Herr’s Potato Chips, one of the most popular snack food providers in business, was not always the household name that it is today. It all started in 1946, when the 21-year-old James Stauffer Herr 
purchased a small potato chip company for a meager $1,750. Nestled in the middle of “Amish Country” in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Herr moved the company into a vacated tobacco shed on the Herr family farm. At its start, the business was bringing in around $30 in weekly sales, a modest beginning for a company that today sells over $250 million annually.
The business grew quickly and within a few years moved into an old bakery facility. Disaster struck a few years later, however, when a fire devastated the entire facility. Herr quickly set about rebuilding, purchasing a new piece of land on which he constructed a 4,500 square foot plant.
Over the next fifteen years the company grew tremendously, adding over 65,000 square feet. The company was officially incorporated and became Herr’s Potato Chips, Inc. Jim Herr’s prestige as a successful businessman was beginning to grow and in 1969 he was named Pennsylvania’s Small Businessman of the Year.
In 1983, he again demonstrated his entrepreneurial creativity when trying to solve the issue of production waste from the factory, particularly potato skins. Herr came up with the idea to use the extra land around the plant to start raising steers, and soon the Herr Angus Farm was set in motion. The potato skins were mixed with regular feed to nourish the steers. They also began reusing the waste water from the plant. First, the starch was removed from the water, which 
was sold for fine paper manufacturing, then the rest of the water was used for irrigating the crops which were used to feed the angus cows.
Herr’s Potato Chips has continued to grow, expanding to many states across the US and internationally. In 2005 James S. Herr handed over the Chairmanship of the company to his son. James Stauffer Herr has modeled for many the incredible business opportunity that exists in this country. His story is an inspiration to pursue entrepreneurship, creativity, hard work, and dedication.
I wouldn’t say that James Herr counts as a millennial entrepreneur, however, his venture into the chip business is still a great example. I’ve been to the Herr’s chip factory and it really is quite impressive how far they have come. Additionally, Herr’s was the first chip company to offer any flavor of chip (such as bbq) ever!