BUTTE — Silver Bow Pizza has been an institution in Butte for over 50 years, and while people celebrate their delicious pizza, today this business is celebrating loyalty: the loyalty of two employees that have been here for 30 years.
Surprise!
“Everybody’s here! Hi! Wow, Oh, my goodness! Wow,” said Mandy Estill.
Mandy Estill and Evan Bodenberger were given a surprise party by management and staff at Silver Bow Pizza recently for both having 30 years with the business. Both started when they were just teenagers and say they enjoy working there.
“It pretty much was my second job, my first real job, and the owners of the place have treated us very well, the managers have always treated us well and it’s a great place to work,” said Bodenberger.
Silver Bow Pizza has been owned by three generations of the Short family since it first opened in Butte in 1969.
“Having people like Mandy and Evan who have been here my entire life really makes it feel like home in a lot of ways. Since I’ve been walking through those doors since I was 9 years old, Mandy and Evan have been greeting me with a smile from the kitchen and I’ve known them longer than most people in my life at this point,” said owner Cody Short.
“I really love Evan and Mandy, I think they’re amazing people; they do really great work, they do everything they can to help out anybody at any given time,” said employee Riley Wakefield.
Both say they enjoy watching their customers grow up over the years.
“I just saw a girl at the store who has been coming here as a baby and she had a baby, yeah, it made me question my age,” said Estill.
Short acknowledged that this kind of loyalty is rare in a time when many businesses are having trouble keeping employees.
“Butte is a great town and I think one of the reasons we have been so lucky with so many of our employees is the work ethic in Butte,” said Short.
The future? Are you going to do another 30? What do you think?
“Why not? Yeah, let’s do it. You with me? Alright,” said Estill.
