Oregon Business

Articles - March 2012

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The key to her success is good personal relationships. Indeed, a visit to Betty Lou’s is like an invitation to a love fest. Carrier can’t make it down a hallway of the company without employees calling out friendly greetings or exchanging hugs with her. Food scientist Susan Jeffries, whom Carrier hired eight years ago to help her with R&D, remembers leaving her job interview thinking, “I knew she was somebody I could grow to love. And I have.”

Paramount, Carrier says, is her relationship with her banker. “It’s vital that they trust you and believe in what you’re doing,” she says. She liked her first banker so much she hired her. Carole Maylender, her loan officer for 10 years, is her executive assistant.

Carrier also believes in going full steam ahead, trusting her instincts and her faith.

“Some may play it safe in this economy,” she says, “but I’m looking to the future, seeking out ways to expand our capabilities and our processes.”

Betty Lou’s chalked up 34% in growth from 2010 to 2011 and now, with a new bar line and enrobing system that will allow for a greater variety of Betty Lou’s products, Carrier’s outlook is healthy, as usual.

“I never was looking to start a business,” she says. “I just wanted to make healthy things for my kids to eat.”