Panera Bread Company

Time to make the dough …Ronald M. Shaich, CEO of Panera Bread Co. and alumnus of the class of 1976 at Clark University, got his start in business in Worcester.

As a student, Mr. Shaich saw the need on campus for a source of snacks and essentials. So, he founded the General Store, which remained a student-run store at Clark until 2003. Five years after graduating from Clark with a degree in government-international relations and two years after earning a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, Mr. Shaich, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Panera Bread Co., began his career in the bakery-café industry when he opened a small cookie store in downtown Boston. Shortly thereafter, he combined his cookie store operations with a local bakery to co-found Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. In 1993, Mr. Shaich led Au Bon Pain’s purchase of a 19-location bakery-café concept called St. Louis Bread Co., and launched the comprehensive revamp of St. Louis Bread. Under Mr. Shaich’s leadership, the average business volume at St. Louis Bread increased by 75 percent between 1993 and 1997, the year St. Louis Bread began its national expansion using the name Panera Bread Co.

In 1999, Mr. Shaich decided to sell all of Au Bon Pain’s business units, including the flagship Au Bon Pain brand, betting the future of the company on the growth of Panera Bread. The entire company was renamed Panera Bread. Last year, Panera Bread had more than 1,200 bakery-cafés and has been ranked No. 1 by J.D. Power and Associates out of 110 companies for customer satisfaction. “We’re doing the highest volumes of any food-service company outside of casual dining. That’s 20 percent more than a McDonald’s,” Mr. Shaich said. In his 25-plus years as CEO, Mr. Shaich has received widespread recognition for his leadership and, in 2005, he received the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association’s Gold Plate Award as the outstanding leader in the food service industry that year. But everyone knows there’s always a Worcester connection: Mr. Shaich continued his involvement with his alma mater as chairman of Clark’s board of trustees from 1998 to 2001, and continues to support the school where it all started. Poetry to our earsIf you haven’t had the opportunity to meet Worcester poet laureate Gertrude Halstead, here’s your chance. Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Worcester County Poetry Association will help Miss Halstead celebrate her 92nd birthday during “Rare Readings” from 2 to 3:30 p.m. July 20 in the Higgins House, on John Wing Drive off Salisbury Street, Worcester. During this free event, which is open to the public, Miss Halstead will read from her book “memories … like burrs” which recalls her incredible escape from Nazi Germany during World War II. She will be joined by Sam Cornish, poet laureate of Boston, who will read the title poem from “Generations,” which is about the “wonders and woes” of urban life and is the best known of his many published volumes. Olympiad of academiaWhen athletes compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing next month, a group of Nichols College students the same age as some of the competitors will be able to relate to its theme, “One World, One Dream.” “Being on top of the Great Wall of China was a life-changing experience I will never forget,” said senior Ryan Johnston, who recently returned from a 13-day trip to China with other students, alums, faculty and staff of the Dudley school. Mr. Johnston said he was truly impressed by how friendly and accessible the Chinese people were and most enjoyed talking to average Joes on the street, most of whom spoke at least a little English. Libba Moore, associate dean for business, was “fascinated with artifacts from three incredibly different political regimes: emperors and dynasties, Mao’s Communist China, and the contemporary transition to a leading capitalist power today.” Dawn Sherman, assistant dean for special academic programs, couldn’t believe that there were KFC restaurants on practically every corner. After suffering from a sinus infection early in the trip, Miss Sherman was relieved to run into a group of Curry College nurses who were working at a local hospital and advised her on a change in medication. It was professor Rick Hilliard’s third trip to China, but the signs “Everybody Does Every Job” and “This Is a Communist Workshop” stood out to him. Pat Hertzfeld, associate vice president for finance, was startled by China’s wholehearted embrace of internationalization, as evident in the use of English on most signs. “And the spaces are huge. Tiananmen Square holds over a million people. I couldn’t possibly show its true size by taking pictures. We Americans have never seen building on this scale.” The trip’s focus was to examine international business in Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Hong Kong, but it also included visits to important historic and cultural sites. How do I love thee?Rather than reading about the classics, a group of Fitchburg State College students is traveling the road to Verona, made famous as the home of Romeo and Juliet, in the region of the northern Italy with a well-preserved artistic heritage of the Roman, Medieval, Renaissance and Modern periods. The Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State College has awarded $12,000 in scholarships for students to pursue studies in Italian language and culture. Scholarship recipients are: Jeffrey Andree, Stephanie Aguilar, Nicholas Asilo, Megan Benevides, Kate-Lynn Coraccio, Joana Dos Santos, Nathan Fiske, Katrina Gigante, Katie Gowell, Rachael McWeeney, Genna Sandler, Matthew Tomasetti, Amanda Valcourt, Sara Viola and Erik Weikert. Twelve students will use the scholarship money to study in Verona as part of the college’s summer study abroad program; others will put the money toward tuition and fees. The Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State College was established in 1999 by Amelia Gallucci-Cirio, class of 1938. “Amelia’s history with Fitchburg State began in 1934, when she received a scholarship of $150, a considerable amount in 1934, and it enabled her to attend Fitchburg State,” said Anna Mazzaferro, advisory board president for the Center for Italian Culture It’s never too lateAmerica’s largest undergraduate transfer scholarship has been awarded to recent Quinsigamond Community College graduate Gerard Boucher. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship awards up to $30,000 per year to help students transfer from community colleges to complete their bachelor’s degrees at a four-year institution. Mr. Boucher plans to attend Clark University to pursue psychology/therapy, psychology and human services. After 14 years drug- and alcohol-free, Mr. Boucher became a counselor and plans to improve himself academically in order to help more people. “No matter how far someone has strayed from social norms, they are redeemable, recoverable human beings,” said Mr. Boucher. He said he knows this not only because he once might have been deemed “unrecoverable,” but also from his years of experience with others who found themselves in similar situations. Helping handsInstead of jumping into the work force, more than a few Assumption College 2008 graduates have committed to a year or more of volunteer service: Allyse Gruslin will work with inner-city high school students who come to St. Gabriel’s Spiritual Center for Youth on Shelter Island, N.Y., for retreats and other spiritual opportunities. Next month, Caitlyn Jones will head to orientation for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Meghan Lovett is completing the Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers program this summer, and in the fall will teach math and science to middle-schoolers at St. James-St. John School in New Bedford, while working on her master’s degree in school administration at Providence College. Angela Martano will head to Denver in October to work with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, which focuses on disaster relief, environmental aid, educational needs and public safety. She could be assigned to a project anywhere in the United States, wherever there is need. Jaclyn Sargent will volunteer with City Year New Hampshire to tutor at-risk middle school students, work with an after-school program, and direct service projects.