Lacy, Chuck
President, The Barred Rock Fund
Former President, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
Former General Manager, Living Technologies
Raising Venture Capital for Socially Responsible Business Projects
Chuck Lacy dedicates his professional life to using entrepreneurship to solve social and community problems. He is currently President of The Barred Rock Fund, a venture capital fund that invests in companies likely to create jobs and economic opportunity in low-income communities. Started in 2000, the fund has investments in eight companies in five states creating inner city manufacturing jobs, reliable markets for family farms, and communications for the developing world. Barred Rock is a 501c3 non-profit located in Jericho, Vermont.
Chuck is former President of Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. He joined Ben & Jerry's in 1987 and was General Manager for three years and President for five years. During this time the company grew from a regional brand with $17 million in sales into an enduring national brand with sales of $150 million. By 1995, Ben & Jerry's was the leading gourmet ice cream company in the country, its factory tour was the most visited tourist attraction in the State of Vermont, and the company was widely recognized for its leadership in using business as a positive force in the community.
After leaving Ben & Jerry's, Chuck served as General Manager for Living Technologies, Inc., a firm that designs and builds ecological wastewater treatment plants. Working primarily in the food industry, the company built waste treatment plants for clients such as M&M Mars in the United States, Brazil, UK and Australia.
Chuck graduated from Amherst College in 1980 and earned an MBA from Cornell University in 1984. He then ran a chain of psychiatric and drug and alcohol treatment facilities for United Health Services in New York before joining Ben & Jerry's. He is currently a Graduate Student in American History at Dartmouth College studying the ethnic and racial history of northern New England.
Chuck serves as board member and advisor to several companies. He is Chairman of Sun & Earth, Inc. (an inner city manufacturer of natural laundry detergent), Chairman of Green Village, Inc. (an inner city manufacturer of high strength environmentally preferred industrial cleaners), Treasurer and Director of Gonofone, Inc. (founder of Grameen Phone, the largest wireless communications company in Bangladesh), and Director of the Bakewell Reproduction Center, LLC (promoter of beef-genetics for revitalizing New England agriculture), Guayaki Yerbe Mate (fair-traded yerbe mate from Paraguay), and The Farmer's Diner, LLC (a start-up chain of diners that buys direct from local farmers).
Serving communities, Chuck is on the Board of Oakland-based Pacific Institute for Community Organizing (PICO), the largest multi-faith community organizing network in the country. Locally he is a Director of the Vermont Venture Fund, the Jericho Center Association and the Jericho School Board. He also coaches youth basketball and baseball in season.
Chuck lives in Jericho, Vermont, with his wife, Gaye Symington (Democratic Leader of the Vermont State House of Representatives), and their three children, Sam (14), Mary (12), and Tom (9). As a family they run a small farm producing eggs, bacon, sausage and vegetables for their roadside farm stand.
Chuck is an experienced entrepreneur and investor in the food industry particularly in the natural and gourmet foods sector. His expertise spans food processing, quality control, distribution, marketing, sales, and finance.
Bio from: http://www.bakewellrepro.com/bios.html#CL
