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October 14, 2024

Bill Morris III is the CEO and Chairman of Morris. Founded 75 years ago in 1949, Morris now supplies thermal processing equipment to customers across the United States and in 50 countries. In this interview, Bill tells us more about his career beginnings, how he found his way to the company his father founded, and who he is outside of the professional world.

Bill Morris, Chairman & CEO

Good morning Bill, thank you for joining me today to talk about your background as well as what makes Morris so special. To start, where did you grow up?

I’m a Raleigh, NC native but I went to the Georgia Military Academy from 6th grade through my senior year of high school, so Atlanta is like a second home to me. After graduating, I attended NC State where I majored in economics.

When did you develop interest in the poultry and process cooling industry?

My father, Bill Morris Jr, founded Morris in 1949 so I’ve always been around the business in one way or another.

What is your favorite thing about this industry?

What we do on a day-to-day basis is important work. We make a difference by engaging in difficult projects that require a lot of engineering and design work. Ever since I was a child, I always wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact.

When did you start with Morris?

Well prior to Morris I had my own business, Holly Ridge Foods. But I was also consulting for Morris in the sales, marketing, and management departments for about 15 years and was a member of the board. I understood the business inside and out and had some ideas for what could take Morris to the next level and in 2002, I purchased Morris from my father and his partner.

As CEO and Chairman, how would you explain your job description?

I participate very actively in the design process and spearhead our vision and strategy efforts. I’m constantly thinking about our 3-5-10 plan. We need to always be looking ahead for the short term (3 years), medium term (5 years), and long term (10 years) to ensure that Morris can continue to grow as a company. In my opinion, a business has to be reinvented every 10 years so we’re very cognizant of where we stand.

What attracted you to Morris?

Well, number one, we have a long family history. 75 years this company has been in the hands of my father and myself. Beyond that, I’ve always had an interest in mechanical engineering and complicated processes and I love being in a business that has that as their primary functions. In my career I’ve had 26 years of food production experience and Morris was a natural fit.

What is your favorite thing about Morris?

Our team. The people we have here at Morris are excellent and it makes coming to work every day an absolute joy. I’d put our culture up against any other company in this industry. A large part of that has to do with our charitable commitments. Every year we donate 10% of our net proceeds to faith-based charities. Community outreach is important to me and being able to give back to the community that has embraced us was an easy decision.

How would you describe the company culture at Morris?

We aren’t afraid to be tough and demanding of ourselves and our team but we always do it with respect. We try to understand each other’s viewpoints rather than just putting up with one another. We’re determined but also open to other points of view. We’re also a family business. We have multiple employees who have family in the business from leadership to our warehouse.

What motivates you?

We love making the industries that we serve their best. We love refining their processes and our machinery so that the customers’ plants run exceptionally well. We strive for excellence as individuals and drive our clients to do the same. Nobody can ever be perfect but our drive for excellence sets us apart from our competitors.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I myself have 7 patents to my name but Morris as a company owns 51 patents. We have designed and patented several pieces of equipment for several different industries that our customers didn’t even ask for which are now the standard in their industry. We’re known for designing equipment that makes processes better without the customer asking for them. And that’s a huge credit to our engineering team. We have 28 employees in our engineering and design departments so our commitment to innovation is evident. We examine the process and bring in our experts to see how we can make the processes even better. Our newest initiative, Genesis, is another example that will make a huge difference in the world by cleaning dirty water. Nobody told us that they needed us to build this equipment, we just said we’ll figure out what you need before you need it.

What is your strongest quality that make you a fit for your position?

I’ve owned businesses for 45 years and have seen a lot of cycles. As I said before, nobody can be perfect. I’ve made mistakes but I’ve learned from them to make me a better CEO and Chairman. I never stop learning even after 45 years and my openness to change is, in my opinion, my strongest quality.

What advice would you give to someone starting at Morris?

Be all-in. We invest in our people and those who are willing to put in what they get out of Morris will be the inheritors of the future company. We demand a lot from our people and this drives them to excellence. I’ve always said there are 2 kinds of excellence. One is you limit your mistakes and you give the best product and service to your customer. But to me, the higher level of excellence is to make sure our customers limit their mistakes. We go the extra mile and study our customers’ operations to keep them from making mistakes. It’s not enough for Morris to be great, we want our customers to be great as well.

What do you like to do in your free time?

We have a very large family. I have 5 married children and 10 grand-children so that’s a big part of my wife Doris and my extracurricular activity. We’re also experienced powerboaters. Our children were raised in Wilmington right on the ocean so boating was a big part of our lives.

What’s a fun fact about you that people at Morris may not know?

I was hoping you’d ask me this. I played a lot of guitar for the church and played my whole life. I specialized in acoustic jazz guitar and Morris’ on-hold music is actually my composition. I don’t know if many of our employees even know that.

Any last thoughts that you want to discuss?

We at Morris are constantly expanding. It’s exciting to be a part of the company as it continues to expand globally and in different markets. It’s an honor to be a part of the team that is making innovation happen.

Thanks so much for your time, Bill.

My pleasure.