Awarded September 2011
Buehler’s Fresh Foods grocery store in Ohio was founded in 1929 by E.L. (Ed) Buehler and his wife, Helen. After opening their first store in New Philadelphia, the Buehler family moved the business to Wooster in 1932 and opened a store near the northeast corner of Public Square. Today, Buehler’s Fresh Foods is still owned by the Buehler family and operated by its “third generation” from the store’s Wooster headquarters. There are now 13 Buehler stores from Brunswick to Coshocton.
Bob Summers, director of loss prevention, accepted the award. Members of the Buehler family were unable to attend due to a prior commitment. Dan Buehler is president of Buehler’s Fresh Foods, and his brother, Scott, is Vice President of Real Estate and New Store Development.
Many staff members recalled Buehler’s outstanding service. When the Wayne County Schools Career Center started planning its 3-year renovation project, Director of Operations Lynn Moomaw contacted Buehler’s to help move and store materials.
“In the early planning stages of the OSFC renovation project,” Lynn said, “Tom Nadelin and I were talking about moving and storing materials for staff who were displaced. We talked about various types of wheeled carts and bins. I told Tom about how we used shopping carts to move items during the Rotary Auction. I offered to contact Scott Buehler, who connected me to Becky Foster. Becky treated us like we were purchasing them and not borrowing them. She made sure we had as many as we needed (almost 100) and coordinated pick up.” Becky Foster, director of construction and maintenance, for Buehlers, is a Wayne County Schools Career Center Distinguished Alumni from our drafting program.
Nursing Administrative Assistant Shelly Martin said, “Buehler’s did a tremendous job in supplying food, utensils, ice, paper products and carnations for 2 graduation ceremonies this summer. They went above and beyond to get the correct color of paper products and coordinated with the florist so delivery was in a timely manner. I was very impressed with their attention to detail and they were able to notify me if any product was different so we could look at alternatives. The staff was very professional and I would gladly recommend their service to other companies.”
Sandy Dutter, a former Nursing Administrative Assistant, said the partnership with Buehler’s has been good for many years. “The adult PN graduations are large events, with 500-plus expected to attend. I always knew that when I got to the church about an hour before the ceremony, everything would be delivered. In 16 years of planning graduations, the delivery was always complete and never late.” Buehler’s also supplies refreshments for the Patient Care Technologies (formerly Pre-Nursing) banquets and pinning ceremonies, and delivered fresh muffins for staff on this year’s Convocation Day.
Account clerk Donna Jackson said, “(Buehler’s is) very friendly, helpful, and easy to work with in regards to accounts payable, which I really appreciate.”
“Becky Foster has served on our engineering tech advisory committee for many years,” said engineering technologies instructor Lynn Boggs. Landscape and Plant Technologies instructor Gregg Gillespie said that Buehler’s has also hired students for their floral shops and some have served on his advisory committee.
“Buehler’s has been wonderful to work with for my animal care lab with getting animal foods,” said Animal Care and Management instructor Amber Abrecht. “Greens, grapes, apples, beans, carrots, etc. are always fresh and the customer service has been great! They are fast and efficient with the open purchase order for my class.”
We thank Buehler’s for their ongoing support of Career and Technical Education in Wayne County.