Don Brueggemann is leaving bagels, smoothies and grain bowls behind after more than 30 years owning and managing The Works Café.

He first arrived at the bakery in 1996, when it was still called The Bagel Works. Now, Brueggemann, 66, is retiring with a legacy of transforming the once-small café into a bustling community staple. His employees at The Works regard him as ‘the mayor of Main Street,’ and his sustainability initiatives and work in the State House have made him well-known beyond downtown.

“One of my passions is community, and just by being where we were on Main Street, we were really able to build a community within that business,” Brueggemann reflected. “It’s been a great vehicle for me.”

Brueggemann, an Oberlin graduate, spent one year at the Food Co-op and eight at the café chain’s Durham location before coming home to pursue a management role in Concord.

Over the years, thanks in part to his sustainability efforts, The Works has started using vegetable-based plastics that degrade naturally and selling day-old bagels at a discount. Other leftovers make their way to food kitchens, and a Hopkinton farmer picks up food waste three times a week for composting. The café donates to the Five Rivers Conservation Trust, a non-profit dedicated to conserving open space across the greater Capital Region, and it supports the annual Rock’n Race for the Payson Center for Cancer Care.

But Brueggemann has made the biggest impression on the people around him.

“So many people that come in here, not only does he know their name, he knows their kids, he knows their grandkids, it goes back and back and back,” said Sue Rogers, the café’s new general manager. “He’s just the perfect example of a community member.”

Rogers said she’d learned the importance of kindness from Brueggemann. From his perspective, running a business has always required a willingness to treat everyone with respect.

“Obviously, a place like The Works has such a wide range of people that come through. It’s really important to honor where they are when they’re coming in,” he said.

Brueggemann never limited his community involvement to the Main Street restaurant. After graduating from the Chamber of Commerce’s Greater Concord Leadership class in 2001, he spent six years as a state representative and served on House’s committee on resources, recreation and development. Although it took up extra time, his legislative work was rewarding and prompted him to consider different issues and ideas.

“Things like boat moorings,” he said, “I would never give that a second thought, but that was something that we had oversight over, and so we had to educate ourselves on that and make decisions.”

Brueggemann decided to return to full-time café management in 2008, and he continued innovating from then on. During the pandemic, he embraced new online ordering and catering systems that made it simpler and safer to supply customers with fresh baked goods. In 2020, The Works even won the Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year award.

Now, Brueggemann is trading The Works’ fresh produce for the seedlings in his home garden. He hopes to spend more time there in his retirement, and he plans to work on home improvement projects and explore the woods with his black lab Zane. He said he’s still finding new things with which to occupy his time, and he plans to continue frequenting the café.

“I’ve missed it so far, and it’s been what, a week and a half?” Brueggemann laughed. “It just felt like it was the right time.”

“I would just thank the Concord community for a great run,” he said.

Abby DiSalvo can be reached at adisalvo@cmonitor.com