The career of Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr., is indicative of what a person with business acumen can accomplish under the free enterprise system. He started as a route salesman and rose through the ranks to the position of Chairman of the Board of the parent company of the Southeast’s largest snack food manufacturer.
Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr., was born in Troy, Alabama, on November 2, 1919 – the son of Cora (Young) and Leo E. Bashinsky. He received his primary and secondary education at Avondale Elementary School and Ramsey High School; McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Lawrenceville Prep School in New Jersey. He then entered Princeton University. In 1940, he left college to join the United States Air Force. He served as a radar navigator until his discharge in 1945.
In 1946, he went to Birmingham, Alabama, as a route salesman for Golden Flake Snack Foods, Inc. (then known as Magic City Foods Products Company, Inc.). Within ten years (in 1956), he had become president – a position he held until 1972. He reassumed the presidency between 1984 and 1985. In 1972, he became Chairman of the Board. Between 1976 and 1991, he also served as Chief Executive Officer.
Today, Sloan Bashinsky is Chairman of the Board and major stockholder of Golden Enterprises, Inc. – a holding company that owns all outstanding shares of Golden Flake Snack Foods, Inc.; Steel City Bolt and Screw, Inc. (a Birmingham-based manufacturer and distributor of bolts and special fasteners); and Nall and Associates, Inc. (a distributor of bolts and special fasteners).
He is also a director of Steel City Bolt and Screw, Inc. and Nall and Associates, Inc.
The history of the Company reflects Sloan Bashinsky’s leadership. In 1958, the company changed its name from Magic City Foods Pro ducts Company, Inc. to Golden Flake, Inc. Five years later, the company purchased Don’s Food’s Inc., a Nashville, Tennessee-based Manufacturer of snack food products. Don’s Foods was operated until 1966 when Golden Flake was reorganized as a Delaware Corporation and combined Don’s operations with those of Golden Flake.
The company acquired Steel City Bolt and Screw, Nall and Associates, and a real estate subsidiary in 1971.
In 1977, Golden Enterprises, Inc. was formed as a holding company with its operating division, Golden Flake Snack Foods, as a wholly-owned subsidiary. In September of that same year, the assets of the real estate and insurance subsidiary were sold, leaving Golden Flake and the Steel City group as subsidiaries.
Golden Flake manufactures and distributes a full line of snack foods. The main office and production plant are located in Birmingham. There are also plants in Nashville, Tennessee, and in Ocala, Florida. Golden Flake has approximately 1,500 employees and its annual sales exceed $100 million.
Through the years, Sloan Bashinsky has shared what he has called his “good fortune” to improve the quality of life for others.
For example, while serving on the Board of Directors of the Eye Foundation Hospital and St. Vincent’s Foundation, he was instrumental in raising funds for needed centers. He has also been an active supporter of such worthy institutions and charitable organizations as the Crippled Children’s Clinic and Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Big Oak Ranch, and United Way.
His desire to enhance higher education can be seen in the time and financial support that he has given to educational institutions throughout the state of Alabama.
He is currently a trustee of Samford University, where he also serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Committee. In honor of his father, he donated the Leo Bashinsky Field House. Samford also received financing for the Bashinsky Press Tower. For his many contributions to Samford University’s growth, he was the recipient of the Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1990.
He also contributes to all Alabama independent colleges and universities. And he established the Bashinsky Foundation to fund the Golden Enterprises Scholarship Awards presented each year to dependent children of the employees of Golden Enterprises and its subsidiaries. The scholarships are given on the basis of scholastic achievement, demonstrated leadership, and participation in school and community affairs. In 1992, Sloan Bashinsky again shared some of his good fortunes with the people of Alabama who, he has said, have been so good to him. He made a $3 million gift to The University of Alabama which is being used for the construction of a new computer center for the College of Commerce and Business Administration. The computer center will be known as the Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr. Computer Center. It and a new business library (named in honor of Angelo Bruno, Chairman of the Board of Bruno’s, Inc. until his death in December 1991) will share a $9 million building.
According to Dr. Roger Sayers, University President, the Bashinsky Computer Center, and the Bruno Business Library will be one of the most modern of such facilities in the nation and a centerpiece for the business school complex. Dr. Barry Mason, Dean of the College of Commerce and Business Administration, has said that thousands of students each year for generations to come will benefit from Sloan Bashinsky’s investment in the future.
The building is scheduled for completion by the end of October, with final details and moving planned for November and December. It should be “open for business” by January 1, 1994. The computer center will include a wall of memorabilia from Sloan Bashinsky.
Sloan Bashinsky is a very active member of the Mountain Brook Baptist Church where he has served as Chairman of the Endowment Trust. He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, the Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club, Shoal Creek, Birmingham Country Club, and the Downtown Club.
He is married to the former Joann Fulghum of Nashville, Tennessee. They have four children – Sloan, Jr.; Major; Elizabeth (Krebs); and Suzanne (Ash) – and nine grandchildren.
Sloan Y. Bashinsky, Sr. has reaped the rewards of hard work and business success. But he has returned some of the abundant harvests to his native state for the generation of growth in future years
