On March 27 in Topeka, Kan., Mars Chocolate North America officially opened its first new candy manufacturing facility in 35 years. Gathered for the official lever-pulling ceremony to start up the new SNICKERS Fun size line were the following: Kansas Governor Sam Brownback; Victoria Mars, chairman of Mars, Inc.; Debra Sandler, president of Mars Chocolate North America; and Bret Spangler, site director – Topeka. Can you guess who was in the “hot seat?”

One of the first questions I asked Spangler when I had the opportunity to visit the Topeka facility last month was whether he was nervous. “You have no idea,” he told me. Now, Spangler isn’t the type of fellow who easily gets flustered.