Sheila Breeding Named "Women of Achievement"
June 3rd, 2002

SAN JOSE – Sheila Breeding, vice president, chief financial officer and co-founder of Toeniskoetter & Breeding (TBI) Inc., has been named 2002 “Woman of Achievement” by the Silicon Valley Women’s Fund. She received her honor at a dinner in the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel attended by many of the Silicon Valley’s most prominent business, education, government, civic and charitable leaders. The organization honored her for contributions in the category of “Small Business.”

In addition to her responsibilities for San Jose-based Toeniskoetter & Breeding’s construction, development and property management activities, Mrs. Breeding also oversees accounting for two other companies and several real estate investments. She was also cited for serving on numerous religious, charitable and community organizations and for pursuing several demanding talents and hobbies.

Extraordinary faith, determination and energy allowed her to advance from file clerk to accounting executive during 18 years with a large San Jose construction company, then, with her husband, Dan Breeding, and his colleague, Charles J. Toeniskoetter, start their own company in 1983.

Today, the company they created over her kitchen table has completed hundreds of millions of dollars in construction, from restoration of historical public buildings to building structures for high technology. For Hewlett Packard alone, Toeniskoetter & Breeding has in the last two years, completed major remodeling of HP’s world headquarters, the headquarters for spin-off Agilent Technologies and the new HP Executive Briefing Center in Cupertino. In recent months, the company developed and built corporate headquarters buildings or corporate campuses totaling more than 700,000 square feet for three significant manufacturing companies. It also has built offices of the highest standard for nearly every professional firm in Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, TBI Development has created a series of partnerships leading to the development of nearly 2.5 million square feet of floor space, including professional offices, R&D, industrial, medical offices, retail and warehouses. Over the past year alone, the company has nearly doubled its retained development portfolio through the creation of one of Morgan Hill’s largest business parks.

Commercial property management was recently established as a separate entity, with 1.8 million square feet of space under management.

Mrs. Breeding also has financial responsibility for one of the West’s largest Nordic Ski Areas at Bear Valley Resort, as well as the Bear Valley Lodge and village retail center. Her financial responsibilities also include TBI Land & Cattle Company and the Toeniskoetter & Breeding Foundation.

In addition to her responsibilities with Toeniskoetter & Breeding, Mrs. Breeding was honored for her religious, charitable and community service activities. She attends Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and takes the additional step of serving all churches as a director of Mount Hermon Ministries. This organization serves as a consultant for spiritual leaders and strives to restore faith and harmony within local congregations.

Charitable activities include director of the American Cancer Society’s Santa Clara Valley Chapter. She also is a member of and served as the first woman chair of the YMCA Central Branch Board of Managers, and she serves on the YMCA Prayer Breakfast Planning Committee. For the past three years, Mrs. Breeding has co-chaired the Cattle Baron’s Ball auction, an important fund-raising event for cancer research. She previously chaired VIA, formerly known as the Crippled Children’s Society of Santa Clara Valley.

Despite these accomplishments, Mrs. Breeding is probably best known for her service to the community. Active in the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, she now chairs Compac, the chamber’s political action committee. She also is a director of the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau, director and past-secretary of American Musical Theater and a member of the Advisory Board of San Jose Beautiful. She also provides community service through membership in the Downtown San Jose Rotary Club.

The judges found that in every volunteer endeavor, Mrs. Breeding has made a significant difference. She contributes her business and organizational skills and extraordinary energy. Many of these activities center on fund-raising, where she has been extremely successful and even cooks for sizeable benefit dinners.

They also found her to be a significant role model for other women and girls, for whom she provides inspiration and guidance.