“What everybody’s trying to do is see how much money they’ll have when they die. I believe in giving back,” said Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods.

The story of Bob’s Red Mill is an intimate tale of “family, fire, flour and faith,” said moderator Craig Ostbo.

It is also a story of generosity—both toward the employees that work for Moore and the community that supports his business.

Moore is best known for turning his multi-million dollar company over to his employees in 2010 via an employee stock ownership plan.

Moore discussed his business philosophy on Oct. 22, in Ice Auditorium.

Ostbo, an international business major through Linfield’s division of continuing education, moderated the discussion.
The story began in Gardena, California, with Moore as the owner of a Mobil Service gas station.

He described how great the customer service was at the core of his business, including running out to cars as they pulling in and checking everything from the tires to the radiator while they waited for gas.

He bounced from job to job over the next decade: owning another gas station, working in the auto department at Sears, as a foreman at a Firestone store and finally as the boss of a JC Penney auto store in Redding, California.

With the second gas station, a Chevron station, Moore ran into financial troubles.

The station was in a ski resort town that did not see any snow the year he bought the station—until they got 14 feet of snow in late January.

The years after were tough for him, his three boys, and his wife.

In 1968, Moore walked into the Carnegie Library in Redding and picked up the first book he saw, which changed his life: George Woodbury’s book, “John Goffe’s Mill.”

Moore felt called to own his own mill after reading the book.

He subsequently wrote to every flour company in the United States, asking if they were selling any mill equipment.

The one response Moore received was “call this guy in Butler, Indiana.”

He did call and ended up buying the remnants of a stone-ground mill operation.

The equipment sat in his garage until he was able to rent a silo in 1972 and start grinding flour.

Soon, Moore left his sons in charge of the mill operation and followed another dream.

He and his wife Charlee came to Oregon to attend the Western Evangelical Seminary in 1978.

Moore wanted to read the bible in its original languages of Hebrew and Greek.

As he and Charlee were out on a walk, quizzing each other on their vocabulary lists, they walked past a flour mill that was for sale.

It had been closed for 22 years.

Soon, the mill was painted red.

From 1978 to 1988, Bob’s Red Mill operated out of the old flour mill.

Their growth was impressive.

They began supplying grains to the nutrition centers at Fred Meyer’s stores.

Moore, believing that “with great success comes responsibility,” chose to share profits with employees and paid a competitive wage.

The fire in this story came in 1988, when an arsonist struck and destroyed the mill.

Moore was not sure he would continue.

After all, he had chased all of his major dreams.

Maybe it was time to move on.

After considering the livelihoods that depended on the mill, Moore chose to take the burnt mills from the old location to a new one in Milwaukee, Oregon.

Today, Moore’s company has over 400 employees and covers a 500,000 square foot complex.

He donated much of the money that he received by selling his stock to the ESOP to research focused on whole grain nutrition and pediatric health.

His philosophy comes down to the advice he gave in parting to those looking to own businesses: “share your success with those who work alongside you.”