Ohio-based FriendShip Food Stores’ new FriendShip Cares Bonus program provides a $2 per hour bonus to store employees as well as bonuses of $100 per week for store managers, district managers and facilities team members.
“There is nothing more important to me, or to my family, than serving our people and our communities,” said Brian Beck, co-owner and SVP of FriendShip. “It has been incredibly humbling to visit our stores over the past few weeks and see how proud our hosts are to provide their guests with essential items like fresh food, beverages and fuel. We realize that some hosts will need to be home to care for children, and others to care for themselves or family members, and we have developed programs to support them. However, for our hosts who remain able to continue to delight our guests, in a continuously cleaned and sanitized environment, we wanted to make it clear how much we care about them.”
FriendShip has also been actively communicating with its store teams throughout the COVID-19 situation, holding daily calls with its division managers, weekly calls with its store managers, and communicating through a variety of other methods including FAQs, webinars and companywide emails.
“While each method of communication is critical, nothing has been more important or impactful than what we learn visiting with our store teams regularly to see how they are doing,” said Olivia Beck, fourth generation family member in charge of special projects. “We want to make sure they have all the gloves, hand sanitizer and surface sanitizer they need, and we always ask what else we can do support them.”
“The decision to launch the FriendShip Cares bonus program was an easy decision for us, because it reflects our culture and our commitment to the success and happiness of our FriendShip team members,” said June Bouillon, HR Director. “Two years ago, we launched a ‘Great Place to Work’ initiative and have made monumental strides in a variety of areas including communication, recognition, incentives, training and development. While we may be a small company, the Beck family certainly has big hearts.”
Founded by Virgil Beck in 1950, Beck Suppliers Inc. is a family owned and operated retail and wholesale petroleum marketer. The company distributes Marathon, Sunoco, BP, Shell and Valero motor fuels to independent retailers as well as to its company operated FriendShip and FriendShip Kitchen stores. Beck Propane & Fuels distributes propane and heating oil to thousands of Midwest homes and businesses. Beck Fuel Systems specializes in the installation and removal of petroleum fueling systems, and Beck Car Wash Systems installs, maintains, supports and operates car washes.