History
Our story began in 1957, when Ernie Trefz was Vice President and General Manager of the Rosselers Meat Packing Company in Bridgeport, CT, working alongside his brother, Chris Trefz. With McDonald’s being their largest customer at that time, Ernie and Chris were inspired to pursue a career as McDonald’s franchisees. On September 27, 1964, their first McDonald’s in Waterbury, CT, opened for business. Today, the Trefz Family now operates 43 McDonald’s restaurants. Over the years, Ernie has held several leadership positions in the region, including OPNAD Chairman in 1974 and Chairman of the Marketing Committee during the introduction of breakfast. Ernie’s wife, Joan, served on the Board of Directors and was one of the founding chair people of Ronald McDonald House Charities. Over the past 50 years, Ernie and Chris have received numerous awards for their outstanding restaurants and community service, including the elite Golden Arch Award, which is earned by less than 1% of McDonald’s franchisees at its 33,000 restaurants around the world. They have also developed ten Ray Kroc Award winners in the past decade. Today, the torch of running great McDonald's restaurants has been passed down to the next generations. Trefz, and Josie Trefz are now the owners of our 50 McDonald's restaurants. They continue to strive toward having restaurants that maintain the highest McDonald's standards and is a great place for our employees and guests to come be. Like Ernie and Chris before them, Chris C., Paul, and Josie bring love and dedication to McDonald’s every single day and are great role models and an inspiration to all who work for them.
