102825 ACG TN Lunch & Learn Knoxville

Join us at Rodefer Moss on Tuesday, October 28th from 11:30-1:00 PM (Eastern) for an ACG TN Lunch & Learn, sponsored by Fifth Third.

Come to enjoy lunch, grow your network, and hear from Al Williams, President and CEO of Bush Beans.

From an interview with The CEO Magazine...

A real loyalty and pride in the Bush Brothers name means that there are “multiple second- and third-generation families that work here, even one fourth-generation employee,” Al says. There are not a lot of companies in the US that can draw upon such a heritage.

“Unlike in Europe, for example, very few companies make it to 10 or 20 years, much less 110 years,” he adds. And that authenticity is something he celebrates. Although not a descendant of AJ Bush, Al is the next best thing: a born-and-bred Tennessee boy.

The move to CEO was part of a two-year succession plan that saw him move through the company executive ranks from COO to President and COO, and eventually, President and CEO. In total, he has spent more than two decades with the business.

After graduating with an Asian Studies major from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Mississippi, he worked in the finance department at Sara Lee before taking a similar role at Bush Brothers.

In his own words, Al has “been exposed to a lot of different aspects of the business”, from supply chain, procurement and logistics to production planning and scheduling, transportation, warehousing and even engineering. At one point, as the then-HR director, he hired himself as the CFO.

“I guess I had the experience,” he laughs when The CEO Magazine asks him what qualities made him stand out as the best candidate for the job. Today, Al says he is extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a great team. “Our CFO is a much better CFO than I was ever going to be,” he explains. “The same can be said for our supply chain and human resources manager. All these people are doing jobs that I did before, but they’re all doing them better than I did when I was in them. For me, it’s understanding that, embracing it, and getting everyone to work together.” He describes himself as more of a hands-off than hands-on leader.

“The most important thing is to get my team to put together a really good team,” he explains. “I want to focus on my direct team and then let it cascade from there.”