Regina Dettra – 15 in 2015

// Owner, The Sifted Flour Bakery // 41 years in Saline County

The Sifted Flour Bakery opened in January 2014 when Regina Dettra realized the volume of cooking she was doing out of her home kitchen was too great to sustain. Always a baker for her family, she made her kids a promise when they were very young that she would never buy them a birthday cake, rather she would make it from scratch every year.

With that promise came a reputation as a wonderful baker, then a small special-order baked goods business run out of her home, then an official storefront in Benton named The Sifted Flour Bakery. Known for customized cakes, cookies and cupcakes, all the recipes are old-fashioned, handed down from several generations of Regina’s family. “Word has it that our buttercream icing is the best in town,” Regina shares with a laugh.

Not only is Regina a gifted baker, she’s also a former special education teacher who taught at the Arkansas School for the Deaf for 12 years. When she opened her bakery, she wanted to not only start a small business but also create a program for special education students to learn life skills. Regina currently has two students from Benton High School and two students from the Arkansas School for the Deaf working at the bakery, and all four have become very capable bakers.

According to Regina, “They have mastered following a recipe and baking. They do quite a lot of the baking for us, but haven’t quite mastered decorating just yet. The next step is to add in customer service training. It will require additional technology and a communication device, so we have work to do, but that’s where we want to go with this.” The students do a lot of the operational tasks at the bakery such as washing windows and folding boxes, and Regina gives them the credit for letting her have a smile on her face for her customers. “The work they do takes a load off of me, and I’m able to focus more on the decorating and interactions with customers.”

Regina says “When I was teaching, I watched graduates leave school and not know what to do with their life. They weren’t ready for junior college or college, and there aren’t many jobs for people who haven’t been taught life skills. I believe that if we start early enough, we can lead students into adulthood complete with a job and independence. That’s our goal with this program. And really we hope more local businesses do the same.”

Regina’s dual passion for baking and preparing students for life after college is rare, and Saline County has a true gem in its midst with her.