Schreiber COO shares strategies for success with students
USU alumnus, chief operating officer and president of Schreiber Foods Ronald Dunford visited USU to speak with a room full of students and community members about what he said is a way for everyone to achieve success.
“Success is a few simple principles practiced every day, and just because its simple doesn’t make it easy. But I believe everyone has what it takes to be successful,” Dunford said.
Dunford spoke in the Eccles Conference Center auditorium Wednesday.
Cecile Gilmer, university events director, said she and Annette Hardman, the COO of Advancement at USU, asked Dunford to come to campus after they learned he had not been back in many years.
“Ron is exactly the kind of alumnus we would like to have come to campus to help students learn from his experience of how to be successful, reach their potential and learn lessons that will really transcend beyond their academic years here at USU,” Gilmer said.
Dunford graduated from USU in 1986 with a degree in geology, but said he was not always the most dedicated or diligent student.
“I hope many of you have been more successful in your attempts to fit in a semester’s worth of work into two weeks than I was,” he said. “My first college GPA was probably somewhere approaching a 0.8.”
Even with less-than-successful academics early in his college career, Dunford said he’s served many years with Schreiber Foods, based in Green Bay, Wis.
Schreiber Foods is a $4 billion privately held company with 22 locations in eight countries, including one in Logan.
Dunford said many people have likely encountered his products without knowing it, such as cheese at restaurants such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s and In-N-Out Burger, cream cheese at Einstein’s Bagels, many dairy products with Western Family food products, and several major brands of Greek yogurt currently on the market.
“Even if you haven’t heard of Schreiber Foods, our products are out there all over the place,” Dunford said. “We like to keep pretty private and our customers like that, too. We’re a customer brand dairy company.”
Dunford said there are five principles he’s found through his study of leadership and success that resonate with him the most. He said it is important to dream big, expect success, work smart, play fair and have fun.
“If something you hear today resonates with you, try it,” Dunford said. “Even if it doesn’t work for you, don’t worry, because success and success principles are personal.”
After Dunford spoke, audience member Holden Brown said he found the talk helpful and encouraging.
“I enjoyed how almost all of the advice was very general,” said Brown, a senior majoring in exercise science. “It was really open to anyone, not just business-interested people.”
“One thing I’ll take away was about having positive expectations,” Brown said. “If you want something, go out and get it — it’s all up to you.”
Gilmer said the presentation was so well received that requests to post video footage online were honored. The seminar is available on the USU website.
“His message really resonates with anyone who wants to be successful, both students and faculty alike,” Gilmer said.
– timothyjbarber@gmail.com