Wegmans Marks Milestone for Employee Scholarship Program
Wegmans Food Markets Inc. has hit a major milestone in its Employee Scholarship Program, marking 40 years since its inception. In that time, the retailer has awarded $145 million in education assistance to more than 46,500 of its associates.
This year alone, 1,500 full- and part-time Wegmans employees received scholarships totaling more than $6.5 million. Each of the company’s locations will hold a celebration, complete with mini cupcakes, on June 1 for this year’s scholarship recipients.
Part-time employee scholarship recipients are eligible to receive up to $8,000 over four years, while full-time employees can receive up to $16,000 over the same time period. There’s no limit on how many scholarships are awarded each year, and no restrictions are made on a student’s course of study, as long as the college is accredited.
[READ MORE: Wegmans Is the Best Place to Work in Food Retail]
As part of the milestone, Wegmans checked in with two scholarship recipients from its inaugural program year of 1984. Mary Beth Stalter was one of the first employees to graduate after receiving the scholarship, earning her diploma in January 1985.
Today, Stalter is the director of benefits, payroll, retirement and programs at Wegmans, and as part of her role, she oversees the team that awards and manages the scholarship program. Her son was also a scholarship winner, having worked for the company throughout high school and college.
“He is now the director of ecology for a lake association in Connecticut, but he had some great opportunities at Wegmans that were very meaningful to him,” said Stalter. “It’s very cool that Wegmans knows that not everyone is going to stay, and they still invest. They still want to be part of that story.”
Bill Schmitt studied business and finance at Rochester Institute of Technology while working part time for Wegmans. He accepted a full-time position in Wegmans’ finance department after graduation and has served in many different roles during his time with the grocer.
“Back when I was still in college and looking toward the future, I didn’t foresee all the experiences I would have here at Wegmans,” said Schmitt. “I would tell this year’s class of scholarship winners that there’s many different paths and opportunities for you, especially here at Wegmans. If you make the effort and work hard, you will succeed.”
Family-owned Wegmans operates more than 100 stores along the East Coast. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company is No. 39 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its 10 Most Sustainable Grocers for 2024.
