Common Threads- Ep. 1 Dave Dahl by commonthreads
Dave’s Killer Bread can be found in eight states, but it was only founded in one. One of Oregon’s most popular home-grown breads was created by Dave Dahl, a man who transformed himself from a felon into a highly successful bread maker and businessman. Dahl spoke of his resounding transformation as a product of his “humility” and of his acceptance that he needed help. He frequently visits schoolchildren and convicts in an effort to “promote humility” and give them the jumpstart they need to change their lives. Dahl visited the University Wednesday night and spoke to students at the Lillis Business Complex in an event hosted by the Entrepreneurship Club.
Dahl asnwers a question from a UO student regarding his business, Dave’s Killer Bread. Many questions, ranging from whether or not Dahl would ever go public with his company to what his favorite variety of his bread was, were asked over the hour-long session. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dahl speaks to a large group of resident felons in the cafeteria at Northwest Regional Re-Entry Center. Dahl, a felon himself, served fifteen years in prison before being released in 2004. Every month he routinely visits prisons, halfway houses, schools, and various other establishments to share his felon-turned-bread-maker-turned-successful-businessman story. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dave Dahl, speaks to University students at the Lillis Business Complex. He would go on to show his promotional video and give audience members loaves of his Oregon-famous bread. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dahl and Executive Assistant to the President Ladd Justesen, a friend and former 20-year felon who served in Snake River Correctional Institution prison with him, speaks with Brian Martinek, Executive Director of the Northwest Regional Re-Entry Center, about the importance of telling Dave’s story to individuals struggling through the justice system. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Justesen throws a loaf of bread to a UO student after he asks Dahl a question about Dave’s Killer Bread. During the question and answer session, Dahl and Justesen “bribed” students with various varieties of his “killer” bread. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dahl details the struggles he’s had in trying to find and secure a supplier of locally grown wheat for the factory Dave’s Killer Bread is produced. The problem, Dahl would go on to explain, is that growing wheat in Oregon has been difficult for farmers, but it appears new technology might be soon changing that. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
A worker at Dave’s Killer Bread’s factory located in Milwaukie, Ore. cleans a bread mixer. The company employs more than 250 people, a third of which are felons. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Various loaves of Dave’s Killer Bread sit on a cooling rack that rises and then lowers through a series of metal rotating and rising racks. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
After being cooled, the loaves of bread are mechanically loaded on to a conveyor belt and then make their way to a machine that bags them in a recyclable biodegradable plastic. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dahl shows off a video of himself, Justesen, and friend Lenny Lanahan performing a song he wrote while in prison for “Heart of the Matter,” an interview show once on Vimeo. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dahl, an avid guitar player, performs “the blues” with Justesen and band mates in his music room on the second floor of his house. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
Dahl riffs out Metallica on his guitar while having a jam session in his house with bandmates. (Nate Barrett/Oregon Daily Emerald)
