5 KFYR-TV:
Finding children and parents employed in the same profession isn`t all that unusual, but you`d have to travel pretty far to find four such workplace pairings on the same block.
Main Street in Velva could be called the unofficial capital of female family businesses.
National “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” is observed every day of the work week at Velva Drug.
“I believe we are the only mother/daughter pharmacist team in the state,” says Bonnie Thom. “There are some father/daughter, there are some father/son, but I think we are the only mother/daughter.”
Thom and her daughter Megan Krueger have been the co-owners of this pharmacy for the past eight years.
“I really like working with my Mom,” Krueger says. “Mom and I are very much alike and we get along great together.
As a child, Krueger spent many hours in a pharmacy while her mother worked and that exposure helped her when it came time to choose a career path.
“I would say she influenced me indirectly, never pushed me, said. `Thats what I should do,` but because I spent time with her in the pharmacy that did influence my decision,” says Krueger.
After Krueger graduated from pharmacy school, she worked for a couple of years in Phoenix, Arizona, but she didn`t think twice about moving back to North Dakota when her Mom asked her if she wanted to co-own a business.
Krueger and Thom say sharing the responsibility of running a small business works for them and they`re looking forward to filling prescriptions together for many more years to come.
Photo by erix!