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WegmansBusiness Leadership in the CommunitySituation Analysis: In the 1980s, the crime rate, poverty rate, and school dropout rate were critically high in Rochester, New York. The Urban League put forth a call to action to local businesses to help alleviate the problems. Solution: Robert and Danny Wegman of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. developed Work-Scholarship Connection in 1987. Background Wegmans is a family-owned and operated grocery store chain that started in 1916 and has 35,000 employees and $4 billion in revenue. In its hometown headquarters of Rochester, NY, youth and families were suffering in the 1980s due to high rates of crime, poverty, and youth failing to finish high school. Using experience and expertise from its own workforce, Wegmans introduced the Work-Scholarship Connection program to provide at-risk youths in grades 7 through 12 with learning tools, including youth advocates, tutors, mentors, and where appropriate, a part-time job.
Youth advocates, the cornerstone of the program, work with 30 students on a daily basis in full cooperation with the Rochester and Syracuse school districts, placing advocates in the schools who are just as much a part of the school culture as guidance counselors or physical education teachers. Impact In 1991, Work-Scholarship Connection won an award for the best corporate charitable program in the nation from the Points of Light Foundation. Since then, the program has grown and thrived. In the mid 1990s, Wegmans turned over management of Work-Scholarship Connection to Hillside Family of Agencies, a $100-million/year social agency in central and western New York that has a positive track record in helping young people. The affiliation has enabled the expansion of part-time jobs, financial support, and quality improvements. Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection (HW-SC) now serves 1,200 students in Rochester and Syracuse. It is supported by Wegmans, Monroe County, New York State, the United Way, and the Rochester Business Alliance. HW-SC's outcomes have been exceptional, with high school graduation rates the key measure of success. The traditional graduation rate for the population of students that HW-SC targets is 30%; however, the graduation rate for students who participate in HW-SC is higher than 60%
Students who participate in HW-SC are twice as likely as their peers in the same target population to finish high school.Approximately 80 percent of HW-SC students go on to post-secondary education or have gainful employment at graduation. College scholarships are provided by Wegmans, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester, St. John Fisher College, Nazareth College, and many others. 80% of HW-SC graduates pursue higher education or enter the workforce after high school.Good for Business HW-SC's program model is now viewed not only as a civic and charitable program model but also as a business imperative. For example, the employee turnover rate of students participating in HW-SC is about 20%, compared to a turnover rate of 80% for student-employees not enrolled in services. Lower turnover saves Wegmans a substantive amount of money.
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Company Snapshot Industry: Retail and Grocery Store Revenue: $3.8 billion Recent External Recognition
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