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Business of the Month

December 2005

In Western New York, the name Wegmans is synonymous with Customer Service, community involvement, and finely appointed grocery facilities. Even so, to say that Wegmans is ubiquitous in Rochester is an understatement. From their beginnings with a "mom and pop" grocery store in 1915, to becoming an industry leader, Wegmans has maintained a local feel. So much so, that it is not uncommon to hear customers speak in terms of "my Wegmans" when referring to the particular store where they regularly shop.

Truly, the superlatives that apply to this fine company are limitless. Nearly as limitless are the awards and recognition Wegmans has accumulated in its long history, including being ranked the #1 best company to work for by Fortune magazine. The latest of which however (and we think the most substantial!) is the Webster Chamber of Commerce's Business of the Month award for December.

Wegmans first opened its doors at the Holt Road location on November 19, 1990 and joined the Webster Chamber of Commerce soon after in 1991. In that time period, Wegmans has become a valued member of the community, by employing over five hundred people locally and 35,000 company wide. Surprisingly, given the economic volatility in western NY, Wegmans has achieved a seemingly impossible feat, and has NEVER had to lay-off any employees throughout its history.

I had the opportunity recently to sit down with Mark Pulvino, Produce Manager at the Holt Road location. With 21 years at Wegmans under his belt, we spoke about how Wegmans fits into the Webster community. "It's really a great place to work" said the father of two and assistant scout master of troop 110.

"We are involved with the United Way, Comfort Care, Good Food Tours with students, and six days a week there are pick ups of donations to local food banks. We try to coordinate our efforts with our other Webster location (1950 Empire Blvd.) to avoid overlap with the same charities."

Indeed, Wegmans not only cares about its impact on their neighbors, but they also care about their employees. In addition to benefit packages (the first of which was introduced in 1953) employee training and growth is achieved with specialized programs developed by Wegmans. Part-time employees working towards a college degree, and meeting work performance criteria, can earn a $1500 per year scholarship. The full-time employee with children can receive a $2200 credit per year towards tuition at The Aquinas Institute.

On your next trip to Wegmans this holiday season, be sure to stop store manager Bob Wolfe and congratulate him on a fine store and representing the Chamber so well as the business of the month.

You may know that Wegmans is one of the most respected food retailers in the business, but I bet you didn't know...

• In 1932 Wegmans was the first to introduce into Rochester refrigerated display windows and vaporized water sprays to keep produce fresh.
• In 2003 Wegmans was ranked #2 in Consumer Reports list of supermarkets
• Wegmans is one of Rochester's largest commercial property management companies.
• In 2004 Wegmans donated 13,973,562 pounds (that's 350 tractor trailer loads!) of goods to local food banks.
• Menu Magazine, published in-house by Wegmans, has a circulation rate of over 800,000. That's more than Gourmet Magazine!

Congratulations!

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