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| SWISHER CHIEF ZIEGLER DIES AT 79 |
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Page 1 of 2  Plus: Our Register & Win winner of the week!Los Angeles, June 18 – The chairman and chief executive of Swisher International, William Ziegler III, died last Friday at age 79. A noted philanthropist in the Long Island, N.Y. area, Ziegler’s family acquired Swisher in 1966 and merged it into its privately-held American Maize Products Co. He continued to run American Maize until 1995, but has remained chairman and chief executive of Swisher. The Swisher International of today is a 1,500-employee powerhouse in the machine-made cigar segment with brands such as Swisher Sweets, Optimo and King Edward, mostly made at the company’s plant in Jacksonville, Florida. The company also has a small presence in the handmade sector, with brands including Bering Dominican Hallmark, Casino Gold, Tiburon and Vieja Tradicion and markets about three dozen brands of smokeless tobaccos. During Ziegler’s tenure, the Swisher Sweets brand – introduced in 1958 – became one of the best-known in the country and is now sold in about 60 countries worldwide. Local politicians in and around the area where Ziegler lived in Connecticut praised his generosity. “We couldn’t be more thankful for all that he’s done,” said Evonne Klein, a city legislator in Darien, Connecticut, in an interview with the Stamford Advocate.. Ziegler supported the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut and donated three ambulances and millions of dollars to hospitals in the Norwalk and Stamford areas. Comment: Ziegler’s business success is well documented and his quiet demeanor and devotion to charitable causes are to be commended. Interestingly, none of the comments carried in news reports condemned him for owning a cigar company. More hypocrisy from the politically-correct set? Some tobacco analysts have speculated that Swisher may be sold in 2008 or 2009 to a large cigarette concern such as Reynolds American. Certainly, Ziegler’s heirs will now face the decision that up to now would have been his about whether to sell the company. Association for women’s smokers started “When I was in the process of starting my cigar company, I looked for data on women cigar smokers and I couldn’t find any. No one seemed to think it was an important enough demographic to bother learning about. Ever since then, it was my intention to start a non-profit for women cigar smokers and cigar shop owners to act as a megaphone for their voices in the cigar industry.” That’s Heather Haddad, owner of Fumeeworld.com, a cigar media and sales site, who has now formed the Association for Women Cigar Smokers. The site is designed to offer information for female cigar smokers, but is also working toward creating a national association of women smokeshop owners. Membership will provide access to demographic data compiled by the organization, a directory of other women in the industry, information on how to fight anti-smoking legislation and a chance to apply for a yearly grant to female cigar retailers. Expanding Cusano opens its own factory Mike Chiusano’s DomRey Cigar Co. has expanded enough to where it has opened its own manufacturing facility in the Dominican Republic. |
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Did you know?
“A Macanudo Baron de Rothschild cost you $2.60 in 1975, $3.70 in 1995 and $5.20 in 2005, a 100% increase in 30 years!
