We recently held our annual Christmas luncheon, and as you can see from the photos, everyone had a great time. We hold an associate appreciation luncheon every month to thank our associates for their hard work and dedication, but we all look forward to the Christmas luncheon every year, as it gives us a chance to celebrate all we have accomplished as a team during the year. All Freshway associates received new Freshway logo sweatshirts at the luncheon, as well as enjoying fried chicken, potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls, cookies and pie from The Spot restaurant in Sidney.
Recognition and rewards are overflowing at Freshway, and our Christmas luncheon is just one example of the many ways we show our appreciation for our associates!
Stacey Bauerle is Freshway’s newest member of the sales team, and she is our Northeast Regional Sales Manager, stationed in the Pittsburgh area.
Prior to joining the Freshway team, Stacey worked at Verizon Wireless as a business account manager. In that role, she managed business accounts in a geographic territory.
Stacey applied for the position at Freshway because she wanted to make a change. “I was interested in going into a new industry that was not related to wireless technology because I had been in the same industry since college,” Stacey explains. “I wanted to see what else was out there and expand my own skill set in a new industry,” she adds.
In her new role, Stacey works with our customers to ensure their needs are being met. “I meet with customers face-to-face, and make sure their deliveries are on-time and accurate,” Stacey says. She says that the most difficult part of her job so far is trying to keep in touch with customers while driving across her large territory.
Stacey’s Puppy, Ava
Stacey is learning about the unique challenges of the fresh produce industry. “The perishable nature of our products is the biggest challenge,” she explains. “The timing of everything is very important, from when the product is picked from the field, brought to us, and everything that we do from that point forward to get the product to the customer,” she adds.
Stacey appreciates the positive culture at Freshway. “Everyone here works really well together,” she says. “Everyone not only can help their coworkers, but they are willing to help,” she adds. “That is very important to me. I’ve had jobs where you were supposed to be part of a team of people but it really felt like an island of one, so it is refreshing to work with people who truly work as a team.”
Stacey has a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Penn State. “When I started my internship in college, I planned to go to law school, and I thought, ‘This is great; I’ll be like Johnny Cochran!'” But I didn’t realize that most law school graduates spend the day doing case work, and you are just in the library reading and highlighting all day,” Stacey explains. “To me that was not very exciting,” she adds, “so I ended up going into sales.”
In her free time, Stacey likes to play with her puppy, Ava. She also enjoys cleaning her house. “I lead a pretty boring life,” she laughs, “That pretty much sums it up!” Stacey and her husband Bill live with their “furbaby” Ava in Pittsburgh, PA.
Please join us in welcoming Stacey to Team Freshway!
