A Wisconsin chicken provider recognized with Deloitte Wisconsin 75 Distinguished Performer Award takes employees under its wings

Since opening 96 years ago, Brakebush Brothers Inc. has successfully put most of its eggs in the same basket, when it comes to managing the company.

In what started as an egg delivery business run by two brothers, the company has now employed four generations of Brakebush family members, many in leadership positions.

Based in Westfield, Wisconsin, Brakebush is a provider of “further processed chicken” to food service, industrial, and chain restaurants around the country. Its pre-cooked products are included on many restaurants' menus, including chicken fillets, tenders, and wings.

That family legacy at Brakebush’s is what earned the company special recognition in this year’s Deloitte Wisconsin 75 Honors. The program, in which the accounting and consulting firm Deloitte recognizes the state’s largest privately and closely held companies, is in its 19th year.

Among this year’s 75 are five companies that received Distinguished Performer awards. The awards recognize how companies are addressing challenges around local and global competition, and staying accountable to their communities and employees.

A first-timer on the list, Brakebush received a Distinguished Performer award for succession. The honor recognizes a company that has successfully prepared for or moved to next-generation leadership, according to Deloitte.

Family first

The company is led by a combination of family and non-family executives. Carl Brakebush, the son of one of the founding brothers, serves as chairman of the board. Four members of the third Brakebush generation also currently hold key executive positions. 

“I’m impressed. I’m glad that there’s an interest in doing it, you know, keeping it a family business and keeping it going,” said Carl Brakebush, Chairman of the Board at Brakebush Brothers Inc.

The company has quarterly meetings where the family gets together to go over a variety of issues and opportunities. The executive team also has an expectation that family members get experience at other companies before taking higher leadership roles, said Brakebush.

“Some have worked outside of the company and have brought back ideas into the company, and I think that’s important, the education part of it,” said Brakebush. “It makes the company and the family that are working here part of the growth and part of the family.”

Future forward

The succession award is not just for family leadership. 

Scott Sanders, the current chief executive officer, is retiring in February after 42 years with the company. Both Sanders and the next chief executive officer are not family members, according to Brakebush.  

“Brakebush’s succession strategy, education initiatives, and career opportunities provide team members with the experiences that ensure our company and our customers benefit from strength and continuity in stewardship by a combination of family and nonfamily leaders,” Sanders said in a statement. 

Such initiatives include a series of courses designed to provide leadership skills to individuals wanting to level up through managerial positions. Anyone in the company can participate.

Brakebush also offers an invitation-only leadership development program. This program recognizes individuals who the company believes has the potential to move into higher level leadership roles in the future.

“In the 3 years I’ve been here, I’ve had an opportunity to see firsthand the programs we have in place that try to prepare people for future leadership opportunities and to ensure continuity and the success of the company,” said Tom Nuss, Vice President of Human Resources and General Counsel at Brakebush.

In 2020, 545 team members participated in 13 different workshops and webinars about leadership and soft skills.

The company also has a tuition/education reimbursement program in place for all employees. 100% of books and tuition for general education or business-related coursework is reimbursed.

The journey

ln 1925, Bill and Otto Brakebush went into business buying and reselling eggs from Westfield to cities like Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago. They went on to build an egg-packing plant, and then eventually a poultry processing plant in Westfield.

In 1973, the family exited the chicken slaughtering business and began purchasing chicken from other providers. The company processes chicken pieces and parts at four processing plants around the country.

The Westfield facility employs over 1,100 and processes more than three million pounds of chicken a week, There are three other facilities in Wells, Minnesota; Mocksville, North Carolina; and Irving Texas.

“It gets more difficult because we’re not here in just Wisconsin anymore,” said Brakebush. “To try and make sure those plants all feel like family, it takes a lot of people and a lot of touches.”

Brakebush is one of six new companies on the Wisconsin 75 list this year. The others include Quartz, Findorff, American Packaging Corporation, Equix Inc., Tweet Garot Mechanical.