The Biery File
NAME: Ben Biery
TITLE: CEO
COMPANY: Biery Cheese
Born: Canton, Ohio.
Education: Bachelors degree, business management, Walsh University.
What was your first job? My first job was working at a Marathon station. I worked cashier and I did lube, oil, filter changes.
Which is more difficult: Hitting 35 career home runs for the Walsh Cavaliers or performing the hustle in front of the Canton Palace Theater crowd for Dancing with the Stars? I was more nervous for Dancing with the Stars at the Palace. My hands were wringing. It was a lot of fun.
The Palace Theater runs its fundraiser for improvements. I think it’s seven or eight years now that they’ve been doing this. They get eight or 10 people within the community and pair them with eight or 10 dancers, and each dancer goes out and fundraises and all that fundraising money that comes back goes to the palace for improvements. I think we’ve raised, like, $50,000 as a group of 16 people, which was really cool.
You had some great numbers as a collegiate baseball player, enough to get inducted onto the Walsh Wall of Fame in 2008. Did you entertain the idea of playing professionally? I played for the Canton Crocodiles for a time. It was the Frontier League, which traveled from St. Louis to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I coached for part of it and I played for part of it. I would have loved to be drafted by an affiliated team. That would have been a lifelong dream come true.
Fortunately, I was able to play in the Frontier League, which gave me some great experiences, some great relationships with people and a small peek of that lifestyle. Living out of suitcases is not fun.
