Jun. 17—ROCHESTER — It’s not common to see three people working for the same company for more than 40 years.
However, the sight of three employees at Rochester Hy-Vees with more than 40 years of experience will be a little more common.
Photos of Gregory Wheeler, Theresa Dick and Penny Kent grace the sides of Hy-Vee delivery trucks that will crisscross the Midwest over the next year.
Wheeler, Dick and Kent were each members of the staff that opened the Hy-Vee grocery store on 37th St. NW in late 1983.
Wheeler transferred from a Hy-Vee store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Kent came from a former Hy-Vee store in south Rochester; and for Dick, her first day on the job at the 37th Street Hy-Vee was her first day on the job anywhere.
“I’ve only had to do one job interview in my life,” she said.
About 10 years ago, Wheeler transferred to the Hy-Vee on West Circle Drive when it was first opened. All three are reunited on the side of one of the Hy-Vee trucks honoring employees with 40, 45 and 50 years of service.
Wheeler posed and joked in front of the West Circle Drive store after a driver rolled the rig to the entrance at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 17.
“I probably should have trimmed my beard before they took that picture,” he said.
Wheeler started with Hy-Vee in 1982 or 1981 as a part-time bagger at a store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He worked his way into the deli as a meat slicer.
He said he didn’t expect to spend 40 years at Hy-Vee but new opportunities continued to materialize, he said.
Other store employees applauded and congratulated Wheeler as he stepped outside the store to see the truck. Store director Chad Hartogh presented him with a replica model of the truck.
Customers too joined in the congratulations.
“I’m happy for you,” said Avdi Roble. “40 years, that’s not just an accomplishment, that’s a virtue.”
A few minutes later, the truck arrived at the 37th Street store where Dick and Kent met a similar reception with applause and photos. Store director Brett VonBank presented each with model trucks and congratulated the two longtime colleagues.
Dick remembers her first day at the store — Nov. 13, 1983. Before that day, her work experience was on her family’s Mazeppa, Minnesota, farm.
The company has been good to her, she said, with rewards and perks at major milestones such as 40 years of service.
Kent, who manages the 37th Street store health market, echoed Wheeler’s point that the company provides opportunities to move into other positions. Kent studied horticulture and later managed the greenhouse at the Hy-Vee store for about 25 years.
“I like growing flowers,” she said.
She stepped down from that position last year, she said.
The events were a chance for the employees to get recognition and see the trucks in person, said Christina Landon, Hy-Vee multi-media specialist.
“They might not get a chance to see it in person,” Landon said. “A picture is not the same, you have to see it in person.”
Overall, 87 Hy-Vee employees are being honored on the side of the trucks that will traverse most of the nine states where Hy-Vee stores operate, Landon said. The company first similarly honored longtime employees and recipients of the company’s Legendary Customer Service Award in 1997. The campaign was on hiatus for the last approximately five years until 18 new trucks featuring employee faces were unveiled this year.
Joey Smith, assistant director at the 37th Street Hy-Vee, was part of the campaign after earning a Legendary Customer Service Award in 2006. He has 38 years of experience with Hy-Vee so far. Landon said he’ll have his face on some trucks again after that anniversary.