Barber Foods exec tapped for Obama jobs summit
A representative of Portland's Barber Foods will meet with President Obama on Thursday as part of a jobs summit at the White House.
David Barber, executive vice president of Barber Foods, a Portland-based food processing company with a special focus on employing immigrants and refugees, said he is honored to accept the invitation.
"I'm very excited about it," Barber said Tuesday in an interview, "I'm honored that they picked somebody from Maine, and I'm honored that they picked me."
Barber said he was driving home from work one night when he heard a news report on the radio about the jobs summit. Thursday's event is expected to brings together CEOs and economists to brainstorm about how to bring down the unemployment rate, which is now at 10.2 percent nationally. The guest list includes the CEOs of Google, Comcast, Boeing, Disney, and FedEx, as well as labor leaders and prominent economists.
Barber said he wrote a letter to the White House asking to be included on President Obama's list of attendees, noting that he had advice for easing joblessness.
"I wrote him a letter and said, 'You've got to have me come. I'm exactly who you should be listening to,'" he recalled.
Barber said he can share both "great success stories" and suggestions of how to make regulations work better. As to his specific advice, Barber said he preferred to share that with the president first before tipping his hand.
Hearing about the event, Barber said he felt that small businesses could be better represented.
Elizabeth Vale, business liaison in the White House's Office of Public Engagement, responded to Barber's letter and formalized the White House's invitation. The email response came dated the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, although, due to the holiday, Barber said he didn't read it until the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Barber was given a boost by Maine leaders, including Gov. John Baldacci, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, who pushed for his inclusion.
The founder of Barber Foods, Gus Barber, served in the Army during World War II and later worked as a welder in the shipyards of South Portland, according to a company biography.
"Gus founded Barber Beef and Poultry in 1955 after working as a meat cutter at a Congress Street shop owned by John Martin called the 20th Century Market. Over the years, the company adopted the Barber Foods name and grew from a kitchen-based operation to a company of 800 employees. The son of immigrants who fled the Ottoman empire, Gus provided jobs to many who came to the Portland area. Today, more than 40 percent of the company's employees are immigrants, some even take English courses at the company," the biography noted.
Barber Foods employs workers from 61 different countries, according to the company's website (www.barberfoods.com).
After Gus Barber died in 2008, Barber Foods remained an independent, family-owned company with his children Steve, Julie, David and Kathy serving as owners and trustees.
The Institute for Family Owned Business, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting family-owned businesses in Maine, awarded Barber Foods a Gannett Business of the Year award in 2002.
"They're a major player in the Maine economy," said Thomas Juenemann, director of the institute.
Barber would be in a unique position to offer advice to the president; he has continued his father's commitment to hiring immigrants and helping them gain citizenship, Juenemann noted.
"I think they do a very nice job of providing strong community orientation and a particular orientation of hiring people who find themselves here and are less fortunate," he noted.
Barber said Barber Foods enjoyed a very strong November but overall has felt the effects of the recession, noting, "This has been a rough year. With a downturn in the hospitality industry, food services companies have been hurt."
But he looked forward to President Obama's job summit, stating, "I'm very excited about the meeting Thursday. We're ready to go."
Barber expected to attend the general conference and was selected to participate in a break-out session on expanding job opportunities through exports, according to a Barber Foods press release.
