Today, 5 Generation Bakers is relocating from its current location on
Island Avenue to the former Bottom Dollar Supermarket on Chartiers
Avenue. The larger building will allow the growing business to keep up
with the demands of serving the needs of close to 5,000 retail outlets in
20 states. But it wasn’t always that way.
“I was technically unemployed when Jenny Lee folded and I
didn’t qualify for any bank loans, despite having a business plan and
promises from our government that it would fund new business ideas,”
says Baker, who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and the
American Institute of Baking. “To get the business started I had to cash
in my retirement, my kid’s college fund, max-out our credit cards and
had family and friends loan me small amounts of money.”
But six years of hard work has finally paid off.
“Coming from my parents’ basement in Moon Township to a
modern facility with state-of-the-art equipment, a superior food safety
program and the ability to keep our products safe and good makes me
very proud,” says Baker.
Finding a site big enough to accommodate his growing business in
McKees Rocks is also something Baker is proud of.
“First and foremost, I’ve got 38 employees and the majority of them
wouldn’t be able to travel that far if we had to leave McKees Rocks
to relocate the business,” he says. “They are willing to invest their life
careers in us, and we need to make sure that we invest back in them
so they can have a stable foundation to build their families and their
dreams.”
Baker’s family ties to the area are also a key factor when it comes to
location.
“My family has been involved in the community for over 100
years,” he explains. “My great grandfather, Nick Baker, was mayor of
McKees Rocks and my great-great-grandfather made McKees Rocks
his homestead.”
Baker truly believes in McKees Rocks’ potential to thrive.
“For the last 10 years of my life I have been an avid volunteer in the
McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation,” says Baker.
Continued >
Cranberry | Summer 2016 | icmags.com 51