"I never forget my roots"

David Garner makes it a point to come home three times a year. “Though I’ve been gone so many years, I never forget my roots.”

Traveling and living across the country and now living in La Jolla, Calif., Garner’s roots are still planted firmly in southeast Lauderdale area where he grew up. So it’s no surprise that when he returns to the Meridian area he also visits his college alma mater, Meridian Community College.

A recent trip home yielded another MCC stop, making a point to return to the L.O. Todd Library, this time with his laptop and three cell phones in tow to keep in touch with his company – Kashi – the Seven Whole Grain Company.

Garner is chief financial officer for the nationally-based food company. Kashi is a pioneering health food brand that is “dedicated to providing great tasting, healthy and innovative foods that enable people to achieve optimal health and wellness. Its products are natural, minimally processed, and free of highly refined sugars, artificial additives and preservatives,” according to the company’s website. The company began in 1984.

“I’ve been in the CFO role for the last four years,” he said. The company highlights employees in their commercials and Garner, too, was in the company spotlight.

Garner attended MCC from 1979-81, studying in the University Transfer Program. It was the faculty and staff, he said, “that made sure you had the necessary tools to be successful. They always gave words of encouragement.” He recalls taking an accounting class from Alice James who helped direct him in the fields of accounting and economics. “I remember these (MCC) teachers because they’re the ones who made the difference.”

While at MCC, Garner was a member of the student ambassadors, a Phi Theta Kappa member and a finalist for the H.M. Ivy Award. “I’ll always have a soft spot for MCC,” he said, remembering while he was a student the support he received from MCCers – both faculty and students – when his family’s home burned and when his dad passed away.

“This is where it all started. I graduated from high school and started college two days later,” Garner said. He earned his master’s of business administration from Mississippi State University. He worked in the area of tax and financial planning in Chicago. Garner also worked for Mobil Oil in Dallas before joining Kellogg’s Cereal and later Kashi.

So when Garner returns to his alma mater, what’s the first stop? The Todd Library, he said. “I spent many hours in the library. It really paid off in terms of where I am today.