Sheetz says it will boost workers' pay by $16.8M

Convenience store chain Sheetz Inc. said Wednesday it will spend $16.8 million to increase the pay of almost all of its 17,300 employees at its 596 stores spread across Pennsylvania and five other states.

“This means that nearly all store employees at 279 locations in Pennsylvania will experience an increase in wages or have already experienced an increase within the last year,” said Sheetz, which also has stores in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.

The increase officially took effect on Sept. 13. The hourly increase ranges from 50 cents to $1.50, but that varies by position, experience, tenure and more, said Nick Ruffner, a Sheetz spokesman.

“The increase is part of Sheetz’s goal to offer competitive wages, enabling them to attract and retain top talent,” the Altoona-based family owned company said.

Company President Travis Sheetz said the goal is to “provide competitive wages and full-time hours to as many employees as possible as well as providing quarterly bonuses as a way for employees to share in our success.”

The company offers health care coverage, a 401(k) retirement plan and employee stock ownership.

Sheetz said it has almost 1,500 open positions across Pennsylvania that remain unfilled, and 3,000 openings throughout the company. The vacancies come at a time when unemployment in the Pittsburgh region was 3.9% in August and the jobless rate for Pennsylvania was 3.7% in August.

The investment allows Sheetz “to attract and retain the top talent in our footprint,” Ruffner said.

Sheetz said it made a $15 million investment in employee wages in 2016. That coincided with a significant effort to shift more store employees from part-time to full-time work, Sheetz said.