Pets on the Payroll

Jennifer Polanz

This month’s pupper comes from one of our Young Retailer Award Judges, Kate Terrell of Wallace’s Garden Center in Bettendorf, Iowa: Winston Chewbacca Terrell, a 2-year-old Standard Bernedoodle (half poodle, half Bernese Mountain Dog).

“If you’re doing the math, you would see that we got Winston February 28, 2020 (and about three weeks before COVID lockdowns and closures). He very much served as a therapy dog for our stressed-out employees and customers (when we re-opened after being closed for a month),” Kate writes. “He comes to work with me Monday through Friday and is pretty much everyone’s favorite employee. Not my favorite, as he has a tendency to chew on plants (especially woody shrubs in the nursery) and steal garden gloves from everyone.” GP

Share your MVPs of the non-human variety with us. Make sure you tell us why they’re important to the operation, too. Are they greeters? Pest control? Stress relief for your staff? Email a high-resolution picture and their story to jpolanz@ballpublishing.com.