David Geise: CEO of Furmano Foods

Furmano Foods continues to be a company known for its delicious tomatoes and one with exceptional service. The company’s recipe for success includes ingredients like honesty, integrity, and quality, but the secret ingredient in the Furmano formula is its people. Continuing in my series of Servant Leaders, an individual that I am excited to write about is David Geise, President and C.E.O. of Furmano Foods.

Family owned for four generations, Furmano's roots run deep in the heart of Pennsylvania's farmland in which David Geise’s grandfather began canning tomatoes in 1921. As David recalls, “Ever since he took his first tomatoes to market, the Furmano's brand has been synonymous with superior quality, great tasting tomatoes. We've come a long way from the days when he and my grandmother used a family recipe to prepare the tomatoes in a copper kettle on their kitchen stove. But, we've never strayed from the high standards that my grandfather, J.W. Furman set. We're proud of that.” Today, Furmano’s has become the largest family-owned tomato processor in the eastern United States.

David has been with Furmano Foods since 1968 and has been president since 1977. As he continues to lead the family’s great name, David not only serves his employees, but also his community. David serves as chair and board member of the Hand Up Foundation, which is a faith-based, non-profit and social entrepreneurial organization dedicated to helping people in crisis in the Susquehanna Valley. This outreach ministry provides many different types of programs to families in need, such as mentoring, job training, and emergency assistance, as well as a HUF Discount Center, which enables anyone to purchase items at a lower cost providing an affordable shopping alternative. These services promote the Foundation's philosophy of a "hand UP not a hand out."

David is passionate about serving people abroad as well, evidenced by his involvement with mission trips. In early 2010, David will be going to Guatemala for a short term mission trip. David gains so much value in serving others abroad that he has included his immediate family in these mission trips, forming a culture of Servant Leadership throughout his family.

David is very involved with community organizations and serves on many committees and boards at the state and national levels. He is the past chairman on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Food Processors Association, has held positions with the National Food Processors Association since 1982, and is currently a board member of the newly formed Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association. David has served as past president and director of the Central Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the Chamber's Ambassador Committee. David is also a board member of the Food Industry Group and serves on the McCann School Board of Business and Technology Advisory Committee.

David, an alumnus of Penn State, is a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association and an active volunteer for the College of Agricultural Sciences. In 2007, David received Penn State's Alumni Fellow Award, the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association. Among his many accolades, David also received the PA Agribusiness Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in 1996, the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2001, and an Award from the Armsby Honor Society of the Penn State University, College of Agricultural Sciences in 2003. He also received the 2004 Community Leadership Award from the Susquehanna Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America.

As David continues to carry on the high standards set forth by his grandfather, he always keeps in mind that secret ingredient in the Furmano formula – people. David Geise is a Servant Leader.