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Late Joe Schwebel to be inducted into Baking Hall of Fame
Induction ceremony will take place in Chicago in February
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Following in his grandmother’s footsteps, the late Joe Schwebel became a business-savvy leader and, now, a Baking Hall of Fame inductee.
Seven years after his grandmother, Dora, was inducted into the Baking Hall of Fame, Joe will be inducted by the American Society of Baking.
“It’s a tremendous source of pride for what he accomplished on behalf of our company and our family,” said Lee Schwebel, Joe’s son and vice-president of Schwebel Baking Co. of Youngstown. “It is recognition well deserved.”
The American Society of Baking will induct four individuals into the Baking Hall of Fame next year: Albert L. Cason of Bud’s Best Cookies in Birmingham, Ala.; Murray and Marvin Lender of Lender’s Bagel Bakery in New Haven, Conn.; and Schwebel, according to bakingbusiness.com.
The induction ceremony will take place at the society’s BakingTech 2017 conference in Chicago in February.
Since its start in 2006, the Baking Hall of Fame has inducted 71 individuals.
Those inducted are “recognized for their achievements in organizational growth and development, equipment design and innovation, advancements in ingredient technology and processing or related service to the commercial baking industry,” according to the American Society of Baking.
“It’s reflective of his success at Schwebel’s and his influence in the baking industry as a whole,” Lee said of his father’s honor.
Schwebel’s, a Mahoning Valley institution, began in the kitchen of Dora and Joseph Schwebel’s Campbell home on June 24, 1906.
Their grandson, Joe Schwebel began his career with Schwebel’s in 1960 after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance. He was the leader of the company from 1985 until he died in 2012.
“He was here for over 52 years,” Lee said. “When he came here it was a small company. When he passed away it was considerably larger.”
Today, Schwebel’s products can be found in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.
The company has grown from baking 40 loaves a day at its start to upward of 1 million packages of bread per day today.
“It has always been family owned and operated,” Lee said.
Joe wasn’t just dedicated to the company his family created, but to the baking industry. He served on the board of Quality Bakers of America; he was a chairman and trustee of the American Institute of Baking; and he was a member of the board of directors of the American Bakers Association.
Joe also spearheaded a collaborative effort between the American Bakers Association and the North America Grain Millers Association in establishing the Grain Foods Foundation.
In the community, Joe served on the board of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, he was a chairman and board member of the Youngstown State University Foundation and he was a chairman and board member of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service.