Aunt Minnie’s Claudia Sebree-Pressley discusses company plans while (from left) Jimmy Gaines, Bill Carroll, Paul Toth, WilliAnn Moore and Councilman Michael Ashford listen.

Aunt Minnie’s announces plans to ‘come home’
By: Journal Staff
The Toledo Journal
Originally posted 9/10/2008 


With a boost from the port authority and a partnership with a community development corporation, Aunt Minnie’s has taken the first step toward ”coming home.”
Top officials with the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority and the Organized Neighbors Yielding eXcellence CDC last week joined Claudia Sebree-Pressley in announcing intentions to build a central city plant for Aunt Minnie’s Food Inc.’s frozen entrees and desserts.
”As I was riding here I was thinking, ‘The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step,’” said Ms. Sebree-Pressley, the African American-owned company’s CEO. ”We want to help Toledo and our community. … We love Toledo. We want to develop Toledo.”
Ms. Sebree-Pressley and her mother, Minnie Sebree, the company president, started Aunt Minnie’s about 10 years ago, using the recipes for frozen foods that they used in preparing Southern style dinners and desserts at their former Reynolds Road restaurant, Sebree’s.
Initially, the mother-daughter team had offices in Maumee and had their food preparation and packaging done at a Michigan plant. Later, they relocated all operations to Perrysburg, where Aunt Minnie’s 15 employees prepare such fare as cornbread stuffing, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler and blackberry cobbler.
They’ve always longed to bring all operations into Toledo, but economics and site suitability prevented that.
”I knew I would [relocate in Toledo]. I just didn’t know how,” Ms. Sebree-Pressley said. ”I would have been back sooner and I didn’t know how.”
Fortunate events have allowed Aunt Minnie’s to take that first step. Walt Randolph, an African American who has a towing business, decided to donate nine acres of land at 215 City Park Ave., where a long-dormant truck terminal sits. Then ONYX became the company’s partner and a conduit for securing financial help from the port authority.
The port authority can’t give money directly to private businesses, but since 2005 has had a community reinvestment program through which it provides funds to qualifying CDCs for commercial development. The Lagrange CDC, which is developing shops on Lagrange Street, previously tapped the port authority’s grant fund.
For the City Park Avenue site, the port authority has cut a check for $35,000 to ONYX for preliminary work on designing an Aunt Minnie’s plant. It will be built on the site where the old truck terminal, to be demolished, currently sits.
Under the plan, Aunt Minnie’s Food Service will retain title to the land and execute a long-term land lease to a partnership consisting of ONYX holding 51 percent and Aunt Minnie’s holding 49 percent. The partnership – to be known as AMONYX – will lease the space to Aunt Minnie’s for its business operations.
Bill Carroll, the port authority board’s chairman, and Paul Toth, the authority’s interim president, attended the Sept. 3 press conference to announce the plan to transform the property.
”It’s really great now to be able to put some funds into the inner city through ONYX for this development,” Mr. Carroll said.
Mr. Toth said he took ”great pleasure” in announcing the ”exciting” news.
”This is the ideal project that this [grant] program was developed for,” he said. ”It’s a great opportunity for the port authority to give directly back to the community.”
The project was described as possibly a $5 million development with spin-off businesses around the Aunt Minnie’s plant. The port authority’s $35,000 will only pay for what it called the ”predevelopment phase.”
When asked where the rest of the money would come from, Ms. Sebree-Pressley smiled and said ”you.”
Actually, AMONYX will seek out private investors as it seeks financial aid from the federal, state and local governments.
Tina Skeldon Wozniak, president of the Lucas County Commission, said local governments should do all they can to make the project succeed.
”We’re just trying to bring them back home,” Ms. Wozniak said. ”If you tasted this food, it is so delicious. … They could be known nationwide, it’s such a fabulous product.”
Aunt Minnie’s ready-to-bake meals can be found in several states at Wal-Mart and other food retailers and locally at Wal-Mart, Meijer, Bassett’s, Churchill’s, Family Food Center, Monnette’s Market and Seaway Market Place.
”We try to touch every store that we can,” Ms. Sebree-Pressley said in front of cameras from all four of Toledo’s TV stations. ”All the stores that are hearing me that we’re not in, we want in,” she added with a smile.
She said Aunt Minnie’s competes against frozen-food giants such as Sara Lee and Kraft, and told the TV reporters to try to put that into perspective.
”Those are our competitors. Can you imagine?” she said. ”It’s like CNN being yours.”
WilliaAnn Moore, the president of ONYX, introduced Ms. Sebree-Pressley as ”my baby.” She and Minnie Sebree grew up together in Toledo and she has known the company’s CEO since the day she was born, Mrs. Moore said.
”She was reared in this community and so was her mom, and they wanted to give back,” Mrs. Moore said. ”This is a wonderful way to give. We’re calling it coming home.”
She thanked everybody involved in the initial planning, particularly Martin Jarrett, a consultant, and Bailey Stanbery, a port authority board member.
”Thank you so much for believing in our community,” Mrs. Moore said.
Mrs. Moore said the AMONYX partnership is giving itself a two-year timeframe to make an Aunt Minnie’s plant on City Park a reality. She said she is confident it will happen. She said Ohio’s governor and lieutenant governor know that Louisiana – one of several Southern states where Aunt Minnie’s products are sold – has tried to persuade the company to relocate there.
”Gov. Strickland then stepped up and said ‘no, we need Aunt Minnie’s and any other businesses to stay in Ohio,’” Mrs. Moore said. ”We have the ear and concern of the governor.”
Jimmy Gaines, ONYX’s executive director, said he expects support from City of Toledo government as the project proceeds. Aunt Minnie’s represents the investment in the central city that the mayor’s office says it invites, he said.
”There are a lot more dollars that we’re going to be seeking once we get on paper the stuff we have in our head,” Mr. Gaines, referring to a business plan, said about the private-public partnership.
Mr. Gaines said ONYX and Aunt Minnie’s began discussing in 2007 the business owners’ hopes to move to the central city.
”Now that’s an unusual conversation,” he told reporters. ”Generally [it’s] how can we go out and find some nice green space and land in the suburbs? To come home, that’s what we’re talking about today – a homecoming for Aunt Minnie and a homecoming for the central city.”
Ms. Sebree-Pressley said Aunt Minnie’s employees are central city residents who either drive or take a bus to its Perrysburg location. She said the City Park Avenue location will allow some of them to walk to work.
”I just can’t tell you the thrill of making every pay day, knowing that you’re creating jobs and helping families,” she said. ”They come in there and you better believe, they work hard for us.
”Making cobblers doesn’t seem like a lot but it is.”
She said AMONYX is counting on private investment and government assistance.
”We are here. We want to get it done. And we need everyone’s help,” Ms. Sebree-Pressley said.