AbbyColby Crossings Chamber hands out awards

Wiese family, Hanson, Abby County Market all honored

Multiple chamber members were honored for their service in 2022 at the AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce annual banquet on April 15, held at the Abbotsford City Hall.

A lifelong love of providing a service to people of a tight knit community has Dave Hediger and his family right where they want to be.

That love for serving people is why Hediger and his Abby County Market employees were named the 2023 AbbyColby Crossings Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year.

The store has served as a pillar of the community since the building was erected in 1957 by Clayton Afkend. The store was sold in 1960 to Howard and Vivian Kramer and later, owned and operated by Dennis Kramer. At that time, the store spanned 10,000-15,000 square feet but a large addition was put on in the fall of 1972 which doubled the square footage of the building. Today, the store resides at about 40,000 square feet.

When Hediger took ownership of the business in August of 2018, he said the part that made it so easy to take over from the Kramer family was the fact that the store already had its footprint and personality and being here for so long, Hediger got to learn about that personality.

“It was a ‘key turn operation’ for me,” Hediger said. “I knew it. I understood it. I understood the community.”

Hediger said Kramer’s dedication to the store still shows in its every day operations and its ability to cater to the Hispanic community.

“His work ethic and the way he built the store still goes on today,” Hediger said. “The best thing he taught me was to be open minded and to pay attention to the Hispanic community, because the Hispanic community was going to be on the rise. He really started that.”

Today, the store boasts an entire aisle that is dedicated to ingredients used within the Hispanic community. For a smaller store with a limited amount of space, that is a major accomplishment in serving the people of the community. Hediger said the Hispanic community accounts for about 25 to 30% of the store’s business so adding to the inventory of Hispanic ingredients made sense.

During the transition from Kramer to Hediger, Kramer worked as hard as anyone as he got the store ready for new ownership. Hediger said he thought out of everything that Kramer was involved in in the community, he thought the store would have been one of the toughest to give up.

At every successful grocery store’s core is a management team that cares about not only the store, but the people who shop inside of it. Abby County Market’s team of department managers have proven their commitment to Abbotsford and the surrounding communities by staying a part of the Abby County Market team. Since he took over in 2018, Hediger said he has had two department managers retire but said everyone else has stayed on and helped grow the business.

Hediger’s appreciation for the grocery business began at an early age. Hediger said his first job in a grocery store was bagging groceries in his hometown of Neillsville at Bob and Carol’s IGA. From there he went to Eau Claire as he worked while going to college for business.

After realizing that college might not be for him, Hediger worked in grocery stores in Stevens Point, Marshfield and finally, Abbotsford where he was hired on as the store director of Kramer’s County Market in 2007. Hediger said when he was working in bigger cities, the companies he was working for didn’t seem like the right fit at the time. His continued search for a place to call “home” led him to Abbotsford.

“I found out from a vendor that Dennis [Kramer] was looking for a store director. I set up an interview with him. Stephanie and I walked in together to check it out and it just felt like home. Dennis and I sat down and had a two to three-hour interview and we walked the store a little bit and by the next week he had called me up and offered me the job.”

He said his passion for customer service was the reason he decided to head full-time into the grocery business.

“Customer service is where I drew my niche,” Hediger said. “I just understood it. There’s nothing wrong with schooling, but I’d learn more in short terms of time just by being on the job site. [Retail] is all I know.”

Owning your own business could mean an increased workload, but Hediger said he knew the importance of being present at the store and with his family.

“This operation is about the community and a family,” Hediger said. “It’s pretty easy for me to be here and be on top of things but, at the same time, let my people make decisions. They take their chances. They make mistakes. But that’s the best way they learn. I used to put in 50-60 hours, but right now, I’m probably right around 40. I didn’t buy this thing to drive myself into the ground. But I also want to sustain it and give people opportunities to grow.”

Shortly after taking over, Shopko in the Abbotsford mall closed down and along with it, the store’s pharmacy. That left a gaping need for a place to provide pharmaceuticals to residents of the area.

Hediger said an area that was used for an office space was converted to the service desk so the old service desk area could now hold the pharmacy.

“It was an opportunity that came up real quick, but it was something we had to do as a store for the community,” Hediger said. “It all came together. I didn’t anticipate that kind of re-model to happen as fast as it did.”

He said other than creating the space for the pharmacy to operate, he has been able to stay pretty hands off of the pharmacy as all they are doing now is collecting rent on the space that is being used. One of the things that challenged him in taking over for Kramer was the financial side of things. He said tax season has a whole new meaning to him now as a business owner. He said other than the financial aspect of owning the business, everything else has been smooth sailing.

Hediger’s wife, Stephanie, and kids, Abbie and Lanie, have embraced life in central Wisconsin. Stephanie worked as a substitute teacher at Colby schools before leaving to work as a member of the team at Abby County Market in 2017. Abbie is currently enrolled at UWEau Claire and Lanie will be joining her as a Blugold in the coming years.

Dave and Stephanie met while working at Kerm’s on Water Street in Eau Claire. The store has since closed but the couple credits the store and the grocery industry for their meeting in college.

“Once we were committed to going ahead and buying, and we knew that was going to happen, then it was time for me to come on,” Stephanie said.

She said she doesn’t consider herself a part of the management team as she is a part-time employee. However, she has been helping manage the dairy/frozen section of the store for the past couple of years.

Both Abbie and Lanie have worked at the store while attending and graduating from Colby High School.

The store employs about 90 full and part-time employees all-together and provides business for multiple vendors. Dave has kept his department managers the same since taking over the store five years ago. In a profession that experiences a decent amount of turnover, he said that’s a pretty amazing feat.

Dave said he appreciates all his employees and said they aren’t employed so they can be passionate about selling groceries, they’re employed to be a shining light to customers that come in every single day.

When asked why he chose to name the store Abby County Market after being Kramer’s County Market for so long, Dave said the name should resemble the people that help it exist.

“That’s the easiest question to answer,” Dave said. “This store is not about me. The store has its own identity. I believe that the store should be named after its community because that’s what makes the store – the community.”

The store joined Jakel Plumbing, Heating and Electrical, Kulas Body Shop, Thrivent Financial and Abbyland Foods as recent winners of the award.

The Abby/Colby Crossings Chamber of Commerce named Dean and Brenda Wiese as the recipients of the chamber’s lifetime achievement award for 2022.

The award was given to the Wieses at the chamber’s annual banquet on Saturday, April 15.

The lifetime achievement award is given to those who have had a long-standing impact on the Abbotsford and Colby communities. The Wieses have been essential to keeping both the Abbotsford Christmas Parade and Abbotsford First City Days afloat over the past 40 years.

Dean and Brenda met by chance but after 45 years of marriage, their connection to each other and their community has never been stronger.

Dean began helping with community events while he was just out of high school. He would help set up the tractor pull track at Colby Cheese Days after the work week was done. He then helped as a volunteer bartender at the beer tent and had various other responsibilities.

Dean graduated from Abbotsford High School in 1975 and shortly thereafter, met Brenda, a 1977 Colby graduate. The duo got married in 1978 and decided staying in the area would be the best thing for their new family. The Wieses had three boys, Dallas, Sean and David.

If area residents enjoyed a lunch buffet or evening treat at Pizza Hut in Abbotsford in the semi-recent past, odds are they saw Brenda working as the general manager of the restaurant. Brenda spent 32 years at Pizza Hut before recently beginning her career with Abby County Market as an assistant pricing coordinator.

Dean started driving at a very young age for Orville Lieders. He then drove for another company before landing with the Francis Melvin Company where he worked for 15 years.

After an accident causing Dean to shatter his leg occurred in his 15th year of working for Melvin Companies, he left to find a new path.

Dean worked for Team of Wisconsin in Marshfield for two years before finding a home with Steve Colby excavating. Working 80-90 hour weeks was something of a normalcy for Wiese while working for Colby but he said he enjoyed his time working as he wasn’t someone who could sit still for very long.

The Wieses bought a business next to Pizza Hut and ran a repair shop out of that building for 11 years. However, the recession of 2008 caused the business to fall short financially. The Wieses sold the business but throughout their tough times, they have never lost their willingness to give.

The Abbotsford Christmas Parade was in a time of crisis when the Wieses decided to lend a hand. Dean and Brenda helped transport floats, build floats, refurbish floats and also dressed up to be a part of the parade itself.

The duo told a story of going to grab a float from someone who had worked on it in Spencer. The float was to be used in the Christmas parade the following day. They said there was an unexpected blizzard and they drove the float back to Abbotsford, using only back roads to ensure the salt on the road wouldn’t affect the fresh paint on the float. They said they arrived back in Abbotsford in the wee hours of the morning and needed to put the float back together yet. The float then was used in the parade the next day.

Similarly, when a need arose for someone to take over the reins for Abbotsford First City Days nearly 20 years ago, the Wieses were ready and willing to step up.

Since they took over, Abbotsford First City Days has become a car show extravaganza. The weekend boasts over 70 cars on display annually while providing food options, live music, ATV pulls, bouncy houses for the kids and much more.

Brenda said she wasn’t sure they deserved the lifetime achievement award as they have only been doing what they thought was right. However, the duo have made an impact on local food pantries as they use proceeds from the First City Days car show to buy food and items for a local food pantry every year.

She said their true lifetime achievement award was their ability to raise three children who grew up to be public servants themselves. All three of their sons serve on area fire departments.

Dean said life has given he and Brenda many challenges but he said the thing that he wouldn’t change is their ability to give back to those in the community.

TheawardwasgiventoJenniferJakel,CarolO’Leary, Dr. Robin Frank and James Melvin in previous years.

Community service award

The chamber awarded local business owner and volunteer enthusiast Kevin Hanson with the Community Service award.

Hanson has been a longstanding member of the community as he and his wife, Teri, moved to central Wisconsin with their daughter, Tabitha, in 2010. Kevin worked as a understudy of sorts to Carl Schilling who was looking to retire from running his business, Maurina- Schilling Funeral Homes.

In November of 2013, Hanson took over the business from Schilling and he has been running the business ever since.

Hanson has volunteered with local organizations such as the Colby Lions Club, the Showcase Players, the Owen Masonic Lodge, Colby Cheese Days Committee, the Abby/Colby Crossings Chamber of Commerce and has also helped out at the Colby School District, Zion Lutheran Church and First United Church of Christ in volunteer capacities.

Hanson said he tries to attend as many of the chamber events as he can and said he has helped out with the chamber golf outing in past years as well.

He said his family enjoyed living in the Platteville area before coming to central Wisconsin. However, he wanted to be closer to his parents in Altoona and he said he was really looking forward to living in a more rural area.

“We liked to do a lot of things when living in the bigger cities but we like the rural setting mainly because you get to know people,” Hanson said.

Hanson said his love for helping people isn’t just limited for what he does for work, but it is also exemplified through his community service regimen.

“I like to help people and help out. I don’t need to be in charge. I just like being helpful behind the scenes,” Hanson said.

Hanson’s daughter Tabitha currently goes to State College in Pennsylvania. She has her master’s degree and is working on completing certifications to become a professional oboe player. Teri has been working as the pastor of First United Church of Christ in Colby. She also serves on the Colby School Board.

Kevin says his volunteer work doesn’t come from a place of feeling obligated to do these things. He said instead, he does them because he genuinely enjoys creating a better community through volunteering.

“Know that it’s not all about being in business or having people call us in the time of need,” Hanson said. “It’s me saying, ‘You know what, I’m helping the community out in other ways.’ Not just because it’s my business, but because it’s my personality.”

Kevin’s attachment to the community runs deeper than just the buildings or entities in it. He said he has made lifelong friends that he can thank for many things, but also for nominating him for the award.

“Alan and Connie Gurtner are really good people,” Hanson said. “We help each other out. Same with John and Tina Feiten and Scott and Liz Baumgartner and Dave Smith. Some of our core Lions members. They do a lot of [the volunteering] more than I can at times.”

Hanson joins Robbie and Melissa Smazal, Alan and Connie Gurtner, Paul Writz and Robert and Mary Ann Morrow as recent winners of the Community Service award.

A LIFETIME OF GIVING -Dean and Brenda Wiese (center and right) were given the Chamber’s Lifetime Acheivement award by chamber member Jenny Jakel at the annual banquet.STAFF PHOTO/KRIS O’LEARY