Breaking bread together

A family atmosphere is the key to success, said a company official at the annual Christmas party.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Schwebel Baking Co. has been a Mahoning Valley icon for nearly a century, and the company celebrated its prosperity this weekend with its past and current workers.
About 900 people attended the company's annual Christmas party Saturday.
Through economic ups and downs, the company, founded in 1906, has survived without layoffs or cutbacks. The annual Christmas parties have been a part of the working atmosphere at Schwebel for about two decades and bring out hundreds of retired and current employees carrying baked goods for all and presents for old friends.
The company gives each person in attendance, including employee family members, a gift. Lee Schwebel, director of corporate communications, said the family atmosphere that shines through at the Christmas celebrations is in large part why the company has seen such success.
"As a company, we try to stay somewhat low key, but working for Schwebel, since I have been here, is more than a job -- it's about belonging," Schwebel said. "People here belong to something bigger than just coming to work punching in and punching out and going home. We are more like a family."
Schwebel has four bakeries, including its main Midlothian Avenue operation, and several distribution centers with about 1,500 employees. The company produces more than 700,000 loaves of bread daily.
Christmas party: Lee Schwebel, a fourth-generation family member involved in the business, said the Christmas celebration is not about business, but more of a thank you to the employees that put it all together and give the company the family atmosphere that it has.
Griselle Suarez attended the party with her husband, children and father, Rafael Viera, who retired from the company 10 years ago. Suarez said her father credits the company's stability and hiring him for his home and comfortable lifestyle. More than that, she said, he enjoys coming back each year and mingling with old friends and co-workers.
Walking through the plant, which was idled during the Saturday celebration, Lee Schwebel can barely move 10 feet without meeting a retired employee back for a visit or exchanging pleasantries with a current employee.
One of those retirees was Ed Kubus, a longtime Schwebel employee who retired about six years ago. Lee Schwebel said employees like Kubus watched him grow up in the plant.
"I was kind of like a baby-sitter," said Kubus in between laughs. "They would send him over to me and I would give him some dough or something to handle, to make him feel like he was doing something."
Ironically, the Schwebel family is Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas. Company employees took notice of this several years ago and now give the family a Hanukkah celebration in the days after the Christmas party.
jgoodwin@vindy.com