President, Kiolbassa Provision Company, Inc.
Kiolbassa Provision Company (KPC) is a family-owned and -operated sausage manufacturer based in San Antonio, TX. The company was founded by Rufus and Juanita Kiolbassa in 1949 as a meatpacking and sausage manufacturing company. In 1960, Rufus died of a brain tumor and his son, Robert Kiolbassa, dropped out of college to run the family business and grew it steadily, expanding the company's product line and slaughtering operations significantly. In 1987, Robert's son, Michael, joined the company and began a steady push to expand the company's sausage brand outside of San Antonio. The Kiolbassa brand is now one of the largest sausage brands in the country, selling in over 35 states, Mexico and Puerto Rico. KPC currently has 180 team members and will produce approximately 15 million pounds of sausage this year.
Michael Kiolbassa began his career in the family sausage business in 1987 after a two-year period working in the commercial banking industry as a credit analyst. Since then, he has overseen the transformation of the family meat company from a small family business to one of the largest sausage manufacturers in the U.S. Michael holds a BBA in finance from Southern Methodist University and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization, Southwest Meat Association, Texas Association of Meat Processers, Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and Christ Episcopal Church. He is married to his lovely wife, Nita, and has two almost grown children, Rusty and Claudia.
Creating a vibrant and sustainable culture is the cornerstone of the family's long-term vision for the company and family. To help with this, Kiolbassa adopted Values Based Leadership (VBL) and Open Book Management (OBM) as the vehicles to help them instill this culture. Both VBL and OBM have been integrated into the company's culture and are helping the company achieve impressive levels of engagement with its team members.