YouthWorks supporter and owner of Ritter's Frozen Custard speaks on his experience with his employees

Don Heyne, owner of the Ritter's Frozen Custard at 2226 Wilmington Pike and YouthWorks supporter, began his Ritter's franchise after his 27 year career with Reynolds & Reynolds came to an end.

Heyne says of the work leading up to opening his franchise, "Did the business plan, secured financing, found a lot to build on, and was up and running for our first day of business at Ritter's in June of 2001, 11 months after losing my employment at Reynolds. Loved the 11 months of getting to Opening Day, and have loved every day since."

Growing up, his family had their own chicken and egg farm in Coldwater, Ohio and this is where Heyne's entrepreneurial spirit began.

"That 2-3 hours of work each morning before the school bus came to pick us up did help instill a work ethic, which is a baseline requirement for owning your own business, or even making it when working for someone else," Heyne says.

Today, Heyne enjoys his life as a business owner and passes along his knowledge to his YouthWorks participant employees.

Heyne says of his YouthWorks employees, "We want to help them understand what work is about. Dress code, appearance, customer service (as much as we can), responsibility, company policies, etc."

Ritter's Frozen Custard of Kettering has been involved with OhioMeansJobs | Montgomery County's YouthWorks program for many years now. Heyne also notes that the staff appreciates how attentive their YouthWorks employees are when teaching them some of the elements that are involved with running your own business. He finds great satisfaction in watching the progress that the participants make in how they approach their responsibilities on the job.

For more information on how to participate in the employer program, please contact Rocky Rockhold, Supervisor of the YouthWorks Program for Montgomery County at 937-225-4077 or via e-mail at rockhr@odjfs.state.oh.us.