanned out across the state to visit lemonade stands and meet with budding, young entrepreneurs.

The following are their wonderful stories of entrepreneurship and the future of America.

Houston Lemonade Day

For John Sheptor, touring stands across the city on Lemonade Day has become an annual ritual, and this year there was much more to see. In Houston alone, more than 50,000 youth participated in Lemonade Day. On May 1, Sheptor joined a group of well-known business and community leaders in showing their support for the program.

John Sheptor visiting young entrepreneur during Houston Lemonade Day

Sheptor, who ran his own lemonade stand as a young boy, knows the important lessons that can be gained from this simple business operation. “I never cease to be amazed at the incredible stories and amazing youth I meet each year,” says Sheptor.

During his tour, Sheptor visited a stand run by deaf and hearing impaired children who illustrate how Lemonade Day, regardless of race, physical limitations or socioeconomic background, changes lives and impacts communities.

Another highlight of Sheptor’s tour was a visit to stands set up by students from Houston’s Project Row Houses. This is a revitalized neighborhood consisting of several blocks of shotgun houses in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, some of which are open to the public as art spaces. The children gathered traditional lemonade recipes from the community and worked with various chefs to create a healthier version of these recipes. Local artists helped the students design their creative stands.

“I am proud of our support for Lemonade Day, a program that demonstrates how something as simple as a lemonade stand can teach youth to budget, build a business plan and practice customer service,” said Sheptor. “They are also learning the importance of giving back to the community.”

Austin Lemonade Day

“Austin Lemonade Day was a great experience,” declared George Muller, Vice President – Sales Planning, Supply Chain and Information Technology. “It was truly an uplifting experience to see how the Lemonade Day program has provided these children with a framework to successfully own and operate their own business while encouraging an enthusiasm for learning.”

George Muller at Austin Lemonade Day

This year’s event in the Texas capitol was a record breaker with over 13,000 lemonade stands set up in and around the Austin area. Muller, along with his wife Sue, spent several hours visiting approximately 20 stands and conversing with many young entrepreneurs throughout the warm, spring afternoon.

Muller heard many interesting stories from the children he met on how they made their own, unique flavor of lemonade, their secret recipes and special ingredients used in their lemonade to set them apart from all the others.

“What impressed me most was the stories from the children on how they would share the proceeds from selling lemonade with a local charity,” said Muller. “Some children were donating to help those impacted by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, while others were giving money to help soldiers serving overseas. One of the most touching stories, was a young girl who was sharing the proceeds with two young relatives who both are suffering from leukemia.”

Muller was also amazed at the children’s business acumen, including how strategic the children were in marketing their stands. He recounts how one enterprising young girl last year raised over $700 and set her goal this year to raise $1,000. She promoted her business with signs, balloons, and even made t-shirts with the name of her stand. She also partnered with the Lance Armstrong Foundation and there was a stand located next to hers that was selling the popular yellow bracelets. According to Muller, this was “creative co-marketing.” As a result of her savvy marketing efforts, she was able to exceed her goal by $400.

“The success of Lemonade Day in teaching our children important life skills depends heavily on the community’s participation, including companies like Imperial Sugar,” Muller emphasized. “I was thrilled to share in the excitement of the day and see firsthand how significant an impact Lemonade Day has on the lives of the children who take part.”

San Antonio Lemonade Day

Approximately 6,000 young entrepreneurs set up lemonade stands in the San Antonio area on May 1. This was double the number of stands from last year.

Tonya Eugene at Lemonade Day San Antonio

Tonya Eugene, Manager of Imperial Sugar’s Help Desk in Sugar Land, spent the day in San Antonio. She joined Janet Holiday, President and CEO of the CE Group and Lemonhead, the Lemonade Day mascot, on a special route developed to highlight a few of the remarkable stories of children and groups that came together to build lemonade stands and give back to the community.

“I wasn’t sure quite what to expect,” says Eugene “I was surprised to learn that many of the children have participated in Lemonade Day for the past two to three years. This shows you how fun and impactful this program is for children.”

Eugene was immediately impressed by the first stand she visited, which was run by two sisters, Kayla (10) and Leslie (7). These young girls chose to donate a portion of the money they earned to the March of Dimes. Kayla and Leslie were both born premature and would not be here today if it were not for the research and work done by the March of Dimes.

“Not only did they raise money but they promoted the charity’s upcoming walk and gave away buttons to their customers,” said Eugene.

Many of the children worked hard to stand out from the competition. Eugene recalls how one young man sold ice tea along with lemonade. Another sold home-style mint lemonade served with blueberry ice cubes and a twist of lemon. A family of siblings served up diabetic-friendly lemonade and hand-decorated cascarones (confetti filled eggs). Eugene says she was partial to the stand that had a bag of Imperial Sugar on display.

“One young man did not set a price for his lemonade but asked customers to pay what they felt it was worth”, she says with a bit of amazement. “I thought this was very creative and I’m sure he did very well. He also sold Rice Crispy Treats, which was a great marketing twist and a big hit.”

The last stand that Eugene visited was run by a creative young boy by the name of Noah. In an effort to sell his comic books, Noah routinely sets up a lemonade stand outside of his house on the weekends. His comics are hand-made and unique, often spoofing fairy tales.

“Each and every lemonade stand was so special and I wish I could have visited all of them,” notes Eugene. “It was wonderful to see the children work so closely with their parents and other family members, and their eagerness to give back to the community. I’m very proud to be part of a company that supports programs like Lemonade Day and can’t wait for next year.”

More than 50 teams of eager, future, young businessmen and women, showed up to the Children’s Museum on Saturday, April 23, for the annual Best Tasting Lemonade Contest, which is the kick-off event for the yearly Lemonade Day to be held on Sunday, May 1. Lemonade Day is a free, community-wide program dedicated to teaching children how to start, own and operate their own business through the simple and time-honored act of building and running a lemonade stand.

During the contest, teams of children displayed their entrepreneurial skills to a dozen judges, including Jillyan Moor, Miss Teen Houston 2011, Amazing Race 7 winner Uchenna Agu, and John Sheptor, President and CEO of Imperial Sugar Company.

Lemonade Day provides youth with free materials and support, thanks to local sponsors, who recognize the significant benefits of teaching youth business skills early. Imperial Sugar Company, as the oldest company in Texas, continues to be the leader in supporting Lemonade Day and impacting the lives of Houston youth.

“As the oldest company in Texas and a vital part of the Houston community for more than 166 years, Imperial Sugar is proud to support Lemonade Day again this year,” said Sheptor. “This innovative program is teaching valuable lessons to the future business leaders of our community. Lemonade Day is good for kids and good for business

Those entrepreneurial skills were on full display Saturday morning as children proudly displayed their recipes, extolled the health benefits of their lemonade, showed off their impeccably decorated stands.

One young girl named Yaiyiana prepared a mint-flavored lemonade sweetened with honey. She explained that the mint is good for your stomach and local honey is good for allergies. Her team, no surprise, ended up winning second place in the Healthiest Lemonade category. Awards were given for Most Original and Best Tasting as well.

A delicious strawberry-basil lemonade won Most Original, and Best Tasting was given to Patricia, a 13-year-old who made her lemonade with chunks of strawberry, mango, lime and blood orange, delighting everyone who tasted it.

(l-r) Raylene Carter, Jack Kingston and John Sheptor

This was Kingston’s first visit to the plant since the dust explosion. “What is impressive is all the improvements that have been made to contain dust, to contain fires; you have more fire walls more, fire equipment, you have automatic alarms, more emergency lighting, water systems that automatically sprinkle an area if you have an explosion of any nature,” said Kingston.

Imperial Sugar Company President and CEO John Sheptor and Vice President of Manufacturing Raylene Carter, provided the Congressman with a two hour tour of the facility.

“We have applied the best technology available in any industry to explosion suppression,” said Sheptor. “There is no sugar plant in the world that is better prepared for the management of combustible dust than this facility and we have opened our doors for all industries to come see how we do it.”

Safety upgrades at Imperial Sugar include more firewalls, sprinkler systems, and emergency lighting. Its part of the company’s commitment to ensure certain safety precautions are in place, with the most important changes focusing on how sugar is moved to minimize the explosive threat of combustible dust.

“Today we use technology called dense phase conveying,” said Sheptor. “What we do is pressurize around 5000 pounds of sugar into a plug, and then we push that plug through a pipe. It’s a much safer way of moving sugar. This is similar to what happens to the canister you send to a bank teller from the drive-in window.”

Congressman Jack Kingston with John Sheptor address employees at Port Wentworth plant.

Imperial Sugar has become a leader in the industry because it has made a purposeful decision to share its experiences and improvements with others companies to protect workers and avoid a future tragedy.

According to Carter, “Representative Kingston was very interested to hear about the many visitors we have received from various other companies who have come to tour the plant and see all that we’ve done to improve safety.”

Imperial Sugar invited all U.S. sugar producers, both cane and beet, to the plant last year for a special safety day. The company has also invited a large number of its industrial customers to tour the plant and see how the production and packaging of sugar has been improved from both a safety and efficiency standpoint. Recently, technical teams from a company that manufactures paint pigments and an aluminum company visited the facility to learn how to combat combustible dust.

“Today we are operating the plant at 85 to 95 percent capacity,” said Sheptor. “People are happy they are back in their own jobs. They are happy to be operating new equipment in the packing area and that life has returned to normal, as best you can after such a tragedy.”

Sheptor says the company’s greatest moral responsibility is educating the new hires on what happened in 2008 and making sure they understand what they can do to make sure it never happens again.

The Johnson Development Corp.

“We are excited to start this clean-up phase of the refinery site,” said Shay Shafie, General Manager of the Imperial Redevelopment. “Removing all of the equipment will allow us to start focusing on the highest and best use for this historic building”.

All of the work on the char house will be done internally protecting the exterior of the building with the exception of the smoke stack removal which spans from the third floor through the roof. The solid concrete smoke stacks must be removed for safety reasons and to allow for flexibility of the added build-out space. “We plan to replicate the stacks with a non-structural building material in the future in order to preserve the exterior look of the Char House,” said Shafie.

Meticulous care has been taken by Johnson Development to preserve the historical significance of the entire Imperial site. The developer has worked directly with the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation to insure that the rich history of Imperial has been preserved while bringing the structures to a safe and habitable condition. Several artifacts have been tagged by the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation to be preserved and incorporated into the development.

Plans for Imperial, a 700 acre Master-Planned Community located in Sugar Land, Texas, include the redevelopment of the historic Imperial Sugar Company refinery site and the preservation of several of the iconic structures dating back to the early 1900’s. Imperial has also been selected as the site for the City of Sugar Land’s new minor league baseball stadium which has been aptly named the StarTex Power Stadium. Just over a year ago, Johnson Development was selected as Imperial’s development manager by Cherokee Sugar Land LP and the State of Texas General Land Office. Johnson’s charge is to bring life back to the old Imperial Sugar Refinery site with a mix of retail, commercial, hospitality, restaurants, office and urban residential land structures. The master plan also includes a significant amount of land across from the Sugar Land Regional Airport being dedicated for the City’s next professional business and technology park.

“We are excited to see the retired sugar refinery site coming back to life,” said John Sheptor, President and CEO Imperial Sugar Company. “We sold this property in 2007 with this dream in mind. Our company began on this property in 1843 and to now see how it will continue to be part of the heart of the city brings a great sense of satisfaction and pride to all of our employees.”

For more information about Imperial, visit www.imperialsugarland.com.

John Sheptor speaking with Donna Garland, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The survey was produced by Edelman’s research division, and consisted of over 5,000 college educated people across 23 countries who participated in a 30-minute telephone interview. Last year, the key finding among those surveyed found that trust is now an essential line of business.

In a year marred by corporate crises and financial turmoil for European governments, trust in business and government showed marked resilience, according to the 2011 Trust Barometer. Trust in business surged in Brazil, rose in Germany, while holding steady in China and India. The United States was an exception, as trust dropped across all institutions – business, government, NGOs, and media. U.S. trust in business fell by eight points to 46 percent – placing the world’s largest economic power within five points of last-place Russia – and decreased in government by six points to 40 percent, putting the U.S. among the bottom four countries with the least trust in government.

“Trust has transformed the license to operate for business,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO, Edelman. “Company actions must deliver on the expectation for a collaborative approach that benefits society – not just shareholders, transparency about how it makes money, and communication in surround-sound through all forms of media – from mainstream to new to social to owned.”

Joining Sheptor on this year’s panel were several distinguished individuals, including: Steve Schmidt, former White House senior advisor, political strategist and Edelman counselor; Michael Slaby, former Chief Technology Officer of Obama For America and current Digital Global Practice Chair for Edelman; and Dr. G.P. “Bud” Peterson, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he oversees the top-ten public research university with more than 19,000 students and more than $500 million in sponsored funding.

While speaking to the assembled guests, Sheptor first briefly addressed several critical questions that were raised by the Edelman Trust Barometer. He then discussed elements that were necessary to inspire trust in an organization’s stakeholders.

According to Sheptor, “Stakeholder relations are best built before you need them and CEO engagement is critical in achieving their trust. This trust is a choice for stakeholders and earned by ready access, proactive communications in a convenient mode, consistency and aligned values or interests.”

John Sheptor speaking with guests attending the Edelman Trust Barometer report breakfast.

He also provided his own personal findings that came out of a tragic explosion at Imperial Sugar’s Port Wentworth refinery in early 2008. He discussed how the company moved quickly and strategically to restore stakeholder trust and the company’s reputation after the accident, which included strong leadership, consistent and transparent communications with employees and the general public, and ongoing outreach and involvement to assist employees and the community in recovering from the explosion.

The actions that Imperial Sugar Company took after the Port Wentworth accident correspond directly to what the Trust Barometer revealed the public has come to expect from businesses. It found that to re-earn trust when faced with a crisis, safeguarding customers and employees is the top-ranked action, followed closely by transparent and open communication about the extent of the crisis and honest and frequent communication from the CEO about repair efforts.

Sheptor concluded his remarks by announcing that as a result of the company’s aggressive efforts after the disaster, Imperial Sugar Company has established itself as an industry leader in safety and state-of-the art technology, restored its business reputation and recovered its market share, and restored confidence and respect among employees, customers, competitors and investors.

In thanking Sheptor for his participation Marilyn Mobley, senior vice president and strategic counsel, Edelman, commented “Just 24 hours ago, we had a room full of clients really buzzing about what a great panel we had to discuss the Trust Barometer. Many of them specifically noted how interesting it was to hear from a sitting CEO [Sheptor] who had such great breadth and depth of experience.”

Other key findings of the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer include:

• Business is more trusted than government in one-third of the 23 countries surveyed.
• Trust in NGOs was above 50 percent in every country in the Barometer, except Russia.
• In China and India trust in business held steady at 61 percent and 70 percent, respectively. In China, trust in government increased by 14 points to 88 percent. In India, however, less than a majority (44 percent) say they trust government.

John Sheptor, CEO and president of ISC, along with Hyuna Lee, senior brand manager for the company, met with the class, taught by well-known advertising maven Ann Iverson, to provide details of the assignment. The students were tasked with developing an advertising strategy targeting Millennials, those tech-savvy individuals born between 1982 and now, that would increase awareness for the brand among this group as well as encourage them to make Imperial Sugar a part of their everyday lives.

“This type of assignment is valuable to the students because they gain a real life, working knowledge of what it’s like to work at an advertising agency,” explained Iverson. “The practical skills I teach them enable them to do this – they become beginning advertising professionals.” The three-credit advertising class was created by Ann Iverson and has been offered through Rice’s residential colleges since 2003.

Sheptor and Lee provided the students with background information on the brand, a profile of the target audience and a snapshot of the sweetener category in the U.S., including trends.

The students were asked to create an advertising campaign that includes print ads, web design, social media, online phone apps, and other vehicles that they believe would be critical for making Millennials Imperial Sugar loyalists.

The class of 15 students was broken down into four teams and were given a month to develop their strategies and advertising campaigns that would be presented to Sheptor and Lee who would judge each team’s work and select the best.

“I was excited to see the creative ideas from the students,” said Sheptor. “Because of their age and the unique influences of their generation, specifically exposure to the Internet and use of online social networks, I was interested in getting their point-of-view.”

On Feb. 16, several local leaders in the advertising and marketing field joined Sheptor and Lee in judging the students’ work.

“I knew from the onset that these students were talented but I was truly amazed with the outstanding work each team presented,” said Sheptor. “This exercise provided the teams with valuable experience and allowed me to gain incredible insight into the thoughts, habits and behavior of this valuable consumer demographic.”

The winning team was Brown Bag Ads, which included seniors Amy Lin and Gabrielea Chennisi and junior Caroline Carberry.

According to Lee, “What surprised me the most was that although many of these students did not grow up with baking, they still have a very romantic notion of what baking means and are inspired to share this activity with their children.”

To commemorate the anniversary, associates at the plant held a small service on Monday morning to remember the victims. In addition, family members, friends and co-workers placed flowers and candles at memorial markers in Legacy Park located on the grounds of the plant. The focal point of the park is a beautiful bronze sculpture of 14 doves taking flight from upturned hands that Imperial Sugar commissioned to pay tribute to those employees who lost their lives.

“On the three year anniversary of the tragedy in Port Wentworth, our thoughts are with the families impacted by the events of that day,” said John Sheptor, CEO of Imperial Sugar Company. “Although we will never forget the events of February 7, we can work together to make sure that the tragedy does not happen again at Port Wentworth or anywhere else.”

Three years after the explosion, Imperial Sugar has completed rebuilding the Port Wentworth refinery, which has become an exemplary model for safety in the industry. The new facility incorporates state-of-the-art technologies – including a modern packaging facility equipped with dustless loading devices, anti-static floors and firewalls, among other safety features.

With the vast knowledge of food safety best practices gained during the rebuilding, the company felt obligated to do everything possible to heighten awareness of the risks of combustible dust throughout the food industry. Imperial Sugar invited peers, customers and partners to visit Port Wentworth to witness first-hand the progress the plant had made. During these visits, the company discussed the impact of exposed combustible dust and shared best practices to ensure that others in the industry were aware of the latest techniques available to mitigate risks associated with the issue.

As a result, the company has established itself as not only an industry model for better worker safety, but for improved food-quality processes and greater manufacturing efficiencies.

A memorial service was also held in the evening at St. Phillip AME Church in Savannah. Imperial Sugar Company Vice President George Muller attended the service. He says the company has made progress and that they were also changed forever by the explosion.

“I don’t think anyone can go through what we’ve gone through without it having a lifelong impact,” Muller said.

“Lemonade Day is an opportunity for the entire community to get involved and show their commitment to the education of the future generation of business leaders,” said Holthouse.

He pointed out that support from local business is crucial and can help with the program in a variety of ways, including sponsoring Lemonade Day, becoming an investor for a child, offering to host a lemonade stand in front of their business and, most importantly, purchasing lemonade from children on the day of the event. Holthouse also suggested that businesses make Lemonade Day a company event and invite employees and their children to participate.

Holthouse cited Imperial Sugar as an example of a company that is committed to helping youth and has been a major sponsor of Lemonade Day almost since its inception. He recognized John Sheptor, CEO of Imperial Sugar Company, who was in the audience, and thanked him for his company’s critical support of the program.

Sheptor later explained to a group of attendees his strong, emotional connection to the Lemonade Day program. Sheptor recounted how his mother encouraged him to set up his first lemonade stand at the age of 6 years-old in Lancaster, N.H. and how that experience began his vision for his future.

“For me, it wasn’t so much for amusement but out of necessity,” explained Sheptor. “I came from an economically disadvantaged family so every dollar mattered. As a result of my first lemonade stand, I saw the value of work and my potential. During my childhood, I moved from lemonade stands to mowing yards to delivering newspapers, but I never forgot the lessons I learned from operating my first stand.”

At the end of his presentation, Holthouse called on Julie Eberly, executive director for Prepared 4 Life, to share one young girl’s story to illustrate how operating a simple lemonade stand can inspire confidence in children to go on to do much more.

Eberly explained that this young girl had a tragic home life that contributed to her being two grades behind in school, leaving her with low self-esteem. In an effort to build her self-confidence, a school guidance counselor encouraged her to participate in Lemonade Day and offered to be her mentor. The student was able to operate such a successful lemonade stand that she had enough money left over, after paying back her mentor and covering operating costs, to buy a new dress and shoes, the first new items of clothing she had ever had.

Previously, the girl had been asked to attend a special school in Austin, where her grandmother lived, which helps students like her catch up to their proper grade level. Because of her lack of confidence, she had always refused. When asked again after participating in Lemonade Day, she finally said yes, realizing for the first time that she could actually succeed at the new school. Today two years later she has caught back up with her grade and is excelling as a student.

Eberly concluded by pointing out that this young girl’s story is just one of many and that participating in Lemonade Day “doesn’t just prepare kids for business, it prepares them for life.”

Holthouse’s goal is by 2013, to be in 100 U.S. cities and do a million lemonade stands in a single day, which he says will “enable millions of kids to be successful, happy, contributing human beings.” This year Lemonade Day will be on Sunday, May 1, 2011.

President and CEO John Sheptor opened the first day of sessions by addressing strategic imperatives of the company. Later in the day, Sheptor provided an update on steviacane(tm), an all-natural sweetener recently launched by Natural Sweet Ventures, a partnership between Imperial and Pure Circle. He emphasized the importance of expanding the company’s base of business from cane sugar products to all-natural sweeteners.

He was followed by Darrell Gerdes, Manager New Product Development, who discussed the new product development process for the company as well as new sweetener alternatives that he and his staff are currently researching.

George Muller, Vice President Sales Planning, Supply Chain and IT, gave a presentation on corporate social responsibility and the reasons for implementing this type of policy including enhancing a company’s public reputation, meeting customers’ expectations and creating a competitive advantage. He went on to say that Imperial is about to embark on developing a CSR policy and plans to solicit input and feedback from all associates regarding programs and activities that support the policy.

Muller concluded his presentation by educating attendees on the continued importance of the Imperial Newsroom, which has positioned the company as a leader in the sugar industry and increased its brand reputation. He provided several examples of customer stories that have helped sales efforts by increasing brand visibility.

Rounding out the program on the first day were Hal Mechler, Chief Financial Officer, who provided a financial update for Imperial, and Walter Nimmocks with Wholesome Sweeteners who gave an update on the company and the continued projected growth of the organic and natural sweeteners category.

On the second day of the conference, Pat Henneberry, Senior Vice President Sales and Commodities Marketing, began the day by providing an overview of the sugar market and discussing sales goals and projections for next year.

Carlos Gonzales

Later in the morning, Carlos Gonzales and Luis Troncoso with Comercializadora Santos Imperial (CSI), a joint venture between ISC and Monterrey, Mexico-based Ingenios Santos, S.A. de C.V., addressed the group. CSI markets Mexican sugar or sugar imported from the United States to customers in Mexico, as well as facilitates exports of sugar produced in Mexico into the United States.

Gonzales provided an overview of CSI’s successful 2010 campaign and highlighted strategic opportunities for 2011. During his remarks he indicated that exports to the U.S. are expected to increase from 8 percent in 2010 to 27 percent in 2011.

Troncoso then gave a status on the new transfer station and warehouse being built at the CSI facility. He noted that the transfer station is set to begin operations on Dec. 15, a month behind schedule due to the hurricane that affected the region this past summer. The station is being staffed to accommodate approximately 110 rail cars and to be able to handle 100 metric tons of sugar per year, or four rail cars per day. Expansion can be easily accommodated by increasing personnel. Troncoso concluded by stating that AIB certification for the facility is expected next summer.

Pat Henneberry again spoke to the managers and stated that ISC wants to expand its capacity to sell Mexican sugar in the U.S., which will provide the company with more scale and the ability to position itself as a national player. He pointed out that ISC remains the number three marketer of sugar in the U.S.

Pat Henneberry

Henneberry concluded his talk by commenting “With the skills and expertise we have on both sides of the border, there is no reason that Imperial Sugar shouldn’t be the largest exporter of Mexican sugar to the United States.”

Next up was Hyuna Lee, Senior Marketing Manager, who opened her discussion by listing the marketing objectives for the next year including, supporting the sales team, regaining market share, and expanding brand awareness for Imperial Sugar, Dixie Crystals and now steviacane(tm).

She then highlighted some of the past year’s marketing initiatives designed to support sales efforts. She shared graphics for the current holiday campaign and announced that the company was doing print advertisements in major consumer magazines for the first time in three years. She also announced that Imperial was leveraging digital and social media for the first time to better engage with its target audience, specifically baking enthusiasts.

Hyuna Lee

Next, Lee showed off the recently updated consumer websites for Imperial Sugar and Dixie Crystals, which allow the brands to better connect with consumers and offer increased functionality. She pointed out that traffic to both consumer websites has increased significantly since the refreshed websites went live. Lee wrapped up her presentation by giving the group a brief tutorial on social media and explained the opportunities it affords in strategically reaching consumers.

“I look forward to attending the sales conference because it plays a critical role in terms of internal motivation and team building,” said Bob Fleenor. “It also provides an opportunity for the sales team and the folks that support sales to share best practices and learn about possible creative solutions that will allow us to retain our competitive advantage while growing the business.”

The managers spent the remainder of the conference in work sessions to discuss planning and strategy for 2011. The conference was coordinated by Joe Lucas and Jeana Hines, both Senior Sales Directors with ISC.