Cooking Up a Good Time

The three principals at Cookwell & Company actually started the company on a dare. Could three friends who’d known each other since kindergarten start a company based on a mutual love – food – and still maintain their friendship? Well, they did.

The backgrounds of the owners are as diverse as their skills, but those diverse skills have proven to be a major reason why the three are a perfect match. Will Petty, co-owner and President of Cookwell & Company is passionate about food. He graduated from Texas Tech University in 1994 with a B.A. in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management, but found that what he really enjoyed was cooking food and creating flavors to share with others, rather than the restaurant path. Will honed his food skills working for a food distributor, as well as for a manufacturer. He is the official company chef and in charge of product development at Cookwell.

Brion Cimino is co-owner and Vice President of Cookwell & Company. After graduating from the University of Texas in 1994 with a B.S. in Communication, Brion developed advertising campaigns for such notable brands as Aunt Jemima, Jimmy Dean Sausage, Manwich, and Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal. Brion had always liked eating and marketing food more than he liked talking about it, so it was a natural that he would handle the marketing duties for the company.

Cookwell & Company co-owner and Vice President Kyle Green is the all-important guy behind the scenes, handling the company’s finances. Kyle graduated from Concordia University with multiple degrees and a significant focus on accounting. After college Kyle worked for a real estate management investment conduit where he was COO, CFO, and head of procurement. Now he brings those skills to Cookwell’s bottom line, although he enjoys being a taste tester as much as being the bookkeeper.

Together the three long-time, food loving friends comprise Cookwell & Company, a Fortune 10,000,000 company located in the heart of Austin, Texas. These guys wear boots to work and boast three grills and a smoker at their office. The company motto is “The day that work is no longer fun, is the day we’ll shut ‘er down. Life is too short to not have fun at work.”