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Capital Management HPP

Location:

Bartow, FL
Type:

Food-Processing Company
President:

Keith Sirois 13

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Capital Management HPP is a Bartow, Florida-based food-processing company that operates under the name HPP Fresh Florida. HPP stands for high-pressure processing. 1 2

The company’s CEO, Keith Sirois, has been active in conservative causes and has signed on to multiple letters with conservative activists, academics, and former government officials. 3 4 5

Background

Capital Management HPP is a Bartow, Florida-based company that operates under the name HPP Fresh Florida. 2 The HPP stands for high-pressure processing. 1

Capital Management HPP, which does business as HPP Fresh Florida, contends high-pressure processing maintains freshness and preserves natural flavors of juices, meat, fruits, and vegetables better than other processing methods. By using pressurized, pure cold water, the company says it bypasses texture and taste variations caused by heat, irradiation, or chemicals. 6

The company says it can pack, blend, bottle, label, and code date beverages in batches as large as 1,500 gallons and has a total of 4,000 gallons of tank capacity. It further says its facility is temperature controlled and will prevent any negative effects on products. 1

The company’s Florida facility features refrigerated loading docks, cross docking dry and refrigerated inventory management, computer controlled and alarmed refrigeration systems, and is licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and approved by the Food and Drug Administration. 6

Government Assistance

In December 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it was giving $3.6 million in rural development funds to Capital Management HPP to “be used to refinance debt and finance an equipment purchase and working capital under the USDA B&I Local Foods Program.” 7

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Small Business Administration provided a $152,700 loan to Capital Management HPP under the Paycheck Protection Program for the purpose of retaining 29 jobs. 8

In October 2017, the Bartow City Commission voted 4-0 to approve tax breaks for Capital Management HPP, which was expected to create 25 new jobs at an estimated cost of $23,000 in lost revenue for the city. The company was expected to make $7.6 million in investments for expanding its headquarters. 9 In 2018, HPP Fresh Florida opened a new plant in Bartow, Florida, which resulted from a $7.7 million investment that led to 20 new jobs in the city of about 13,000 residents. 10

Conservative Activism

In the early 2000s, Capital Management HPP CEO Keith Sirois was a board member of the Enterprise Freedom Action Committee, an anti-union group. 11

In April 2020, Sirois, as Capital Management HPP CEO, signed onto a letter along with more than 70 others asking BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to reconsider his plans for a stakeholder-focused model for investments rather than the shareholder-focused model. “This economic crisis makes it more important than ever that companies like BlackRock focus on helping our nation’s economy recover,” the letter said. 3

In May 2020, Sirois signed onto a letter with about four dozen conservative activists to the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board warning of “serious shortfalls” in enforcement of U.S. law “governing Chinese companies registered in our capital markets.” 4

In June 2020, amid calls by many Democratic politicians to “defund the police,” Sirois joined a letter signed by more than 100 conservative leaders that said, “we support the selfless law enforcement.” 12

Sirois signed onto a letter in July 2020 with more than 230 others to then-U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia urging divestment of private pensions from Chinese state-owned companies, noting such companies in many cases “rely upon child- and slave-labor” that is “incompatible with fundamental American values.” 5

Leadership

Keith Sirois is the president and CEO of Capital Management HPP and HPP Fresh Florida. 13 He is formerly the CEO of the Michigan-based Big Boy Restaurants International, LLC. He was previously CEO of the Florida-based Checkers drive-in restaurant chain. 14

Peter O’Hara is the chairman of the board for Capital Management HHP, a position he has held since 2017. 15

Colletta Smith is the comptroller of Capital Management HPP. 16

References

  1. HPP Fresh Florida. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.hppfreshflorida.com/
  2. “HPP Fresh Florida.” Buzz File. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.buzzfile.com/business/Hpp-Fresh-Florida-800-484-0532
  3. “Open Letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.” National Center for Public Policy Research. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2020/04/15/open-letter-to-blackrock-ceo-larry-fink/
  4. “Letter to SEC and PCAOB Chairman.” May 17, 2020. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://presentdangerchina.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CPDC-Letter-to-SEC-PCAOB-51620.pdf
  5. Press Release. “Meese, DeMint, Wolf, Poindexter lead letter urging ending China investment of retirement funds.” Americans for Limited Government. July 30, 2020. Accessed May 3, 2024. https://getliberty.org/2020/07/meese-demint-wolf-poindexter-lead-letter-urging-ending-china-investment-of-retirement-funds/
  6. “Services.” HPP Fresh Florida. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.hppfreshflorida.com/services/
  7. Derby, Kevin. “USDA Announces More Than $40 Million Headed To Florida To Expand Services In Rural Areas.” Florida Daily. December 8, 2022. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.floridadaily.com/usda-announces-more-than-40-million-headed-to-florida-to-expand-services-in-rural-areas/
  8.  “Capital Management HPP.” PPP Funded Companies. Small Business Administration. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.sba.com/ppp-funded-companies/florida/capital-management-hpp-inc-6383167
  9. Chambliss, John. “Freeman, Craig praised in annual review.” The Ledger. October 18, 2018. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2017/10/18/freeman-craig-praised-in-annual-review/18271201007/
  10.  Bartow. Brochure. Business Review Magazine. September 2018. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://businessviewmagazine.com/brochures/sep-2018/bartow-florida/files/assets/common/downloads/publication.pdf?uni=051c2830b526b826d928421f721a78c3
  11. “Who’s Who: Key Leaders Of Independent Groups.” NPR. September 22, 2008. Accessed May 3, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2008/09/22/93351993/whos-who-key-leaders-of-independent-groups
  12. “Rule of Law.” Conservative Partnership Initiative. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.cpi.org/2020/06/rule-of-law/
  13. “About Us.” HPP Fresh Florida. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.hppfreshflorida.com/about/
  14. “In the Spotlight.” Crain’s Detroit Business. February 2-8, 2009. Accessed May 3, 2024. https://www.crainsdetroit.com/assets/PDF/CD5975121.PDF
  15. “Peter O’Hara.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ohara-666b1819/
  16. “HPP Fresh Florida.” Zoom Info. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://www.zoominfo.com/c/hpp-fresh-florida/449212601
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Capital Management HPP

205 County Road 555
Bartow, FL 33830