<P> In 1977, Wawa began sharing ownership of the company with its associates through profit - sharing plans . In 1992, Wawa formalized its associate ownership with its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), with stock being awarded to associates annually based on the prior year's service . Because the company is privately held, Wawa secures an independent assessment of its stock value at regular intervals to ensure that the ESOP is fairly maintained . Today, the ESOP accounts for more than 40% of Wawa stock . </P> <P> As of 1989, Wawa Inc. and the Wood family together controlled about 725 acres of land, containing the corporate headquarters, the Wawa dairy farm, and J.T. Farms, within two municipalities in Delaware County, Pennsylvania . The properties are located in Chester Heights and Middletown Township . Wawa Inc. owns 50 acres of land around "Red Roof," the corporate headquarters, 150 acres of land around the Wawa dairy, and the 225 - acre J.T. Farms . The Wood family also owns 300 acres of estate property . Its extensive land holdings have led to criticism by some, including one journalist who called them "the closest thing to a feudal barony this side of duPont ." </P> <P> The chain's name comes from the site of the company's first milk plant and corporate headquarters in the Wawa, Pennsylvania area . The name of the town Wawa is in turn derived from the Ojibwe word for the Canada goose (taken from The Song of Hiawatha). An image of a goose in flight serves as the Wawa corporate logo . It is said that the goose was chosen because the company employs the principles of teamwork, group consensus, and encouragement . </P> <P> The current CEO of Wawa is Chris Gheysens, who succeeded Howard Stoeckel in January 2013 . Eleuthère (Thère) du Pont has served as both the CFO and president, but is no longer associated with the company . Richard D. (Dick) Wood, Jr. is chairman of the board of directors . As of July 2009, many Wood family members were still active within the company . Although Wawa is a family - run business, Wawa associates own roughly 50% of the company, more than 40% of which is owned through the company's ESOP . </P>

Where did they get the name wawa from
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