The franchise office was founded in Dillon in 1983, and the original Great Falls bakery sold to Pete Rysted (who still owns it today). They try to find that middle ground between the advantages of a traditional franchise and the fun of a let's-do-it-all-ourselves start-up. When you open a Great Harvest, there aren't many rules on how to run your store. Owners do it their way, but within the context of a community of like-minded and like-talented and like-spirited owners. By connecting both owners and franchise staff together into a learning community, all of them profit from 200-odd minds and thirty years of experience. © Great Harvest Bread Company