Gentry Magazine
Gentry Magazine

Monterra®…in the News

Gentry Magazine
January 2007

Home Grown

By Kristin Ammon
For Gentry Magazine

Basil and Roger Mills have dedicated their lives, quite literally, to the land. As founders of Mills Family Farms and developers of Monterra®, the pair has been focused on the bounty of the Salinas Valley and Monterey County for five decades. Gentry takes to the fields to chat with these good old-fashioned entrepreneurs.

In an era of chips and chat rooms it's nice to know there are still businesses devoted to fruits of the earth. Enter Mills Family Farms, the produce empire run by brothers Basil and Roger Mills and one of the largest and most successful vegetable growers and shippers in the nation. Today, three generations of Mills work for the award-winning Salinas company, whose roster of clients includes some of the industry's biggest hitters, many of whom have been with the company since its founding nearly 50 years ago.

But the brothers' lives in Monterey County are a long way from their humble beginnings in the Midwest. Five-and-a half years apart in age, Basil and Roger -who have three sisters-are humble, school-boyish, and paragons of old-fashioned values and ethics. "Our father was a printer and an eternal optimist," says Roger, the younger of the two. "He was always switching jobs in hopes of finding one that paid more, so we moved from Missouri to Texas to Colorado to Oregon and finally settled in Flagstaff, Arizona." Basil enlisted in the army after high school, but returned to Flagstaff when discharged and accepted a job that would change his and Roger's life.

"I was out of the army and looking for work when I saw a listing for a young, energetic person who was free to travel," says the aptly named Basil. "I applied, but I had to go to Phoenix for the interview, though the company's headquarters were in Salinas. I was hired on the spot." That was in 1953, and he moved to Salinas to work for produce broker Walter Markham. In 1957, he landed a job with a grower-shipper, which, that next year, moved its operations back to Phoenix. Two growers approached Basil about staying in Salinas and starting a marketing and distribution company to market their produce. "I talked to my wife-we had two kids at the time-and we decided to say yes," Basil says. The growers loaned him $500 to get started, and in 1958 Mills Distributing Company (changed to Mills Family Farms in 2004) was formed.

Basil loved Salinas and persuaded Roger to come work with him the summer before his senior year at Northern Arizona University. In 1960, Roger moved to Salinas to work full time as the company's first paid employee. The match proved to be a happy and harmonious one. "In the 48 years that we've been working together, I don't remember ever having an argument," Basil says. "We were very close growing up and we're still very close."

Basil attributes this bond to when one of their sisters was born. Basil was 11 and Roger was 5-1/2. "Our dad was in the army and we lived upstairs in a one-bedroom apartment where we shared a bathroom with the family across the hall," Basil says. "My younger sister was born, and in those days the mother stayed in the hospital for 10 days. So for those 10 days she was in the hospital, I took care of Roger. Today, people wouldn't think of leaving a 5-year-old with an ll-year-old. But because of that time, Roger and I became very close."

Early on in the business, Basil handled the sales and Roger handled the accounting, later moving into sales. Basil managed the lettuce side, which was 50 percent of their volume, and Roger managed the other produce, such as cauliflower, bok choy, celery, and cilantro. About 15 years ago they hired more salesmen, including Basil's son, so they could take over other functions. Today, Roger is executive vice president and Basil is president.

As the business grew, it expanded from marketing to growing, packing, and shipping. Today, they farm 14,000 acres all over the West. But agriculture is a cyclical business and at the mercy of nature. Droughts. E-coli. Fires and floods. "In agriculture, you have good years and you have bad years," Roger says, "so you have to have a strong construction to handle the ups and downs. A carton of vegetables can sell for $4 or $44 even though it's the same number head of lettuce. It isn't like a Cadillac. Autos aren't perishable. Produce can swing in price from one day to the next and it's normal"

To better weather the swings, the brothers started dabbling in real estate, first buying homes in the 1960s and then moving into commercial real estate development in the 1970s. About 10 years ago, they purchased a large parcel of land in foreclosure in Monterey to develop as a luxury new-home community. "Our vision was to create a wonderful place to live," Roger says. "We wanted it to be well-built, and attract those who had worked hard and wanted to enjoy life." They named it Monterra®.

Not long after they were in contract for Monterra®, actor and local resident Clint Eastwood approached them about purchasing part of the property to develop as a private golf course. The brothers agreed, and today Eastwood's exclusive Tehama golf course community sits adjacent to Monterra®. "We have a very close relationship with Clint," Roger says. When Monterra® homeowners buy a lot, they get many of the same social privileges as homeowners at Tehama, including use of the clubhouse and fitness center.

The brothers visited other gated communities for inspiration before breaking ground on the 168 view homes spread over 1,700 acres. "Geographically, it's the same size as Carmel but one-tenth the density," Roger says. "It has the feel of living in the country." Conservation was key to the development, and there are strict rules about cutting down trees. "We also have a joint utilities/water agreement with Tehama and waste water is recycled and used for the golf course," Roger says.

Perhaps part of their success can be attributed to sharing the same high work standards and ethics: Do the best you can, and never choose defeat. They instilled the same values in their children Basil has two sons and two daughters and Roger has one daughter), all of whom have worked in the business at one time or another. One of Basil's sons recently left to form his own company, and a daughter went back to graduate school at age 38 to get her veterinary degree. Roger's daughter helps with Monterra®, and there are three grandchildren who work in the business.

Philanthropy is also integral to their lives, and both have been actively involved in local nonprofits, including the Boys and Girls Club of Monterey County, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the National Steinbeck Center, where Basil raised funds with other board members for one of the wings. "Many growers helped me above and beyond what was needed, so we wanted to give back," Basil says. "And we feel blessed that we can." One of the first nonprofits he supported was the Salvation Army, where he served on the local board for 25 years and is now a life member. "When I was drafted, there was a small booklet of famous sayings and biblical quotes on the table. The Salvation Army published it, and I read it every night while I was in the army. I still have that booklet. It was very inspirational and taught me that you can't always control what happens to you, but you can control how you react. You have to have a positive outlook no matter what happens."

It's this outlook that both brothers seek in employees as well. "There's an old saying that if you're interviewing someone for a job and they've just moved to town and they ask you 'How are the people here,' you ask them, 'How were the people in your former town?'" Roger says. "If they say miserable, then you tell them they're miserable here, too. But if they say the people were nice, then you tell them they're nice here, too. You create your own life. We believe that if we're upbeat, others will respond accordingly."

This belief seems to work. The company has won a business excellence award from the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce and an outstanding business award from the Salinas Area Chamber of Commerce.

As for leisure hours, both love to travel and both love to spend time with their grandchildren (between them they have 15). Roger also enjoys working on his home at Monterra®. "It's like the Winchester Mystery House," he says. "It started as a 7,000-square-foot, four bedroom home but it keeps expanding. I realized that if my daughter and her husband and seven children came to visit, I had to have space, so I added a second story and made it a six-bedroom with ten bathrooms. When I was growing up we shared one bathroom and I vowed that one day everyone would have their own." Roger also loves wine collecting and has added a wine cellar, bringing the house to 10,000 square feet.

But their greatest satisfaction? "The feeling that at the end of the day we've done the best job we can," they say. "We can't control the market and we can't control the challenges. But our goal isn't to make a huge profit. Our goal is give the best service and do the best job we can." And what better growing conditions for harvesting success.

Back to Press Box