Cobb was the fourth employee hired at Henny Penny in 1959. Eleven years later, he became vice president of the company which designs and produces commercial grade cooking, holding and display equipment for clients that include KFC, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Chick-fil-A restaurants. Cobb became president of Henny Penny in 1974 when he, and his business partner, purchased the company.
Cobb became the sole owner of Henny Penny in 1985 and served as president and CEO until 1996. His son, Steve Cobb, is the chairman of the company.
In January, the company became employee-owned through the sale of its stock to a newly formed Employee Stock Ownership Plan. More than 600 people work at the manufacturer. The company’s stock is now owned by a trust account that will hold the shares until an employee retires or goes on disability, when they receive a lump-sum payment.
Henny Penny has annual sales of about $185 million, with an additional $15 million or more from Wood Stone Corp., a Bellingham, Wash.-based stone hearth cooking equipment manufacturer the company acquired in January 2014.
In addition to his role at Henny Penny, Cobb served on the Eaton City Council and led the city as mayor in the early 1970s. He was on the Board of Directors for the Germantown Federal Savings Bank for 22 years, was the co-chair for the Preble County YMCA Capital Campaign and an active member of the Eaton City Schools Master Planning Committee. Cobb was also a member of the Eaton Rotary for 51 years.
A memorial service for Cobb will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Eaton Church of the Brethren located at 813 Camden Road in Eaton. A reception, after the service, will be held at Henny Penny from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in the Wagner Building located west of the company’s headquarters on U.S. 35.
The family request donations be made to Hospice of Dayton (www.hospiceofdayton.org) and Lightnings of God Ministries, PO Box 367, Eaton, Ohio 45320 (www.copiministries.org/logmin) in lieu of flowers.
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