McCrums, County Super Spuds honored

14 years ago

McCrums, County Super Spuds honored

By Scott Mitchell Johnson

Staff Writer

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Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson

    COUNTY SUPER SPUDS in Mars Hill was recently honored with a Congressional Record that was read on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine). The family of Jay and David McCrum has been harvesting potatoes in northern Maine since the mid-1880s. A framed copy of the document was presented to the McCrums last Wednesday by Sharon Campbell, regional representative to Sen. Snowe, who was unable to attend. Pictured are, from left, front row: Jon McCrum, Bob Lunney, David McCrum, Jay McCrum and Sharon Campbell. Back row: Jason Woollard, Nick McCrum, Darrell McCrum and Wade McCrum.

 

    MARS HILL – County Super Spuds, a fifth-generation family-owned potato company in Mars Hill, was recently recognized in a unique place – the floor of the U.S. Senate.
    U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) read a Congressional Record before colleagues in Washington, D.C. lauding the family of Jay and David McCrum, which has been harvesting potatoes in northern Maine since the mid-1880s.
    A framed copy of the document was presented to the McCrums last Wednesday by Sharon Campbell, regional representative to Sen. Snowe, who was unable to attend. Campbell was joined by the full Senate Small Business Committee staff.
    “The Congressional Record really honors small businesses for the hard work that they do,” said Campbell. “They’re the economic backbone of Maine and give back to the community. The McCrum family is well known for their giving nature, and Sen. Snowe felt it was an easy choice to honor them.”
    Wally Hsueh, staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, was happy to meet the McCrum family and tour the facility.
    “The owners said they’ve had one year without any accidents which is great, and the innovation that they use is incredible,” said Hsueh. “It’s all about working hard and keeping jobs in Maine, and County Super Spuds does that.”
    According to the Congressional Record, it was Lemuel McCrum who, in 1886, moved across the border from New Brunswick, Canada, to Mars Hill in order to establish a future for his family in potato farming. Lemuel and his wife, Ada, had 14 children, teaching them the value of good stewardship of the land and work ethic, thus ensuring that future McCrums would harvest bountiful crops on the same land.
    In the 1960s, Dana McCrum, a member of the family’s third generation, moved to a new location in Mars Hill, where County Super Spuds has been situated ever since. The fourth generation of McCrums – Jay and David – began their farming in 1972, and they were joined by their sister’s husband, Bob Lunney, in the late 1970s. The family’s fifth generation – Jay’s sons, Darrell and Wade – joined the business in 1996, and David’s sons, Nicholas and Jonathan, and Bob’s son-in-law, Jason Woollard, started this past season.
    Since its founding, County Super Spuds has grown into a thriving business that now encompasses three subsidiaries – JDR Transport, a family trucking firm launched in 1992; Penobscot McCrum, LLC, a potato processing plant in Belfast that supplies spuds to customers and restaurants around the world; and Sunday River Falls, a 500-acre farming operation in Rumford Point. McCrum family members all operate and manage these firms, which stretch across the state of Maine.
    Additionally, the McCrum principle of seeking and finding resolutions to issues of quality assurance with their crops was epitomized by their decision in 2006 to begin utilizing a new GPS system. This technique assists the McCrums in accurate equipment placement within its fields in order to maintain the highest quality product for the nation’s dinner tables.
    “With annual growth of between 11 and 18 percent in recent years, County Super Spuds and the McCrum family have certainly made a positive impact not only within the Maine economy but across the nation,” said Snowe in the Congressional Record. “Their high business acumen and work ethic have distinguished them as a profitable and trusted company.
    “As the McCrum family continues in the footsteps of their forefathers, they remain an invaluable asset in one of Maine’s most prestigious and vital industries,” she said. “I congratulate the McCrums and everyone at County Super Spuds for their work to promote Maine potatoes across the country, and I wish them continued success in the decades to come.”
    The McCrum family grows 4,000 acres of potatoes and roughly the same amount of cover crops ranging from barley, wheat, oats and corn.
    “We grow from Bethel to Mars Hill,” said Darrell McCrum, co-manager of County Super Spuds. “We also market potatoes … not only our own, but other growers’. We’ll market around 12,000 acres of potatoes here in the state, and we also ship them to market, as well. That gives us complete control of the product going to the customers – from seed to shelf.”
    McCrum said receiving the Congressional Record was an honor for his family.
    “It’s tremendous to be mentioned and recognized by Sen. Snowe,” he said. “It’s phenomenal; we’re humbled by it. At times, you’re working doing your day-to-day thing and you love it, but you wonder, ‘Do people notice?’ To have somebody like Sen. Snowe recognize us and send her Small Business Committee staff here to discuss our needs, we feel really grateful.”
    McCrum was able to share a number of concerns with the staff.
    “Some of the issues that are facing us in the potato industry include electricity costs,” he said. “We’re competing in a market outside of the Northeast … the Northwest and the upper Midwest, and their electricity rates are a lot lower than ours, which raises our costs up tremendously.
    “Another thing for small businesses is the Bush tax cuts are going by the wayside and our taxes next year are going to go up significantly. The different tax rules coming into play are going to cost us a lot of money and we just seem to be regulated more and more every year,” said McCrum. “Health care is also going to cost small businesses a lot of money. We employ about 250 people, so to find out where health care is headed is important. We’ve talked to a number of different people and it seems like we get a different answer every time. Having these people here face to face, we can discuss those issues and needs with them so they can get back to Washington and get to work on them.”
    Also while in Aroostook County, committee staff members participated in a small business roundtable discussion in Presque Isle and toured several stores in downtown Houlton.

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Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson

    BOB LUNNEY, crop production supervisor at County Super Spuds, shares concerns with Kathleen Black, a member of the Senate Small Business Committee staff from Washington, D.C. prior to an awards presentation and tour of the Mars Hill facility. While in Aroostook County, committee staff members also participated in a small business roundtable discussion in Presque Isle and toured several stores in downtown Houlton.

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Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson

    TASTY TATERS – Matt Walker, left, and Wally Hsueh, members of the Senate Small Business Committee staff, sample a new Italian potato wedge that is currently being developed by Penobscot McCrum, LLC, a potato processing plant in Belfast and a subsidiary of County Super Spuds in Mars Hill. While in Aroostook County last week, staff members met with owners and employees of County Super Spuds, which was presented a Congressional Record on behalf of U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe.