William G. Rohrer Business Leader of the Year

The first recipient of the William G. Rohrer Business Leader of the Year Award is President and CEO of J&J Snack Foods Corp. Gerald Shreiber.

The Bridgeton native began his career as a machine shop trainee with Kulicke & Soffa and moved into production and sales management positions before starting his own firm that manufactured specialty machine parts. He sold that company in 1970, and he formed J&J Snack Foods in 1971 after purchasing a bankrupt soft pretzel company. Gerry transformed that eight-employee firm with sales of $400,000 into a thriving international company with more than 3,000 employees and sales of more than $800 million a year. J&J went public in 1986 (NASDAQ - JJSF) and today is recognized as a niche organization in the multi-billion-dollar snack food and beverage industry, with such well-known products as Superpretzel, Icee, Luigi's and Minute Maid.

J&J and Gerry have received numerous awards, including making Forbes "200 Best Small Companies" list seven times; earning the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award twice; and receiving the Golden Slipper Camp's Angel of the Year Award, the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Variety Club's Gold Heart Award and Animal Adoption Center's South Jersey Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Gerry has served on the boards of the Jewish Community Center of Atlantic County and the Federation of Jewish Charities. He was a founder of the American Associates, Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. He and his company sponsor many organizations and charities, including the ALS Association, Children's Hospital and the United Way. He is heavily involved in animal causes, and he created a foundation, S.A.F.E. (Shreiber Animal Foundation Enterprise).

He is a resident of Mullica Hill, where he resides on a pastoral farm with his five dogs (all of which are rescues), six horses, two burros and two pygmy goats. He has three children and six grandchildren.

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