The Wauregan Grain Company in Wauregan, Connecticut remains a small, rustic business that consistently works to keep their head above water.
Everyone’s surrounded by the consistent and never ending effects of the precarious economy, right? True, but some people experience them more than others. Debbie and David Bunn are a couple who work together to run their small business, a grain store in Wauregan, Connecticut. Together they not only see the economic effects that the average person would see but are also consumed by the loss of customers, the transferred focus of the companies that supply them that are knee deep in the struggling agricultural industry, and the endless other side effects of the economic crisis our nation is struggling through.
After buying the business from Blue Seal, a larger grain company, around 30 years ago, Dave Bunn started the business in much different conditions and circumstances than he and Debbie are seeing today. Debbie recalls, “About 20 years corn was like $50 a ton, and probably 10 years ago it was $100 a ton, now it’s over $200 a ton.” With the plummeting economy and escalating prices, the grain store owners remarked that one of their biggest challenges is not only keeping their good quality grain stable and static but also keeping their prices at a reasonable and more preferable rate when compared to their competition.
To keep their business afloat they constantly have a man on the road delivering grain, gaining new business, advertising, and reassuring Dave and Debbie Bunn that Wauregan Grain is up to date and stays current with changes in prices, ingredients, and quality of the competition’s products. It’s common for the surrounding grain businesses to use fillers, like old cereal or pasta, to replace real and quality ingredients like corn, mids (a flour product), and other grain products. But at the Bunn business their recipes remain consistent and devoid of fillers and byproducts, reassuring their customers that their grain will always be the same and the best quality possible. Along with the struggling economy and the chain reaction effects that accompany it, Wauregan Grain has also seen a dramatic change in technology as well as the daily and long term challenges they face due to the technological updates they have made.
Although their technological advances have been limited, the Debbie Bunn has seen a noticeable increase in the quality of their business.
When asked about the struggle of keeping up to date with the new technology, Debbie replied, “We, as a small business, can’t afford to buy this high tech equipment.” One of their only advances in the technological field has been their assembly line process that fills and bags their grain products mechanically replacing their old process of having to pay people to fill the grain bags manually. Though the change to their deep-rooted, but out dated ways, has created a struggle and daily learning experience for all those who work through the grain store, they have seen a definite increase in their business’s well-being and efficiency due to their new updates.
David Bunn, with the trusted companionship of this dog Brinkley and wife Debbie, has kept his grain store running efficiently for over 30 years.
Though their strides and changes have set them up for great advances and success in their field, the economy continues to keep their potential success at a standstill. “We’re just maintaining along with every other company,” remarks Debbie about their current well-being. Though their business isn’t seeing great strides towards plentiful success, their integrity and local small business qualities continue to provide them with substantial and committed customers. When asked for a piece of advice for people following in their footsteps, Debbie laughs, “My advice would be don’t do it! It’s a hard business to be in.”
No comments:
Post a Comment