"Raising The Bar," The Story of Clif Bar & Co., Released in Paperback.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- First published to enthusiastic reviews in 2004, Raising The Bar: Integrity and Passion In Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar & Co., has just been released in paperback, updated with a new epilogue that traces the company's unique road toward sustainability over the past three years.

In the epilogue, Clif Bar Owner and Founder Gary Erickson takes readers from the difficult business and personal lessons learned after deciding not to sell the company for $120 million and giving up his role as CEO in 2004, to the present day. Staying true to its roots, Clif Bar thrives as a $150 million a year company pursuing a vision for healthy organic products. Erickson himself has gone back to the "garage" and rekindled his entrepreneurial energies through new hands-on projects, including helping small conventional farms transition to organic.

A crossover book that appeals equally to business and general audiences, Raising The Bar ($19.95, Jossey-Bass/An Imprint of Wiley) chronicles the remarkable rise of Clif Bar from a homemade energy bar to a $100 million dollar business that was four times named one of the nation's fastest-growing private companies by Inc. magazine. Erickson and co-author Lois Lorentzen, a professor of social ethics at the University of San Francisco, tell the unusual and inspiring story about following your passion, having the freedom to create, sustaining a business over the long haul, and living responsibly in your community and on the Earth.

According to Newsweek magazine, "What makes Erickson's book worth reading is that he's as honest about his mistakes as his successes." Chicago Athlete magazine wrote, "If you're disgruntled about the corruption within corporate America, you will applaud this autobiography. Raising the Bar is an inspiring storyC*Highly recommended."

The book includes compelling personal stories from Erickson's lifeCotrekking in the Himalayan mountains, riding his bicycle over roadless European mountain passes and climbing in the Sierra Nevada range -- as inspiration for his philosophy of business. He convincingly asserts that sustaining one's employees, community, and environment is good business.

Erickson has based his life and business philosophy on taking the white roads (borrowing from the color-coding of Michelin maps used for his European bike trips), which are off-the-beaten track, narrow and unpredictable - rather than the busy, noisy main red roads.

"Clif shows that a company that moves from bottom-line, red-road thinking to a stewardship model can thrive," says Erickson in the epilogue, in which he also describes how he and his wife, Kit, have worked closely with CEO Sheryl O'Loughlin to sustain a culture at Clif Bar that is "disciplined, entrepreneurial, and playful."

Managers, executives, and business owners will find that Raising the Bar is a sensible guide to corporate integrity. Sports enthusiasts, environmentalists, and adventure lovers will be intrigued by a unique corporate culture that has successfully built its business on five aspirations: sustaining its brands, business, people, community, and planet.

Raising the Bar is available at bookstores and online retailers nationwide.

Clif Bar & Co. is a leading maker of all-natural and organic energy and nutrition foods and drinks, including the organic certified CLIF[R] BAR energy bar delivering nutrition for sustained energy and LUNA[R], The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women[R]. Committed to sustainability, Clif Bar & Co. works diligently to reduce its footprint on the planet from the field to the final product. To learn more, visit www.clifbar.com.