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There are few stories as inspiring as the life of Cordia Harrington. Cordia Harrington was a single mother in Arkansas trying to scrape a living out of a sedate real estate market. Her resourceful spirit led her from one stepping stone of success to the next. While selling homes, Cordia Harrington realized that unreliable contractors were not finishing the houses in time for buyers to live in them. In response, she opened a construction company to build the homes she sold. As you can see, Cordia Harrington believes in the old adage – "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." As Cordia Harrington outgrew those dreams, she established bigger ones.  Cordia Harrington moved to Illinois and became one of the first woman owners of a McDonald's franchise. She ran the restaurant herself, with her own children helping out by stuffing Happy Meal boxes and handing drinks out at the drive-through. Through a series of inspired business tactics, Cordia Harrington turned her one McDonald's restaurant into three. She then went on to sell those restaurants and opened a bakery that today still supplies buns and English muffins to McDonald's restaurants across the nation. Cordia Harrington's powerful optimism and iron-clad work ethic have made her one of the premier businesswomen in America. She was recently recognized by Fast Company magazine as one of the 25 Top Woman Business Builders. Cordia Harrington currently sits on the board for the Federal Reserve Bank of Nashville. Contact: Cordia Harrington Nashville Bun Company 2975 Armory Dr. Nashville, TN USA 37204 Phone: 615-256-6500 Fax: 615-256-2084 www.buncompany.com ...read more

Several decades ago, Cordia Harrington was a franchise owner/operator of three McDonald's restaurants in the Midwest. This was quite an accomplishment for a woman in the 1980s, but Cordia Harrington has always had a grand vision for herself and her family. One year later, still working in the restaurant all day and smelling like french fries, it occurred to Cordia Harrington that the McDonald's bread suppliers did not have the level of operation necessary to keep up with demand. Cordia Harrington knew that she could do better. For four years, McDonald's told her "No." They told her to stay out of the baking business and just run her three restaurants. But Cordia Harrington knew that McDonald's needed her and she continued to lobby tirelessly for her vision. "If you know you can do something, don't let anybody tell you ‘No,'" says Cordia Harrington, "because when you get a ‘No,' it only means that you haven't talked to the right person or you haven't asked the right question yet." Clearly, her perseverance paid off, because after four years of "No," McDonald's gave Cordia Harrington the opportunity she had been waiting for. Today, Cordia Harrington is known as The Bun Lady, because she owns The Bun Company, a baking conglomerate that supplies buns and English muffins to over 600 McDonald's locations. And McDonald's is just one of Cordia Harrington's many national clients. Contact: Cordia Harrington Nashville Bun Company 2975 Armory Dr. Nashville, TN USA 37204 Phone: 615-256-6500 Fax: 615-256-2084 www.buncompany.com ...read more

Nashville, TN, September 30, 2009  -- From her humble beginnings renting a work desk to sell Arkansas real estate, Cordia Harrington has seen a lot of change. Raising three children as a single mother inspired Cordia Harrington to dream of owning her own business as a way to create means for her family. Owning her own business, she thought, would also allow her to spend more time with her children. "I was a little bit naïve," remembers Cordia Harrington, a Tennessee businesswoman affectionately regarded as The Bun Lady. "My idea of owning this business, where you can make money and not be there – it didn't work!" Cordia Harrington punctuates this observation with a laugh. Her optimistic nature shines through in all her speeches. These days Cordia Harrington has rethought her initial goal of business ownership and owns several businesses, none of which are the same as the real estate enterprise where she began. Cordia Harrington gives speeches at universities and conventions around the country on the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life. She hopes that some enterprising businesswomen will take useful lessons from her experiences. Cordia Harrington currently owns the Bun Company, an impressive baking enterprise that supplies buns and English muffins to hundreds of American and international food distributors, including McDonald's, Pepperidge Farms, and Chili's. Contact: Cordia Harrington Nashville Bun Company 2975 Armory Dr. Nashville, TN USA 37204 Phone: 615-256-6500 Fax: 615-256-2084 www.buncompany.com ...read more

Nashville, TN, September 1, 2009 -- When President George W. Bush visited middle Tennessee during his administration he hosted a special dinner event. One of the people invited to that dinner event was local entrepreneur Cordia Harrington. What is so special about Cordia Harrington? If you've ever eaten at McDonald's or had a Pepperidge Farm cookie, you owe a bit of that pleasure to Cordia Harrington. Cordia Harrington is the owner of The Bun Company, a vertically integrated conglomerate that includes two baking factories and a cold storage unit, plus a trucking company to move the bread around the country. In light of these accomplishments, Cordia Harrington is affectionately known as The Bun Lady. In 1988, Cordia Harrington opened her first McDonald's restaurant in rural Illinois. Cordia Harrington was one of the first women franchisees in the McDonald's enterprise. She worked long, hard hours and eventually opened three McDonald's restaurants. "During this time," confides Cordia Harrington, "I was, as a joke, put on the Bun Committee. The men in my co-op though this was hilarious because of the word ‘bun.' They didn't know that in a short time, they would be picking me up in the corporate jet to visit bakeries around the world. I got out of my restaurants. I could do business. This was exciting." Cordia Harrington, with her sparkling attitude, took advantage of her bun committee appointment and turned it into an opportunity to become a McDonald's supplier. Today her Bun Company supplies baked goods to corporate food distributors nationwide. Cordia Harrington, with her own wits and determination, took herself from operating a french fry machine to occupying a guest seat at a presidential dinner. Now that's the American dream. Contact: Cordia Harrington Nashville Bun Company 2975 Armory Dr. Nashville, TN USA 37204 Phone: 615-256-6500 Fax: 615-256-2084 www.buncompany.com ...read more