Chapter 13 - THE RIVER PROPERTYIndependent trustees commissioned a new process.
No family shell companies.
Open competitive bidding.
Environmental review.
Community consultation.
Part of the land contained wetlands.
Part had historical significance tied to Samuel Reed’s first cold-storage facility.
The highest commercial offer reached $78 million.
But selling everything was not automatically best.
Eventually, the trust sold forty acres for $52 million.
Kept the remainder.
Created a conservation easement along the river.
Restored Samuel Reed’s name on the original warehouse site.
Expanded employee profit-sharing at Mercer Food Distribution.
No single family member got a jackpot.
The trust improved.
Owen’s rescue scheme failed.
His company restructured under outside investors.
He lost control.
Many jobs survived.
Again—
May you like
the feared apocalypse did not happen.
Only the family’s assumption that one man had to remain powerful.
