Smoke signals., September 01, 2016, Page 10, Image 10

10
S moke S ignals
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
'She’s done a great job'
STORE continued
from front page
For the first time in my life I’m
excited to come to work every day.
Everybody has been so supportive
and so helpful since I’ve been here.
I just love it.”
Nelson actually delivered her
daughter’s baby when the doctor
stepped out of the room.
“Me and the nurse had to deliver
the baby,” says Nelson. “It was
awesome. It was amazing.”
Nelson, who has two daughters
and a son and now her irst grand-
child, says she is very family orient-
ed. She says she loves working for
the Tribe because it is a big family.
“I have the most amazing staff
I have ever worked with in my
entire life,” says Nelson. “They are
an amazing crew. Everyone here
takes ownership of the store. They
care what happens here. I make
them a part of any changes. It’s
their store.”
Nelson’s supervisor is the Tribe’s
Chief Financial Oficer Chris Leno
and he says Nelson is willing to do
whatever it takes to make the store
successful.
“She’s done a great job,” says
Leno. “She’s very energetic and
always looking to make improve-
ments. She very much advocates for
her people down there. She’s done a
good job with that. It seems to me
that there is not a job that she’s
not willing to do. She’ll be outside
cleaning, inside cooking, just what-
ever needs to be done so I think her
staff appreciates that approach of
demonstrating by example.”
Leno points to improvements
Nelson has made at the Long Bell
Diner as an example of the good
work she has been doing since
coming on board earlier this year.
Leno says the Grand Ronde Fuel
and Food Company Board of Direc-
tors had been considering franchise
options for the diner to increase
profits. He says Nelson wanted
to try to turn things around and
asked for a chance to see what she
could do.
“They gave her the go-ahead and
she jumped right into that,” says
Leno.
Nelson looked at the menu and
the pricing of the items on the
menu, began to negotiate with
vendors and brought in a hot case,
which, she says, seemed like a nat-
ural move for the store.
“We’re a convenience store,” says
Nelson. “They (customers) want
something that is already cooked.
They want it ready so they can grab
it and be back on the road.”
“Her approach was to bring in
variety, improve the menu that we
have and try to look at pricing to
try and make it proitable,” says
Leno. “I think she has done a good
job with that. We see the numbers.
Sales are increasing definitely.
Even with the investments we
have made in equipment, sales are
still up and margins are better. We
expect that to continue.”
Nelson says she looks at the diner
as an opportunity to prove herself.
“I like a challenge,” says Nelson.
“My biggest background is food. I
took that on as a challenge and it
has just grown dramatically. The
numbers are showing that we are
up from last year.”
Controller Linda Hanna conirms
Nelson’s excitement over increased
revenue at Grand Ronde Station.
“She’s made a big difference,”
Hanna says. “I was involved in the
interviews when we hired Lisa. She
impressed us right from that point.
We had no qualms that she would
do a wonderful job and she has
proven that. She has jumped in and
turned things around at the store
and the employees are happy.”
Hanna agrees with Leno in that
she sees Nelson being supportive
and encouraging to her staff.
“She provides them with good,
positive feedback. She just is that
kind of person,” says Hanna. “She
really takes a lot of pride in her
work. She has a great rapport with
people. She encourages the employ-
ees to take ownership of what they
are doing.”
Hanna also agrees with Leno
that management can make a huge
difference.
“Our proit margin has increased,”
says Hanna. “She’s made a lot of
changes with vendors, she’s getting
better prices, she’s doing smart-
er purchasing, negotiating with
vendors and I think it has made a
big difference. We’re very pleased
with the direction. She truly cares
about her employees and the store
and the Tribe, and she wants to be
successful and she wants the Tribe
to be successful. I think she is doing
a fantastic job.”
Nelson says the staff at Grand
Ronde Station is a team.
“To me, a manager is only as good
as her employees,” says Nelson. “I
can only be as successful as my crew
and you can’t be successful if you
don’t have a successful crew. All of
them as a group are amazing.”
One of the employees at the
Grand Ronde Station who has
beneitted from Nelson’s presence
has been newly promoted Assistant
Manager Christina Sanchez.
Sanchez, who has worked at the
store for six years and schedules
staff, has been front and center for
all the recent changes.
“I think they are very positive
changes,” says Sanchez. “We’ve
seen a major increase in sales. We
get a lot of compliments. It feels
great because I feel the store is
clean and it relects on all of us as
a team.”
Sanchez says that Nelson has
really delivered on the family at-
mosphere at work.
“It is nice when we can all get
together and get along and be like
a big family,” says Sanchez. “It
makes a major difference. We all
work better for each other as a
team.”
Even with all the changes to the
diner and with the improvements
to the store itself, the biggest mon-
eymaker for Grand Ronde Station
remains fuel sales.
Nelson says despite having a
background in managing restau-
rants and convenience stores,
such as the Red Lobster in Salem
and Village Inns in California and
Colorado, she has embraced the
challenge of keeping the Tribe com-
petitive with local fuel sales.
“I igure out what I need to do and
I go for it,” says Nelson.
Leno says the fuel sales have
their own strategy and that Nelson
is executing that strategy well.
“We want to be competitive with
our pricing and Lisa definitely
monitors the local area to see what
(prices) other people are offering,”
says Leno. “She stays on top of that
daily. She’s done a real good job of
coming in and taking responsibility
for that fuel pricing because it is a
big part of what we do down there.”
Leno emphasizes that all proits
are increasing at Grand Ronde
Station and that Nelson and her
staff deserve credit for making it
happen.
“All sales are up,” says Leno. “The
store is operating at a high-level;
things are going really well. She
has made a huge commitment to
making sure the store is organized
well. In particular on the outside,
things are clean, the sidewalks are
clean and landscaping is kept up,
which creates a good impression on
the customers.” n
Groups form Helping Hands
Ads created by George Valdez
The Clothes Closet, iskam mfkhmfk haws, Empowerment Outreach
Ministries, Lighthouse Church and A Cause For Paws have started an ad
hoc group called Grand Ronde Helping Hands and are inviting community
members to join the effort of supporting local families.
“Our goal is to bring those of us together who are supporting families in
Grand Ronde to share the services and resources we provide and create
a resource guide we can all use,” said Food Bank Coordinator Francene
Ambrose. The next Helping Hands meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Tues-
day, Sept. 13, at The Food Bank, 9675 Grand Ronde Road. In addition, a
collection day at the Food Bank is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Satur-
day, Sept. 10, and is seeking donations of personal care products, school
supplies and pet items.
Ambrose said Helping Hands also is seeking someone with graphic arts
skills to help create a logo that represents all of the organizations that can
be used to advertise on business cards, a banner and possibly a website.
A small honorarium will be offered.
“If you provide any type of services to families in our community, please
consider attending,” Ambrose added. “We are looking for meal site cal-
endars, food box sites, clothes closets, showers and laundry services. We
are asking churches, church groups, departments and support groups to
share with us.”
If you are interested in joining the effort, contact Ambrose at 503-879-
3663 or at fambrose@marionpolkfoodshare.org. n