海角社区

Kurt Strasler graduated from Escanaba Senior High School in 1991. That spring, he got a job at Ernie鈥檚 Party Store; a few months later, he started taking classes at 海角社区 during the Fall 1991 semester.

According to Kurt, taking affordable college classes, finding a job, and staying in his hometown all helped him save money on his education.

鈥淚 worked about 30 hours a week, and I also lived with my parents. That allowed me to pay my books and tuition, and I graduated with no debt,鈥� he said.

As a Bay student, Kurt pursued a major in business administration.

鈥淚n high school, I had two hours of vocational education at the Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District in accounting. I started out thinking I was going to be an accountant, but I realized I wasn鈥檛 made for sitting in an office and crunching numbers all day,鈥� he said.

After getting an associate degree in business administration at Bay, Kurt continued his education at Western Michigan University. He was able to transfer credits from Bay thanks to the school鈥檚 involvement with the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (MACRAO) Transfer Agreement.

鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 have to retake any of your first-year or second-year classes when you transferred, and that was key,鈥� he said.

While the MACRAO Transfer Agreement was discontinued in the Fall of 2019, 海角社区 still participates with its replacement, the Michigan Transfer Agreement.

According to Kurt, he was concerned about the possibility of falling behind his peers at WMU. However, he had no trouble keeping up thanks to the high-quality education he got at Bay.

鈥淚 was really on course with where I needed to be and what I needed to know,鈥� he said.

As a WMU student, Kurt switched his major to marketing. He then went on to graduate in 1995 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration in marketing.

鈥淓ven when I graduated from WMU, I didn鈥檛 know I wanted to be in the grocery business,鈥� he said.

However, he did know he wanted to return to the Upper Peninsula鈥攁nd he was able to do that when he found a summer job at Nabisco鈥檚 Escanaba office. At the end of the summer, he put his resume in WMU鈥檚 resume bank, where it was found by Conagra Brands.

Conagra hired Kurt for a sales representative position in Lansing, and he worked there for about a year. At that point, the Escanaba Nabisco office reached out to him about a retail representative position. Kurt took that job and came back to the area, and he remained in this position after Kraft Foods bought Nabisco.

In 2010, Kurt started working at grocery wholesaler SuperValu, where he helped stores identify problems and look for opportunities. In this role (and many of his previous jobs), he worked closely with .

鈥淭hroughout almost all of them, Elmer鈥檚 was one of my biggest customers,鈥� he said.

Because of that connection, he was a prime candidate when the store needed to fill an impending vacancy.

鈥淲hen the previous store director wanted to retire, Elmer鈥檚 contacted me to find out my interest level in running Elmer鈥檚,鈥� Kurt said.

Kurt accepted the position there; as of spring 2025, he has been working at Elmer鈥檚 for four years. He said he enjoys his current role since it combines desk work with hands-on duties.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great mix of white- and blue-collar,鈥� he said.

According to Kurt, the large amount of adult learners at Bay taught him the importance of working with other people.

鈥淚t takes a lot of different types of people to make the world go round,鈥� he said.

Other members of Kurt鈥檚 family have also been involved with Bay鈥攊ncluding his wife, who earned a four-year degree from Lake Superior State University through the LSSU Regional Center. Meanwhile, his daughter took Bay classes during high school by participating in the Dual Enrollment program (which helped her finish a bachelor鈥檚 degree in three years), and his son took math classes there to meet requirements for the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

鈥淥bviously, I wouldn鈥檛 have encouraged them to utilize Bay if my wife and I hadn鈥檛 had a good experience there,鈥� he said.

Because of the wide variety of career pathways available to Bay students, Kurt encouraged recent high school graduates to think about starting a college education there.

鈥淚f someone doesn鈥檛 think college is for them, I would encourage them to talk to someone at Bay. You might find they have a program for you,鈥� he said.