Pennysaver and Orleans Hub have new ad rep who wants to help local businesses succeed
Photo by Tom Rivers: Bob Stilwell joined the Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub in February as one of two full-time ad representatives.
ALBION – Bob Stilwell admires the work ethic and courage of many small business owners in Orleans County.
The Gaines resident is a new ad representative for the Lake Country Pennysaver and Orleans Hub. He started Feb. 2 and has enjoyed reconnecting with many business owners and making new relationships with members of the business community.
“We’re a model of what a small community is all about with the mom and pop businesses trying to survive,” Stilwell said. “These businesses represent small-town America. You can tell they are good, hard-working people.”
Stilwell knows personally what it takes to make a small business succeed. He and his wife Jennifer have been running the Olde Dogge Inn on Ridge Road in Gaines for 20 years. The couple has four grown children.
Stilwell was born in Medina and raised in Albion. He served three years in the Army and earned an English degree at SUNY Oswego.
He worked 16 ½ years as director of advertising for the Hickey-Freeman Co., which makes high-end men’s clothing in Rochester. Stilwell also worked for about three years in advertising for American Sigma in Medina.
He took a break from advertising to work two years with his brother-in-law at Brigden Memorials in Gaines and then two years to work with his cousin at Ludwick Construction in Albion.
“I wanted to get back into advertising because I enjoyed it,” he said. “It’s about getting back into what I started my career doing, and working with the local businesses. We help them with a marketing plan. You try to help them spend their money wisely.”
Stilwell can be reached by calling the Pennysaver at (585) 589-5641.
