Meet our new Accounting Supervisor: Will Fridley!
Will originally joined Freshway in the summer of 2014 as a college intern. At the time, he was studying Accounting at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. After graduation, he worked for a Columbus area company for awhile before making his way back to Team Freshway.
During his internship, Will worked on cost reduction initiatives in our production area. “Because of the scale of our operation, small improvements can save tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Will says.
Will says his time as a Freshway intern had a strong influence on his decision to join Team Freshway after college. “I knew about many of the people at Freshway from growing up in Sidney,” Will says. “There are some high profile people working here, and I was impressed with how willing they were to help me succeed,” he adds.
Will chose a career in Accounting at a young age. “At Lehman High School, I took accounting my freshman and sophomore year, and everything clicked for me,” he says. “The school created two more classes for my junior and senior year. There were only two students in those classes,” he adds. When Will went to college, he had already selected his major. “I thought, this is where I will start, because I really enjoy Accounting,” he explains. “I figured I would try it out for a year and see what happened, and of course, it all turned out well.”
Will credits Miami University with helping prepare him to contribute to Freshway’s success. “Miami did a very good job of using real-world situations in the classroom,” he says. “All of my professors had business experience,” he adds, “In fact, one of my professors worked in the produce industry.”
Today, Will works with Freshway Logistics to track all of the costs associated with our transportation and logistics activities. “I keep track of all of the trips our drivers make, whether the delivery is for Freshway Foods or one of our other logistics customers,” he says. “I track payroll and other costs to ensure that our management team has the information they need to make good business decisions,” he adds.
One of the things that Will enjoys most about working at Freshway is the interaction he has with other Freshway associates. “Everyone is phenomenal here,” he says. “I work with incredibly intelligent people who are also down to earth,” he adds. “I find myself in many situations where I feel I can have an easygoing conversation and a professional conversation with the same person,” he explains, “I can talk about last night’s baseball game and last month’s income statement with the same person.”
Will is excited about the opportunity to work in the fast-paced fresh produce industry. “There is no room for error, and you have to really pay attention,” he says. “We put out such an incredible volume of produce daily, so you have to be constantly on the lookout for improvement opportunities,” he adds.
Please join us in welcoming Will to Team Freshway!