Unsung Hero Brad Pavwoski
By Nick Edson
Brad Pavwoski has always been a numbers guy.
The former three-sport star at Buckley High School is a sports fanatic who can rattle off batting averages and pitching statistics at the drop of a hat.
He took an early interest in his dad’s business and learned at a young age how to balance a check book and pay bills.
So it’s really no surprise that Brad earned his B.S. in Accounting after attending Northwestern Michigan College and Ferris State University. He has worked in accounting at Cherryland Electric Cooperative for more than two years.
“I’ve always liked numbers,” said the soft-spoken Pavwoski. “I liked to watch when my Dad went over his business numbers. My folks were a big influence on my life.”
Brad’s key numbers are seven, two and one.
There were seven members of the Pavwoski family, with Brad being the oldest of five children. His brother Chris is only 19 months younger and they were close growing up and still best friends today.
The number two is especially powerful for Brad. He and his wife Julie have two children, 2-year-old son Drew and 10-month-old daughter Megan.
His eyes light up when he talks about them.
“They are everything to us,” he said. “Drew loves to play ball already. Megan is starting to identify objects. We love watching them develop.”
Brad admits that Julie has helped him learn the art of parenting.
“I’m a very competitive person,” he said. “I have always had certain expectations of myself. Julie has taught me to be a more patient person, especially as a parent. She has taught me to let the kids develop at their own pace.”
Brad and Julie met shortly after high school. While Brad went to Buckley, Julie was a graduate of nearby Kingsley.
“We have different personalities in that I’m very competitive and she’s not,” he said. “And I love sports and she doesn’t. But we’re very alike in a lot of ways. My brother is my best friend and her sister is her best friend. We have a lot of common interests, such as reading. We live close to the Traverse City library and we enjoy going over there and getting books. Between Julie, the kids and our families, I’m the most blessed man on earth.”
Brad’s accounting work at Cherryland includes paying the bills and doing payroll.
“Besides the accounting part of the job, you have to learn to get along with a lot of different personalities,” he said. “I consider myself easy-going, so that isn’t difficult for me.”
He credits his sports background – as an all-conference performer in baseball, basketball and soccer at Buckley - for that.
“I learned that being part of a team means putting your personal differences aside for the sake of what’s best for everyone,” he said. “That’s a good lesson to know when you enter the work force.”
When his work is done for the day, Brad enjoys heading home to his family, reading non-fiction books and – during the season – playing Fantasy Baseball, something he’s done for nearly 20 years.
What is Fantasy Baseball? It involves sports and numbers – a perfect fit for Brad.
“Brad performs his job in a quiet, professional manner,” said Cherryland’s Chief Financial Officer, Mark Wilson. “He is dependable, reliable and wears a lot of different hats. In the two plus years he’s been here, we’ve had a lot of changes, which has resulted in a lot of different responsibilities and challenges for Brad. He has delivered in everything we’ve asked him to do.”
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