HolsumAZ.com > About Us > Holsum in the Community
Soon-after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc of nations in 1990-91, Edward Eisele began to think about how Holsum Bakery in Phoenix might be able to help. The more he thought about the many pieces of used bakery equipment at Holsum that had been displaced by higher-speed equipment and were in storage, the more he thought he might be able to help someone.
A letter to Sen. John McCain was met with great interest, leading to a meeting with the Senator and his staff. Soon-after, things began to happen. Eventually, contact was made with a group of people in Budapest who represented a number of small bakers in the (new) Republic of Hungary all of whom were privately-owned and in need of help.
A simple sorting-out process ensued which eventually led to a brief trip in late 1991 to Hungary, during which time Edward traveled to the small town of Mako in the south of Hungary near the Romanian border. It was here that Edward met Mr. Michael Kiss, a fourth-generation baker who was operating his little bakery in a space growing out of the back of his mother's house!
Upon arrival, Michael informed Edward that a great offer had just been made by the Mayor of the next town, 10 kilometers away: a brand new space that was owned by the town of Csanadpalota had just been vacated by the regional leadership of the Hungarian Communist party. If Michael would move his bakery into the space, the town would give him the space RENT FREE and UTILITIES FREE forever, in exchange for 25% of his profits. Michael asked Edward what he thought?
The rest is history. Michael took them up on their offer, then traveled to Phoenix to inspect the equipment that Edward was making available. Soon-after, the Hungarian government notified Edward to have the palletized equipment onto Dock #34 in Long Beach in 72 hours so that a Hungarian ship could pick it up and transfer it free-of-shipping charges to Hamburg, Germany where Michael would be waiting with a big (rented) truck to haul it to the south of Hungary.
In Edward's small way, he was able to take good, used equipment that he no-longer had need for and make it available to a young man who needed help in jump-starting his little business in post-communist Hungary.
|
