Sherrie Rosauer, 36

By Paul Anthony Arco

Sherrie Rosauer has never shied away from hard work. At 14, she pleaded with her parents to let her get a worker’s permit so she could get a job serving food and mopping floors at an Oregon drive-in restaurant.

Rosauer juggled work with her studies as she earned a degree in finance from Northern Illinois University. Following graduation, she went to work for a Freeport bank before moving on to an office supply store in Rockford and then to Textron as a financial analyst.

And then the unexpected happened; she became a small business owner. A local businessman was retiring and offered to sell his four area local discount/dollar stores to Rosauer and her brother. So in 1999, Rosauer took a leap of faith and left the corporate world to purchase the Super $1 stores. “I never envisioned this,” Rosauer said, admitting she’d never shopped at a dollar store before owning one. “But I’m always looking into the horizon.”

Rosauer rolled up her sleeves and got to work learning the retail business. Her efforts have paid off. In the last 10 years, she and her brother have developed six more stores, including two in Rockford — creating more jobs and revenue in an otherwise sluggish economy.

The best part of owning a business? It’s the customer feedback, she said. “People appreciate our stores, and they take the time to tell us. It’s a good feeling to take that home with you each night.”

Rosauer, who is married and has two stepchildren, also chairs Provisional Development for the Junior League of Rockford and volunteers in the children’s ministry at her church.