The speaker for the general BEAR meeting on Oct. 25 will be Kyle Heffernan, the manager at Sutherlands in Price.
Heffernan is the recently instated manager of the local Sutherlands, taking over for long-time manager Wayne Clausing, but he is no stranger to the company or the Price store.
“In 2001, Wayne recruited myself and others to open a new store in Price, where I bought my first house and unlike any other place I’ve lived, got to know all my neighbors, and not just a friendly wave, but went camping with, played basketball with, played cards with and enjoyed BBQ with,” he said.
While Heffernan was a key part to getting the Price store up and running, he has a long history with Sutherlands that precedes his work in Price. He is originally from Detroit and after high school, attended the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture while working at Builders Square, which was a lumberyard owned by Kmart at the time. He then relocated to Salt Lake City to finish school with plans on entering a program at the University of Utah.
On his second day in Salt Lake City, Heffernan was hired to work at the upcoming Sutherlands store on North Temple, which was to be built off of plans from Builders Square.
“Sutherlands was originally going to be a temporary job while I attended school, but the company became like family and has treated me very well throughout the years,” Heffernan said.
He has now been with the company for 25 years, holding positions at stores in Salt Lake, West Valley and West Jordan. He also spent time in management the Casper, Wyo. store before being named manager at the Price location.
“I feel very honored to have been asked to take over for Wayne, as he has been one of my largest influences,” Heffernan said. “We both believe in taking care of the customers, employees and community, and have our eyes on the long-term results, not just what is good for us today.”
During the presentation at the upcoming BEAR meeting, Heffernan will speak more on his history with the company and his experiences over the past months managing the Price store, as well as his goals for the future.
The presentation will take place at the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center Alumni Room and it will start at 8 a.m. and last about one hour. The public is welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served at the session.