We’re governing with grace… and Grace (Grace Singleton, that is!)

“Is Zingerman’s still run by its founders?” you ask. That’s a great question. We’ll answer with a tale, both old and new (just like our pickles!). What began with the Delicatessen, founded in 1982 by Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, now includes 11 food and service businesses, 18 managing partners, 800 employees, and a council of leaders among leaders (hang tight, we’ll explain that in a minute).

An Overview of Zingerman’s Governance

Since 1994, the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) has been steered by our Partners Group (PG), a group that includes Ari and Paul, the ZCoB’s managing partners (the individual business owner-operators), and staff partners (staff members who own a Community Share; they serve two-year terms). As Ari explains:

It’s where we govern the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses—we use consensus decision-making there to lead the organization. The PG makes decisions on organization-wide issues, like deciding to approve our new 2032 Vision or our new Statement of Beliefs. Or if there was, in a strange sci-fi sort of scenario, just for conversation’s sake, let’s say a global pandemic, the PG is where we would decide how to deal with it.

One important piece that the 2032 Vision outlines is the ZCoB’s evolution of governance:

… we’ve seen a successful transition from Ari and Paul as founders heading the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB) to a mode of governance that will last beyond the tenure of any individual. While long-time ZCoB leaders continue in important roles, a couple of new “generations” of insightful, collaborative folks have stepped forward.

That mode of governance is the Zingerman’s Stewardship Council, a five-member group created in 2020 as part of a succession plan to transition the leadership of the organization from its founders to the other managing partners. To be clear, the Partners Group isn’t going anywhere, rather, as Ari says, “The Stewardship Council is filling the role Paul and I have filled for many years as ‘leaders among leaders.’” He adds:

Our main focus in doing this work with the Stewardship Council is, by far and away, looking at how we can do what we do here at Zingerman’s ever more effectively. We want it to be a way to help lead the ZCoB in becoming an ever-bigger contributor to the community of which we’re a part. We want to support succession and inspire future success. We’re committed to creating a governance model that will help both the organization and everyone in it to thrive for many decades to come.

The original council members include Amy Emberling, Zingerman’s Bakehouse co-managing partner; Toni Morell, Zingerman’s Mail Order co-managing partner; Tom Root, Zingerman’s Mail Order co-managing partner; Ron Maurer, Zingerman’s Chief Administrative Officer and Zingerman’s Service Network managing partner; and Ari Weinzweig. Council members serve three-year terms, and just like the Partners Group, decisions are made using consensus. In June of 2023, we reached the end of the first set of three-year terms. The Council has been designed so that one of these original managing partners will come off each year—the first was Ron Maurer who has his eye on retirement in 2023 after more than two decades with the organization—and a new one is selected. Ari explains how that happens:

Our agreed-upon process for selecting members is that Paul and I, as co-founding partners, consult with our staff partners (since they’re not eligible to be on the Council) and others whose views we value, to make the decision. After a LOT of conversation, and honoring what we believe is the best decision for the organization, we chose the next member. 

This time, Ari and Paul offered the spot to Grace Singleton, co-managing partner of Zingerman’s Deli since 2004. Grace knew from the beginning that she was destined for a life full of food (and she may or may not have thought the food industry would be glamorous thanks to a New Orleans restaurant where she received special treatment, sitting at the captain’s table and sampling Frangelico (a hazelnut liquor) at the age of 13!).  Grace received her culinary degree at Paul Smith’s College in New York and managed restaurants across Ohio (we don’t hold this against her) and Michigan.

She found her way to Ann Arbor for the role of general manager at the Gandy Dancer and became a fan of Zingerman’s Deli. Eventually, she made the jump, calling it “the very best job in the food industry,” and in 2004, she stepped up from retail manager to co-managing partner. Since then, Grace has overseen the gold level LEED-certified Deli expansion project (2010–2014), the opening of Zingerman’s Greyline event space (2016), the addition of virtual tasting events for fans around the country (2021), and more, all while continuing to lead the day-to-day of Deli catering and retail specialty foods. (Impressive, right?!) Of this new role and her latest opportunity to impact the Zingerman’s organization and the Ann Arbor community, she says:

I’ve been here for more than 20 years and I’m really invested in the transition of our CEO’s roles. Ari in particular set the stage with his dedication to doing business differently and how we govern is an important part of that. I look forward to working toward our future with this committed group.

Want to read more? Ari wrote about Grace’s addition to the Council and the work of the Stewardship Council in Ari’s Top 5, his weekly e-newsletter, saying, “Success leads to succession work which, when done well, helps create more success. It’s a very virtuous and very inspiring cycle to be a part of.”

Paul and Ari deliver message of generosity and kindness

This past Saturday, Zingerman’s founding partners had the distinct privilege of giving the 2015 Spring Commencement address for graduating University of Michigan students at Michigan Stadium. Both Ari and Paul are University of Michigan alumni.

Each also received an honorary Doctor of Laws, and they shared this honor with five other notable people who also received honorary degrees:

• The Honorable John Dingell, former U.S. Congressman for Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, Doctor of Laws.
• Sanford R. Robertson, pioneering venture capitalist, founding partner of Francisco Partners and U-M alumnus, Doctor of Laws.
• Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Prize winning economist, best-selling author and U-M alumnus, Doctor of Science. Dr. Shiller also is Rackham Graduate Exercises speaker.
•  Robin Wright, award-winning journalist, author, foreign correspondent and U-M alumna, Doctor of Humane Letters.
• Dr. Tadataka Yamada, global health expert and former faculty member in the Medical School, Doctor of Science.

Here’s a link to the ceremonies on YouTube. Paul and Ari’s address begins at the 59:50 mark.

The full transcript of the speech appears below.

University of Michigan Commencement, May 2, 2015

PAUL: When most people think of Zingerman’s success, they picture a line of people stretching from Detroit St. to Division, A sandwich so big it takes two hands to pick it up. And when you finally bite into it the Russian dressing rolls down your arms. Reporters write about our vision, our values, and our marketing skills.

ARI: There’s huge value, of course, to each of those things.  But what very few folks ever ask, what reporters rarely write about, and what hardly anyone seems to really be all that interested in, is what we believe. While vision, values, quality, customer service, marketing, and making money are all important, we believe . . . that what we believe . . . makes a big difference! The beliefs that we choose—or those we hold, but don’t acknowledge—will form the footprint for everything else that happens in our lives. As writer Claude Bristol said 75 years ago, “As individuals think and believe, so they are.”

PAUL: To be clear, it’s not for us to tell you what to do with your lives once you leave here.

ARI: But we can share with you some of the key beliefs that underlie all that we’ve done in our organization, beliefs that have laid the base for us to build a healthy business that provides meaningful employment to over 700 people. Beliefs that contribute positively to our community in many, many ways. Beliefs about people and processes that are being adapted in places as far afield as Australia, Slovakia, and Ethiopia. Beliefs that have helped build a business that—33 years later—we both still love working in, literally, every single day. Paul?

PAUL: I believe it’s rarely a good idea to read the comments others make about you on social media, but who can resist? Right after we were named as commencement speakers, I read this post: “WOW, WHOEVER WAS THE FIRST CHOICE MUST HAVE BACKED OUT.” I laughed, too, but it hit me what an immense honor and opportunity this was. In the interest of reciprocity, I committed to give to you the best of what I have to offer . . . other than a $16 Rueben.

To do that Class of 2015, mentally pull up your “Must Have” list for success and scan it. Really, take it out and give it a good look. Raise your hand if joy is at the top of that list? It wasn’t on my list when I graduated from this fine institution. Joy is not the typical yardstick of success. Will the bank ask for your joy quotient when you renegotiate your student loans? Not likely. So why would you want joy on your list, and what IS it, anyway?

Joy is a feeling so profound that it sits at the top of the human experience chart. Just above love and just below peace and enlightenment. To feel joy, you don’t have to wait until you’re old, like us, I believe you can have it now, starting today. How? Generosity.Generosity leads to joy. It’s simple and it’s guaranteed.

Generosity follows the natural law of the harvest—you reap more than you sow. When you give, you get more back. Minimally, you get a joy buzz. Research tells us that generosity kicks off a “feel good” hormone in your brain called the “helper’s high” that can last up to two hours…and it’s legal. Even outside of Ann Arbor.

I am not telling you to take a vow of poverty. Earn money, as much as you like. See the world. Buy a nice car. Get rewarded for hard work. Just know that these things don’t bring joy like being generous does.

Another natural law of generosity is that it’s self-perpetuating—just like the yeasty starter the Bakehouse uses to bake zillions of loaves of Zingerman’s rye and sourdough breads. What applies to bread applies to people. The mother starter of Generosity is also passed down through generations. This was proven in a study by the National Academy of Science where one person’s act of generosity inspired others to be generous, spreading to dozens, even hundreds, of people, known and unknown.

I’ve got my own proof for you: three true stories from my life illustrating the natural laws of generosity.

I’ll begin with “my starter”—my grandfather, Ben Sherman. We called him Zadie. That’s Yiddish for grandfather. I think about his big smile and hearty laugh, how he warmed me with his presence. I realize now that he was joyful because he embodied generosity. In my early teens, I worked at his machine shop in a rough part of Detroit. Frequently, homeless men wandered into the shop looking for a hand out, and Zadie invited each one to go next door to Joe’s Bar and Grille, saying, “Get yourself a hot meal and put it on my tab.” Zadie told me two things I’ll never forget: “Half of what you have belongs to those who need it,” and “If you’re successful, make the people around you successful.” With this wisdom in mind, Ari and I added the crucial ingredient of generosity into Zingerman’s business plan from day one.

My second story has Mrs. Johnnie Mae Seeley as the “starter.” She is a tiny, elderly angel in our neighborhood who got the Deli to bag up our unsold bread and rolls every night for her church to parcel out. Her generous act inspired Zingerman’s to found and launch the nonprofit Food Gatherers in 1988 with a mission to eradicate hunger in our county. 27 years later, Food Gatherers distributes over 6 million pounds of food every year to our neighbors in need. Every day I feel profound joy for the work Food Gatherers does in our community.

My final story demonstrates how Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, our partnership model based on Zadie’s advice of making those around you successful, was put to the test in 2001. Ari and I had pledged a quarter of a million dollars to build a shiny commercial kitchen inside the county’s new homeless shelter. Our funding was to come from a business venture slated to open at Detroit’s new McNamara Terminal. Several days after 9/11, the airport project folded, and our kitchen funding vanished. When I heard this, I actually had to lie down on the floor of my office for over an hour. Ari and I had to break the news to all of our Zingerman’s partners in the wake of the national tragedy. It was agonizing. How were we going to honor our commitment? What happened next would have made Zadie and Mrs. Seeley weep with joy. Our partners shocked us with their decision to take on the entire quarter million dollars. I was stunned and overcome with joy our partners had now become the next generation of starters. Seeded by their generosity, today that kitchen prepares one hundred thousand hot meals each year.

So . . . when you leave here today with your Must Have list, I invite to measure your success, not so much by what you gain or accomplish for yourself, but rather by what you contribute to others. I believe practicing generosity is the way to joy. It’s free for the taking. Or should I say . . . for the giving.

Ari? I told them what I believe. What do you believe?

ARI: I believe that active, engaging, interesting learning is very clearly at the core of a great life.   Probably the one thing that this amazing institution—of which everyone, in this very big emotional and intellectual house, is a part—has been trained in, more than any other single thing, is how to learn. The challenge though is that, when you leave here today, there are no more grades to be gotten, no more professors to pass judgment. And when there’s no one pressuring us do to it, there are a hundred reasons not to open a book, not to go to an interesting lecture, not to read a poem. Working hard at learning doesn’t win headlines, but it’s clear to me that the people who keep doing it regularly almost always live powerfully positive lives.

I believe that our lives are radically more rewarding when we actively own our choices. I wish I’d understood this the day I graduated—unfortunately it took me another fifteen years to figure it out.  Owning my own choices changed my life. The reality of the world is that—everything I do, everything you do, is a choice. No one made us go to school, no one makes us to go work, or read a book or be kind. No one makes us do anything.  We can choose to be generous, we can choose to care, we can choose to make a positive difference. Perhaps most powerfully of all—if we choose to pay attention—we have the power to choose what we believe.

I believe that, although history focuses mostly on the big headlines, it’s really the little things that matter most. Your grandmother’s hug today. The notes you took on your favorite book assignment this year. The small gesture of generosity you did to help someone in need. A thank-you note to the people who clean the rooms, and run the phones, and make this university go, so that you and I could go to class and get grades and graduate. In that sense, I believe with great strength that everything matters and everyone matters. The people who are least likely to be consulted in a company, or included in society. The sky. A smile. The stars. Your mother. This moment. Your dog. The person you walked by on the stairs on the way in, and the one you walk by again on the way out.

I believe that simple kindness matters more than most people will admit. That if instead of getting angry at others, we appreciate; that instead of blaming, we give blessings; that instead of keeping score we live out the generosity of spirit that Paul just detailed so powerfully. Kindness is free, and kindness counts! We believe what Paul Hawken wrote: “Being a good human being is good business.”

I believe that—contrary to what much of the world would say—hard work can be one of the most rewarding things one ever engages in.  Not just any work, but good work, work you believe in, work that brings the generosity and joy that Paul just talked about so beautifully; work that makes a positive difference for you, for the world; work that matters, work that you care about. Hard work like that may not get the glamor, but it is almost always exceptionally rewarding.

I believe that perhaps the hardest work we have to undertake is the work no one else sees, and that no else can ever do for us. It’s the lifelong challenge to manage ourselves effectively, to make peace with ourselves and turn our natural ability into a positive and powerful presence in the world. Although it almost never comes up in post-graduate conversation it’s at the core of everything else we will ever do for the rest of our lives.

I believe that everyone—everyone—in the world is a unique, caring, creative, individual. Walking our own way while still respecting the world around us is no small feat. Holding our own course can be uncomfortable, but it’s essential if we’re going to truly live lives that we—not everyone else who has input—really own. Despite what higher ups in the hierarchy might tell you, I believe what Rollo May wrote—that “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it’s conformity.”

It was hard for me to comprehend when I was 21 but I believe, ever more strongly with each passing day, that every single minute really does matter. Life, when it comes down to it, is very, very short. There are a thousand reasons to sleep in, to drink another beer, to put things off till tomorrow or two weeks from Tuesday. But I believe what author Annie Dillard said—that, “The way we spend our days is the way we spend our lives.” Every minute we spend worrying, every minute we spend waiting for someone else to improve, is a minute we don’t spend doing something meaningful for the people we care about, for the world, for ourselves.

I believe that going for greatness, greatness as you—and not everyone else in the world—defines it, is energizing. I believe that uniqueness like that is exciting. Empowering. Emma Goldman said “When we can’t dream any longer we die.” Choosing greatness, choosing to push your own envelope, to find ways to be more generous, to find more joy, to learn more, study harder, and make a more positive difference is what leads to a great life.

I believe that one of the best ways to makes our lives into the artistic, positive, amazing existences we want to them to be, is to write out a vision of what that life will look like when we’ve successfully made it a reality. I believe that anyone of you who is willing push “pause,” and to gently ask the voices in their heads to step aside for an hour so you can write out that kind of personal vision of greatness, their true dream, can come darned close to making that life a reality. They may not make the most money, they may not have the fanciest car, but they will find fulfillment and equally importantly they will help many others find it as well. The visioning process, the initial work on which was done here at U of M fifty years ago, is the single best tool I know to make that happen. And I’m happy—though it might take a while if you all take me up on it – to meet with any graduate who wants help with the visioning process. I believe that anyone who does that work will pretty surely lead an amazing life.

Most importantly, for today’s purposes, I believe in YOU—by dint of the fact that you have done what you have done to earn the right to be here today, both you and the world know that you have the intelligence, you have the emotional resilience, you have the connections, you have the capability, to do great things. To help make the world a meaningfully better place than it was yesterday   You have the power. As African American anarchist Ashanti Alston said: “You all can do this. You have the vision. You have the creativity. Do not allow anyone to lock that down.”

PAUL: Class of 2015, congratulations! Be generous!

ARI: Be joyful!

PAUL: Be great!

ARI: Make a difference!

Kudos to Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig! 

Paul and Ari will receive Doctor of Laws degrees

We’re thrilled and honored to announce that Zingerman’s founding partners will deliver the 2015 Spring Commencement address for the Ann Arbor campus on May 2nd at Michigan Stadium. Both Ari and Paul are University of Michigan alum. 

Each will also receive an honorary Doctor of Laws, and they’ll share this honor with five others also receiving honorary degrees:

• John Dingell, former U.S. Congressman for Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, Doctor of Laws.

• Sanford R. Robertson, pioneering venture capitalist, founding partner of Francisco Partners and U-M alumnus, Doctor of Laws.

• Robert J. Shiller, Nobel Prize winning economist, best-selling author and U-M alumnus, Doctor of Science.
Dr. Shiller also is Rackham Graduate Exercises speaker.

• Robin Wright, award-winning journalist, author, foreign correspondent and U-M alumna, Doctor of Humane Letters.

• Dr. Tadataka Yamada, global health expert and former faculty member in the Medical School, Doctor of Science.

Here’s a link to the Michigan Daily, who first broke the story.

Here’s a link to the story on the Ann Arbor News site. 

Kudos to Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig! 

Zingerman’s Co-Founders, Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, were inducted into the Specialty Food Association Hall of Fame at a galat even on Sunday, January 11. Please see the press release below for more details. 

Specialty Food Association Establishes Hall of Fame

Inductees to be Celebrated at Winter Fancy Food Show

NEW YORK (Jan. 5, 2015) – The Specialty Food Association has established a Hall of Fame to honor individuals who have played significant roles in creating and shaping the $88.3 billion specialty food industry.

The inaugural inductees include 114 individuals who helped establish the specialty food industry in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as pioneers in specialty food retailing, tastemakers, and culinary innovators who are continuing to change tastes today.

“The specialty food industry is built on the creativity and passion of individuals who have worked hard to bring top-quality food and new flavors to market. We are proud to recognize these pioneers,” says Specialty Food Association President Ann Daw.

Inductees include Chuck Williams, Williams-Sonoma; David Bigelow and Eunice Bigelow, Biglow Tea; Julee Rosso, Silver Palate and Jerry Kehe and Joe Shannon, KeHE Foods. The inaugural class was selected by Association members and members of the Hall of Fame Committee.

See the full list of 114 inductees.

The inductees will be celebrated on Jan. 11, 2015, at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco as part of a special event that also includes the Association’s Leadership Awards and a keynote address by Seth Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Honest Tea. The event is 5 – 6:30 p.m. at Moscone Center.

About the Specialty Food Association
The Specialty Food Association is a thriving community of food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs who bring craft, care and joy to the distinctive foods they produce. Established in 1952 in New York, the not-for-profit trade association provides its 3,000 members in the U.S. and abroad the tools, knowledge and connections to champion and nurture their companies in an ever-evolving marketplace. The Association owns and produces the Winter and Summer Fancy Food Shows, and presents the sofi™ Awards honoring excellence in specialty food. Learn more at specialtyfood.com.

Congratulations to Paul and Ari! 

Paul Saginaw Named a ‘Champion of Change’ for Wage Increase Work

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 18, 2014

White House Honors Raise the Wage “Champions of Change”

WASHINGTON, DC – On Tuesday, July 22, 2014 at 1:00PM, the White House will honor local “Champions of Change,” leaders and ordinary Americans taking action to raise wages for working women and men around the country. The honorees are activists, advocates, business owners and workers who are looking to reestablish the basic promise that no American working 40 hours a week should have to live in poverty.

These Champions distinguished themselves through their community involvement, hard work and sacrifice.  This event will showcase these inspirational leaders and highlight the importance of providing all Americans with the dignity of a decent wage.

The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities. The event will be live streamed on the White House website. To watch this event live, visitwww.whitehouse.gov/live.  To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program, visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions.

Bene’t Holmes, Riverdale, IL
Bene’t Holmes is an advocate, leader and a mother. She works for Walmart and is paid $8.75 an hour. Bene’t is involved with the movement “Respect the Bump,” which calls for a stronger policy for pregnant workers and will allow them to work while protecting their health. Benet has been calling for the company to publicly commit to paying a minimum of $25,000 a year, providing full time work and ending the company’s illegal retaliation against workers who are speaking out for better jobs.

Saru Jayaraman, Oakland, CA
Saru Jayaraman is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley. After 9/11, together with displaced World Trade Center workers, she co-founded ROC in New York. ROC organizes restaurant workers to win workplace justice campaigns, conduct research and policy work, partner with responsible restaurants, and launch cooperatively-owned restaurants. Saru graduated from Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She also authored national bestseller, Behind the Kitchen Door. 

Naquasia LeGrand, Brooklyn, NY
Naquasia LeGrand has emerged as a leader in the growing movement to achieve a living wage for all fast food workers. Although she has been employed at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Brooklyn, New York for more than three years, Naquasia still earns the New York State minimum wage of $8.00 per hour and struggles to make ends meet. Since joining the first ever strike of 200 fast food workers in New York City in November 2012, Naquasia has worked tirelessly to organize fellow fast food workers around the country, encouraging them to stand up for their rights and for a better life for their families.    

Christine Owens, Washington, DC
Christine Owens is Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), a leading workers’ rights advocacy organization that brings research and organizing support to lift wages and improve jobs for all of America’s workers. Guided by the belief that anyone who works for a living should earn a decent living from work, Christine’s leadership at NELP played major roles in the federal minimum wage campaigns of the past two decades. This started with the coalition that won the 1996 increase and extending to coordination of the current campaign to raise the federal minimum wage to a historic high of more than $10.00 an hour.  

Lew Prince, St. Louis, MO
Lew Prince is co-owner and Managing Partner of Vintage Vinyl Inc. in St. Louis and a longtime spokesperson for Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a network of business owners and executives who believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense. Lew played an influential role in the successful campaigns to raise the Missouri minimum wage in 2006 and to pass the last federal minimum wage in 2007. He continues to be a leader in Business for a Fair Minimum Wage efforts to raise the minimum wage today. He has testified both in the Missouri Legislature and before U.S. Senate committees about the business case for raising the minimum wage. 

Karla Quezada, Arlington, VA
Karla Quezada is a leader in the Good Jobs Nation campaign, a campaign of low wage federal contract workers standing up and demanding changes at their work places. After working 6 years for Subway inside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building, Karla and her co-workers decided to stand up and raise their voices to fight against wage theft and other abuses. After going on strike 7 times during 2013, Karla and her colleagues filed a wage theft complaint with the Department of Labor and garnered enough attention to their struggle that President Obama announced an executive order to raise the wages of federal contract workers like Karla and her colleagues to $10.10 an hour.  

David Rolf, Seattle, WA
David Rolf is the President of the Seattle-based Local 775 of the Service Employees International Union, the fastest growing union the Northwest representing 43,000 home care and nursing home workers in Washington state and Montana. He also serves as an International Vice President of the Service Employees International Union. Rolf, 44, has led some of the largest organizing efforts since the 1930s. He helped organize 75,000 care givers in Los Angles in 1999 and led the campaign to raise wages to $15 in SeaTac, Washington, in 2013, the first successful $15 ballot initiative. In 2014, David co-chaired Seattle’s Income Inequality Advisory Committee (IIAC). The IIAC was the group entrusted by Mayor Ed Murray to formulate what would become Seattle’s historic $15 wage ordinance, which will raise wages for more than 100,000 workers. 

Paul Saginaw, Ann Arbor, MI
Paul Saginaw is Co-Founder and Chief Spiritual Officer (CSO), of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses. The “community” is a network of 9 brand-connected, owner-operated run businesses that are permanently rooted in Ann Arbor. Some highlights of the Zingerman’s culture include good wages, health benefits, paid time-off, classes on open book finance for all employees, and a Community Chest fund built from profits to meet employees’ emergency financial needs. With Zingerman’s as its sponsor, Paul founded a nonprofit food rescue program, Food Gatherers, which currently provides 7 tons of nutritious food daily to agencies countywide, serving as a board member for 25 years and now as Director Emeritus. 

Rafael Sanchez, Los Angeles, CA
Rafael Sanchez III is the second child of immigrants from Mexico. For as long as he can remember, Rafael has wanted to be a teacher. He comes from a family of educators and sees teaching as a way to give back to his community. Currently, he is a Degree Track Teacher’s Assistant at Bell High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has worked for the school district for 10 years and earns $10.74 an hour. He is currently a student at California State University, Los Angeles, majoring in history for his secondary credential. The recession, furlough days and stagnant wages have interfered with his dream. It has been difficult to finish his studies. That is why Rafael joined with others in his union, Service Employees International Union Local 99, to fight for and win, a $15 minimum wage. Rafael was part of the bargaining team that negotiated this landmark contract agreement with the second largest school district in the nation.

Congratulations to Paul and all the Champions of Change!

The chief executive stops by for lunch

On Wednesday, Zingerman’s Deli received a surprise visit from the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. The president, who was in town to deliver a speech promoting an increase in the minimum wage at the University of Michigan, decided to have lunch at Zingerman’s Deli.

Zingerman’s co-founder, Paul Saginaw has been a strong proponent of increasing the minimum wage. This past January, he joined other business leaders from around the country and traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with US Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez.

Just after that meeting, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-MI, State Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor, and State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor met with Zingerman’s Deli staff and Ann Arbor business owners at the Deli to discuss proposed increases in the state and federal minimum wage. Rep. Dingell praised Paul’s trip to Washington, saying, “It says that there’s conviction there…” President Obama must have agreed with that sentiment, because he invited Paul and Lori Saginaw to attend the speech, and arranged to have them driven to the event.

Instead, Paul, Lori, and the Deli staff were happily surprised when the presidential staff informed them that the president had decided to have one of the Deli’s world-famous sandwiches prior to giving his speech. At that point, police and U.S. Secret Service agents secured the Deli and the surrounding area, closing it off to all traffic.

A few minutes later, the presidential motorcade arrived and out stepped President Obama, along with U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-MI. Paul and Lori met the pair inside the Deli, and gave them a quick tour before ordering lunch.

President Obama ordered a classic #2 Reuben sandwich, along with a crunchy garlic pickle and a side of spinach salad. Rep. Peters joked that since the president was buying, he’d have the same.

President Obama and Rep. Peters then greeted Deli staff and guests, shaking hands and smiling for photos and smartphone videos. One guest briefly lamented that he would be late work, but a guest at another table assured him, “Don’t worry–you have the best excuse ever!” A few minutes later, he was overheard on his phone saying, “You’ll never guess what happened…”

The President then went upstairs to have a private lunch with three servers in various metro area restaurants. The workers, Graham Kovich, of Warren; Aisha Thurman, a mother of three; and Mira Friedlander, a senior at the University of Michigan are all in favor of an increase in the minimum wage.

After lunch, the president again greeted Deli guests:

Then Paul and Lori again joined the president, and all traveled to the University of Michigan’s IM building for the main event. During his speech, President Obama talked about why he decided to stop at Zingerman’s. The remarks were captured on video:

Thank you, Mr. President!

MLive reporter Jessica Webster wrote a nice first-person account of the president’s visit.

Listen to Paul’s remarks about increasing the minimum wage on Michigan Radio’s Stateside program, and about the president’s visit on  Michigan’s Big Show with Michael Patrick Shiels.

 Hail to the Chief!