Nashville: Bush visits bun company

Nashville: Bush visits bun company

	Published : Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:41 By : Agencies Print this Story

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - President Bush used a visit to Nashville Thursday to give a nod to small businesses by touring a plant that makes sandwich buns and then to speak about his federal budget priorities.

Bush arrived in the city on Air Force One at about 10:30 a.m. and after honoring a local volunteer went directly to Nashville Bun Co.

Workers at the business had spent several days sprucing up and preparing for Bush's visit.

'We spent hours walking through the bakery and plotting how the visit would flow,' CEO Cordia Harrington said the day before Bush arrived. 'We usually think we are pretty good at drop-in company, but this is definitely short notice.'

Harrington, who is also known as 'The Bun Lady,' said the White House told her Friday the president would like to tour the company, which bakes 28 million dozen buns a year. The 95 employees at Nashville Bun Co. supply McDonald's with enough hamburger buns to feed most of the Southeast and the Caribbean.

Apart from McDonald's -- the company's top customer, for which it also makes the English muffins for Egg McMuffins -- the company and its sister, Tennessee Bun Co., bake for Chili's, KFC, Pepperidge Farm and O'Charley's.

Even with the Republican president visiting Thursday, Harrington is reluctant to classify herself politically.

'If I had to generalize it, I'd say I'm Republican,' she said. 'But I like to look at the individual.'

Harrington has donated money to politicians of both parties, including Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., 2002 Democratic U.S. House candidate Gayle Ray from Tennessee, 2006 Republican House candidate Bentley Brooks Rayburn from Colorado and the National Republican Congressional Committee, federal fundraising reports show.

While Harrington was tidying up the bun bakery she set up in 1999, Tamara Ambar Losel, development and education coordinator for the Nashville Peace and Justice Center, was rallying anti-war protesters.

Ambar Losel said she was planning two protests, one outside the bun company and another outside Gaylord Opryland, where Bush will deliver his speech.

'We are mildly aware that his talk is going to be about the economic agenda, and we want to talk about cutting our bloated military budget,' Ambar Losel said.

'We want our voice out there because we know the conservatives have totally dominated the talk on the war,' she said.

Ambar Losel said the center is opposed to expanding the military budget and instead more fully funding education and anti-poverty programs.

Bush's last visit to Tennessee was to Chattanooga in February to promote his health care plan. He visited Nashville last August to raise money for Republican Bob Corker's successful Senate campaign.