Eli Field was born in 1910 and raised in England. At age 13, he left Liverpool, England for America to meet his father, who had earlier immigrated to Chicago. For a time, Eli worked as a salesman for a box manufacturer but was unfulfilled in his work and thought he could do better. So, with $500, Eli founded Field Container Corp LLP (“Field Container”) in 1942. Success shortly followed. Under Eli’s leadership, Field Container thrived and, over the next 65 years, became one of the largest folding carton/carton converter and specialty-paper packaging companies in the U.S. In 2006, the Field Family sold a majority stake in Field Container and merged with Altivity Packaging, a consumer packaging business owned by Texas Pacific Group, a global leader in private equity.
Sandra (Field) Cooper was one of five children to Eli and Dina Field. She married Phillip Cooper and had three children. Like his father-in-law, Phillip Cooper also maintained a drive to succeed. In 1977, he founded Redi-Cut Foods, Inc. (“Redi-Cut”), a leading processor of fresh-cut produce to the nation’s leading quick-service restaurants. Early on, Phillip Cooper saw the value of keeping the business family owned and operated as his son, Carey Cooper, joined the Redi-Cut team. The Family had no plans to sell their food-processing business, but in 2000, they agreed to sell its stake in Redi-Cut to Performance Food Group, a publicly traded food distribution company.
Shortly thereafter, Phil and Carey established Cooper Management with the vision of building a platform to grow the Family’s wealth and continue to maintain its culture and history. Today, the Family encompasses four generations who are served by Cooper Management.
