The Smith Island Baking Co. is one of the most unique bakeries on the planet. Located in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, the Smith Island Baking Co. is the only place for Authentic Smith Island Cakes. The story of the Smith Island Baking Co. has been told and retold by satisfied customers and journalists alike from around the world. In the end, it's a story of the right community, the right vision, the right people, and the right timing.

Smith Island, Maryland, is a 400-year-old fishing village of only 250 residents. Located 10 miles offshore in the Chesapeake Bay, and accessible only by ferry, it was here in the 1800's that the Smith Island Cake was born. Made to be sent with watermen on the autumn oyster harvest, bakers took pride in making cakes with the thinnest possible layers and fudge instead of buttercream frosting. The watermen loved the presentation, and cakes frosted with fudge lasted much longer than cakes with other frostings.

In 2008, Maryland named the Smith Island Cake its State Dessert, and, in spite of the island's remote location, National Geographic says it's "Worth the Trip." While Smith Island Cakes are deservedly famous, and delicious, there were no significant bakeries on the island. That was, until the stars aligned.

In 2009, Brian Murphy, a former commodity trader turned entrepreneur, partnered with local bakers to create a premiere national gift company right on Smith Island. Brian grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore, only 50 miles from Smith Island. In 1999, he graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Economics. He spent the next decade as a Portfolio Manager for Constellation Energy in Baltimore. In 2006, Constellation agreed to send him to business school. He was accepted into the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and in May, 2008, he graduated with an MBA in Finance.

In September, 2008, just months after Brian completed his MBA, Constellation got caught in a liquidity crisis and nearly declared bankruptcy. Brian never planned to leave Constellation, but in the months that followed the company's culture changed, and several key members of management resigned. And in December, 2008, Brian accepted a severance package, and decide to set out on his own.

He created an investment company, the Plimhimmon Group, named in honor of his late father, and spent several months exploring everything from cement companies to lumberyards to clothing designers. But nothing felt quite right. As fate would have it, in February, 2009, Murphy and his family were on the way to visit his mother on the Eastern Shore for her birthday. On the way they stopped at a local market, and bought a birthday cake. A Smith Island cake.

Everyone loved the cake, but they were surprised to learn it was not made on Smith Island. They were even more surprised to learn there were no major bakeries on Smith Island. But why not? Could there be? So the due diligence began. Murphy did exhaustive research on the market and the island, culminating with a trip to Smith Island in April, 2009, where he met with several local bakers in the church basement to pitch his idea: a premiere gift dessert company, shipping Smith Island cakes all over the world, located right there on Smith Island, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The women loved it, and called it "an answer to prayer". And they were unanimous in their suggestion that Kristen Smith would be the ideal manager for the new company.

Kristen Smith (at the time, Kristen Manzo, who has since married Bobby Smith) grew up in Towson, Maryland, and went to college at Methodist College in North Carolina. After college, Kristen went to work for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Smith Island. She fell in love with the island's simple life and its strong sense of community. She also fell in love with Bobby Smith, a waterman turned tugboat operator. The month before Murphy came to the island, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was forced to lay-off Smith due to budget constraints.

Smith had done apprentice work with Mary Ada Marshall, a lifelong Smith Islander and baker who was a driving influence in having the Smith Island Cake named Maryland's State Dessert. Kristen's dream job was to run a bakery. So when Murphy made the offer, she accepted immediately. It was a match made in heaven.

There was a small existing bakery in Ewell, the largest of the island's three villages, but it was so small it didn't even appear on Murphy's internet searches for Smith Island Cakes. Murphy got in touch with the owner, and learned she was planning to discontinue operations. Walk-up traffic was too light to justify the existing bakery, but the facility was the perfect size to launch the new enterprise. Murphy secured a long-term lease for the facility, and began building the company from scratch. The web site, shopping cart, new logos that capture the spirit of the island, custom packaging, tins, and a refined, made-from-scratch recipe were just the beginning.

Business was slow at first, and in their first month sales were only $248.50. But word of the bakery spread, and the Smith Island Baking Co. became a media sensation. They even "sold out" their first Christmas, and had to turn away customers! Just six months after their launch they had secured their place as a premiere gift dessert company, shipping thousands of cakes to all fifty states, and to six foreign countries. In the following months they broadened their offerings to include select gourmet and seasonal offerings, homemade fudge, and merchandise.

Ironically, before Wharton, Brian never considered himself an entrepreneur. He had been a successful risk manager for Constellation Energy, but at Wharton he realized his dream was to start, run, and grow companies. With degrees in Economics and Finance, and a successful career as a portfolio manager overseeing more than $4 billion, conventional wisdom would suggest that Brian's next job would be in a major financial hub, not running a bakery on a remote island. Conventional wisdom would also suggest that a major national gift company could never survive on a remote island in the first place. But if Brian learned one thing at Wharton, it was that some risks are worth taking. History is filled with great companies who were born in spite of conventional wisdom. Thanks to the internet, credit cards, and state-of-the-art packaging and shipping, the Smith Island Baking Co. is positioned to become one of the nation's premiere gift companies.

Now in its third year, The Smith Island Baking Co. is just as committed as ever to its employees, and to Smith Island. Over the last several decades, Smith Island's economy has declined with the crabbing and oystering industries. But Smith Island has a special place in Maryland history, and in United States history. Brian, Kristen, and the entire Smith Island Baking Co. family are excited by the financial impact of the bakery on the island economy, and they are proud of what they've built. Most importantly, they look forward to the years ahead.

From all of us at the Smith Island Baking Co., thank you for taking the time to read our story. We hope you'll consider trying one of our made-from-scratch creations, and we look forward to serving you and your loved ones soon.

Sincerely,

The Smith Island Baking Co. Family