Big changes have been brewing this year at Shaffer Distributing and Shaffer Entertainment. The company’s Scott Shaffer reported to RePlay that this spring, the 95-year-old company executed an employee stock ownership plan. After years of leading the Distributing division and becoming more involved on the Entertainment side of the business, Scott is now CEO of the wider Shaffer organization moving forward.
Scott Shaffer and Dorothy Ugland
The company has brought on Dorothy Ugland as president of their Shaffer Distributing division. She joins the team with two decades in the food service distribution industry, primarily with Gordon Food Service, the largest privately-held food service distributor in North America. There, Ugland worked in a variety of management and sales leadership roles focused on project management, business development and account management.
Scott Shaffer further detailed the changes in a letter, which you can read below:
The Shaffer organization has been blessed to be a part of the amusement and vending industries for 95 years. We are continually focused on how to keep this company going for future generations of the Shaffer family of employees. As with many things in life, changes come in bunches, and there have been a lot of great changes in our organization over the last year. I wanted to take some time to celebrate several of these changes that will be positive for our employees, our customers and our industry partners.
First and foremost, we are proud to have had four generations of Shaffer leadership, starting with my great grandfather, Estel, way back in 1929. As we looked to the future and took survey of the changing landscape, we wanted to make sure we had stability at our company to ensure the people who count on us could keep counting on us. Working with several trusted partners, we have been able to launch a successful employee stock ownership plan for our employees this spring. Giving our employees ownership of the company is in the best interest of all involved and consistent with our core values.
These people are a part of the Shaffer family and the heartbeat of this organization. It is an exciting prospect for them, their families and their future and assuring to our industry that the Shaffer organization will be around for decades to come. On behalf of my family, we are overjoyed at being able to share this company with our people. They have earned it!
If you are reading this and thinking, “Where is Scott going?” … the answer is nowhere. I feel as energized about this company as I ever have, and I am looking forward to being a key part of our leadership team for years to come. Going forward, I will be assuming the role of CEO of our entire Shaffer organization.
I have always enjoyed leading the Shaffer Distributing division and the last few years I have been energized by being more actively involved in the Shaffer Entertainment side of the business. In order to have enough time to support both Shaffer Distributing and Shaffer Entertainment, we have added a new leader to our Shaffer Distributing team.
We are thrilled to announce the addition of Dorothy Ugland as president of our Shaffer Distributing division. Her ability to lead and develop teams, think strategically and deliver results, as well as her distribution industry experience, were all key factors in making the decision to bring Dorothy on board. We believe she will be a fantastic addition to an already talented team and a well-positioned Shaffer Distributing business division. I will be working side by side with Dorothy as she leads the Shaffer Distributing division. We look forward to you meeting her soon!
Chuck Ropke
I also want to take this opportunity to recognize a significant retirement we had earlier this year. Chuck Ropke, the long-time leader of our Shaffer Distributing operations teams and a steward of our organization, celebrated an incredible career and retired in March of this year. We had been planning for this over the past couple years by developing operations leaders to more specifically focus on our logistics, technical service and parts support. Of course, people retire, and though we were hoping Chuck never would, he set us up well to succeed going forward. Through the years, he has been a key player in building Shaffer Distributing into what it is today. A true jack-of-all-trades, Chuck is one of the smartest people I have ever come across in my life. He elevated our operations teams to new levels and standards, and built an infrastructure that will last at Shaffer forever. He is loved by our customers and truly cared about getting the job done well for each and every one of them. He is already enjoying his retirement and staying very busy. We will miss him dearly, but we are very happy for him in his next stage of life and thankful for his countless contributions. Congratulations Chuck!
Kelly Norton
Finally, I wanted to note that Kelly Norton, our CFO, will also be taking on the role of COO moving forward. Kelly has been a key part of our leadership team for more than eight years and will continue to help develop and guide the leadership teams for both Shaffer Distributing and Shaffer Entertainment as we move forward. He is passionate about our company, our people and our continued evolution and growth and we look forward to him taking on this additional role.
Growing up, my mother always used the phrase “ever forward” to demonstrate the power of a positive attitude, optimism and perseverance. As we celebrate our 95th anniversary as a company this year, I feel confident knowing that all generations of my Shaffer family and its many employees over the years, would be happy to see us moving ever forward into the next century of success for our employees and all of the people and organizations we support. I have always appreciated the opportunity to be a part of this great industry, as has my whole family, and I am fortunate to have developed so many great relationships and friendships. I will be seeing many of you soon at trade shows, your locations or anywhere else in between, and I look forward to much more time together in the years to come!
