Michael W. “Mike” Rice, the longtime chairman and chief executive officer of Utz Quality Foods who helped transform the Hanover, Pa.-based snack manufacturer from a regional potato chip business into a national competitor, died October 10 at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He was 84.
Rice spent more than five decades with the family-owned company, serving as president and CEO beginning in 1978 and later as chairman of the board. During his tenure, Utz expanded its manufacturing capacity, diversified its product portfolio and extended its distribution well beyond its Pennsylvania and Maryland roots.
Born October 4, 1942, in Hanover, Rice was the grandson of William and Salie Utz, who founded the company in 1921, initially producing potato chips in their home kitchen.
Rice graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University in 1965 and George Washington University Law School in 1968. After being admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar, he worked briefly for Control Data Corp. in Virginia before returning to Hanover at his parents’ request to join the family business…