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One year later, the 50-year-old La Crosse man has embarked on a career in health care that he figures will pay less but give him more job security.
Guy Lewis, who had worked at the same warehouse for two years, was laid off in March 2003, a month after the two companies announced Fleming's supply agreement with Kmart Corp. was being terminated.
Last September, Lewis began a five-year apprentice electrician program, working for a lower wage than he had at Fleming. But Lewis, who is 33, said after he completes the program he will be a journeyman electrician and earn more than he made at Fleming.
Dale Gruntzel acknowledges being luckier than most who were working for Fleming last year. In July 2003, he left his job as banana buyer and ripener at Fleming's La Crosse facilities after receiving a job offer from Kwik Trip. Today, he is in charge of produce operations at Kwik Trip's distribution center in La Crosse.
Storlie, Lewis and Gruntzel are just three of the former employees whose lives were affected by the demise of Fleming's wholesale distribution business last year.
Health care career
On Fleming's last day, Quillin's supermarkets provided a catered lunch to the remaining employees, Storlie said. "There was a lot of handshaking going on and people saying ‘Good luck' to each other," he recalled. "I was relieved to know it was time to move on and do something else. I wasn't happy about it, but it was beyond our control."
Storlie said the remaining employees were paid through early October. He began looking for work, while collecting unemployment. Fortunately, his wife, Lynette, is a registered nurse at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center.
"It was very slim pickings," Storlie said of his job search. "I found there were a lot of minimum-wage jobs and just-above-minimum-wage jobs out there."
He praised Workforce Connections Inc., which has been helping former Fleming employees through its Displaced Workers Program. He attended resume-writing classes and received help in finding leads on jobs.
Workforce Connections paid for the cost of his eight-week certified nursing assistant course at Western Wisconsin Technical College. Storlie completed the course in early March and in mid-March began working at Lakeview Health Center in West Salem as a certified nursing assistant.
Storlie has been working only part time at the West Salem center since he enrolled as a full-time student in WWTC's surgical technologist program.(Workforce Connec-tions is paying for tuition and books for at least the first semester.) He began classes Aug. 23 and expects to graduate in late July 2005. After receiving his diploma, he will look for a job as a surgical technologist.
Surgical technologists help prepare the operating room for surgery, assist the surgeon during surgical procedures, and care for the room and equipment after surgery. They can anticipate a starting wage of about $13.50 to $14 an hour, compared with the $19.35 an hour he made at Fleming, Storlie said. "I've decided if I want to stay in (the La Crosse) area, I'll have to settle for less," he said.
He chose the health care field because "I've always been interested in surgery and human anatomy. And a health-care career is more stable right now" than other occupations.
An electrical switch
Lewis, who was laid off in March 2003 after two years with Fleming, didn't know when or if he would be called back to work.
With uncertainty about the company's future, Lewis said, "The day after I was laid off, I started looking for work. But it was hard to find something good that would pay well."
In early September 2003, he became a union apprentice electrician, working for an area electrical company. "I had some electrical experience and it was something I felt I could do," he said. He had to pass a test and be interviewed by a panel to get into the apprenticeship program.
Lewis said he thinks he was making about $17.50 an hour at Fleming, and he makes less than that as an apprentice electrician. But after he completes the five-year apprenticeship and becomes a journeyman electrician, he will be paid more than he made at Fleming.
He also works part time at a local retail store. He and his wife, April, have two children, and she provides day-care services to help make ends meet.
"We've had to learn to live without cable TV," which the family dropped two months ago, Lewis said. The family doesn't go out to eat as often. And when they do go out, he said, "It's nothing extravagant."
Lewis praised Workforce Connections for helping him start his new career. The agency is paying for his tuition at WWTC, books and tools, he said.
Moving on to Kwik Trip
Gruntzel had worked for Fleming for 18 years until he joined Kwik Trip in July 2003, two months before Fleming closed.
"The writing was on the wall," Gruntzel said of Fleming. Kwik Trip decided to buy bananas directly from growers, rather than have to find another supplier to replace Fleming. Kwik Trip installed pressurized banana ripening rooms in its distribution center. "We started bringing in our first loads and ripening them last November," Gruntzel said.
Besides buying bananas from growers and ripening them, Gruntzel is responsible for buying apples, oranges and other fresh produce.
"This is a great opportunity for me, with a great company like Kwik Trip," said Gruntzel, who is 39. "It's been a wonderful transfer. Kwik Trip is a great company run by a great management team. The future here looks bright."
He earns more than he did at Fleming.
The Kwik Trip opportunity "happened at a good time," Gruntzel said. "Because in the position I was in at Fleming, with my skills and knowledge, I probably would have had to relocate and move out of town" to find a similar job.
Gruntzel, who is married with two children, said getting the Kwik Trip job at a time when that company was expanding its fresh produce operations and its fresh produce selections in its convenience stores "took a lot off my shoulder."
Gruntzel said he doesn't think many former Fleming workers have left the area.
Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229 or scahalan@lacrossetribune.com.
