United Source One
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Overcoming a struggle to reap the rewards
So many business leaders will tell you that at one point in their career they faced great adversity or failed at something. Whether or not they made a good or bad decision is irrelevant; how they handle such setbacks is a telling sign of their leadership, perseverance and vision.
The founding story of United Source One really begins with a veteran businessman whose unique combination of work experiences serve as the foundation for his current business. About 30 years ago, Michael Imgarten ran his own restaurants prior to working overseas as a sales manager of U.S. beef in Saudi Arabia. Before starting his latest venture, Imgarten worked for a major beef packer. Delving into the export industry over a decade ago would prove to be a turning point in his career.
“At that time, I worked with the former major beef producer, ConAgra, which has since been sold, and was given the power to relocate the business more strategically,” explains Imgarten, President of United Source One. Because of costs involved, he sought a financer and in 1996, he attempted to buyout the company. “When that failed, I had to make a decision to become an ingrain servant for the rest of my life or quit or try to buy out the business one more time,” tells Imgarten.
Resilience sets the tone for company culture
Following the buyout were a number of challenges that the company leader would have to overcome, including a court case that lasted over four years and cost over $1 million in legal fees. “A handful of the company’s former employees were sued, including myself, and the Iraq war was also happening during the same period, in the early 2000s,” tells Imgarten candidly. “In the end, we won the case in the federal court in Baltimore, becoming the largest jury-awarded wage case in Maryland history,” tells Imgarten proudly. And the ruling set the tone for the rest of the company.
Since its inception in December of 2000, United Source One has surely seen its share of turbulent times, but what hasn’t shut it down has strengthened the company at the very core. This overall sense of resilience has become a part of the work culture and the company’s name change. “We’re very proud of the fact that we are a U.S. company but we wanted something that would say ‘U.S.A.’ without hitting people over the head,” explains Imgarten, adding the name is also sensitive to how an American company is perceived internationally.
“Our company’s previous name had ‘American’ in it, so we wanted to play that down but still convey the message of what we do,” he adds. United Source is a one-stop shop, or single source solution, for food services. “We had all come together to make this happen, which trust me, isn’t easy when you have an employer threatening people to come to court, so we had to be very united to fight,” he adds. Hence, the company’s new name was born.
But as if the court case wasn’t enough, the following beef ban in December of 2003 and loss of its military-related contracts in 2004 (when the U.S. army took over its food supply during the Iraq war), the company has been through a lot to get to where they are now. Ten years ago, these challenges made it difficult to get financing to attracting international buyers to its American brand. “It’s been quite a ride and it is reflected in our annual numbers,” tells Imgarten.
Certified Angus Beef’s top exporter prize in 2009
There was some skepticism from industry experts as to the company’s survival rate but, boy, did they ever prove them wrong. About 75 percent of the certified Angus beef entering the Middle East is exported by United Source One today. Operating from a 45,000 square foot USDA-inspected facility, United Source One distributes frozen, chilled and non-refrigerated foods to importers in the Middle East. Halal-certified beef accounts for about half of the company’s exported goods.
The food services and beef exporter caters to high-end food service distributors and to the American style casual restaurant sector that includes more than a dozen U.S. chains operating in the region. Last year, the company exported 1,000 food consignments by sea and air.
Niche market focused in Middle East
As an independent home-grown company with 75 staff, United Source One focused on destinations in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai, emerging as the top exporter of the best known brand of beef in America. Recently, United Source One received the brand’s coveted #1 Sales Volume Exporter for 2009. “Our strategy is to continue to focus on filling those gaps in international distribution of foods that is very difficult for the vast majority of producers to fill,” says Imgarten.
The next logical step for many companies is to become a global food services provider, and while United Source One is considering this, it will continue to be a market leader. “We’ve focused our attention on the one region and have seen great success that our services are needed. We’re focused on our market and in making sure we serve it better than anyone else,” he adds.
So many business leaders will tell you that at one point in their career they faced great adversity or failed at something. Whether or not they made a good or bad decision is irrelevant; how they handle such setbacks is a telling sign of their leadership, perseverance and vision.
The founding story of United Source One really begins with a veteran businessman whose unique combination of work experiences serve as the foundation for his current business. About 30 years ago, Michael Imgarten ran his own restaurants prior to working overseas as a sales manager of U.S. beef in Saudi Arabia. Before starting his latest venture, Imgarten worked for a major beef packer. Delving into the export industry over a decade ago would prove to be a turning point in his career.
“At that time, I worked with the former major beef producer, ConAgra, which has since been sold, and was given the power to relocate the business more strategically,” explains Imgarten, President of United Source One. Because of costs involved, he sought a financer and in 1996, he attempted to buyout the company. “When that failed, I had to make a decision to become an ingrain servant for the rest of my life or quit or try to buy out the business one more time,” tells Imgarten.
Resilience sets the tone for company culture
Following the buyout were a number of challenges that the company leader would have to overcome, including a court case that lasted over four years and cost over $1 million in legal fees. “A handful of the company’s former employees were sued, including myself, and the Iraq war was also happening during the same period, in the early 2000s,” tells Imgarten candidly. “In the end, we won the case in the federal court in Baltimore, becoming the largest jury-awarded wage case in Maryland history,” tells Imgarten proudly. And the ruling set the tone for the rest of the company.
Since its inception in December of 2000, United Source One has surely seen its share of turbulent times, but what hasn’t shut it down has strengthened the company at the very core. This overall sense of resilience has become a part of the work culture and the company’s name change. “We’re very proud of the fact that we are a U.S. company but we wanted something that would say ‘U.S.A.’ without hitting people over the head,” explains Imgarten, adding the name is also sensitive to how an American company is perceived internationally.
“Our company’s previous name had ‘American’ in it, so we wanted to play that down but still convey the message of what we do,” he adds. United Source is a one-stop shop, or single source solution, for food services. “We had all come together to make this happen, which trust me, isn’t easy when you have an employer threatening people to come to court, so we had to be very united to fight,” he adds. Hence, the company’s new name was born.
But as if the court case wasn’t enough, the following beef ban in December of 2003 and loss of its military-related contracts in 2004 (when the U.S. army took over its food supply during the Iraq war), the company has been through a lot to get to where they are now. Ten years ago, these challenges made it difficult to get financing to attracting international buyers to its American brand. “It’s been quite a ride and it is reflected in our annual numbers,” tells Imgarten.
Certified Angus Beef’s top exporter prize in 2009
There was some skepticism from industry experts as to the company’s survival rate but, boy, did they ever prove them wrong. About 75 percent of the certified Angus beef entering the Middle East is exported by United Source One today. Operating from a 45,000 square foot USDA-inspected facility, United Source One distributes frozen, chilled and non-refrigerated foods to importers in the Middle East. Halal-certified beef accounts for about half of the company’s exported goods.
The food services and beef exporter caters to high-end food service distributors and to the American style casual restaurant sector that includes more than a dozen U.S. chains operating in the region. Last year, the company exported 1,000 food consignments by sea and air.
Niche market focused in Middle East
As an independent home-grown company with 75 staff, United Source One focused on destinations in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai, emerging as the top exporter of the best known brand of beef in America. Recently, United Source One received the brand’s coveted #1 Sales Volume Exporter for 2009. “Our strategy is to continue to focus on filling those gaps in international distribution of foods that is very difficult for the vast majority of producers to fill,” says Imgarten.
The next logical step for many companies is to become a global food services provider, and while United Source One is considering this, it will continue to be a market leader. “We’ve focused our attention on the one region and have seen great success that our services are needed. We’re focused on our market and in making sure we serve it better than anyone else,” he adds.
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