the voice - dominos franchisee association

DFA Working for FranchiseesAdvocacy, Membership Benefits and Education to Increase Franchisee Profitability

FEATURES:Franchisees: Emily Elwell, Nelson Hockert-Lotz, & Craig Turner

Issue 1 2017

THE DOMINO’S IMPACT

o f D o m i n o ’ s F r a n c h i s e e s

TH

EVOICE

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FEATURES 5 Ken’s Korner Ken Peebles

16 New President, New Policies That May Affect Your Business J. Hagood Tighe & Liane C. Dublinski, Fisher and Phillips LLP

26 Reimage or Relocate? Mike McDermott

28 The Training Room Dominic Benvenuti

42 Planning For The Unknown- What’s Next For The ACA, Overtime and Immigration?

Brook J. Carroll

45 Cyber Liability InsuranceJason Upton, The Upton Group, LLC

49 Safety, Security and Loss Prevention Department Van Carney

UpdatesVendor Partner Cintas 8

Partners Foundation 47Women’s Leadership Forum 52

Campuspalooza 55Forum Meetings 56

10 Emily Elwell“We say that “D&E Pizza” stands for “Dedicated to Excellence.” The guiding principle behind this is that in the moment of truth, always do the right thing, and to treat other people how you want to be treated. So, I use this with a lot of positive energy to guide the team to making the right decisions.”

20 Nelson Hockert-Lotz“In high school, I was a distance runner. It’s a great discipline, and to this day it pretty much defines me. Business is a very long race, so set a good pace and just keep running. If you lose a shoe in the mud, just keep running. The longer the race, the less talent matters. Grit defines the victors.”

34 Craig Turner“You need to be professional. Professional to me means “doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it.” When building stores or working to become a franchisee, I believe in doing something everyday to get you closer to your goal.”

Member Services7 DFA National Meeting58 Membership Form59 Membership Letter: Ron Perry60 DFA Board Member Directory62 Vendor Partner’s Directory

Depar tments

The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent Domino’s Franchisees, Domino’s Pizza Inc, and/or any of its agents. The Voice is printed quarterly and distributed to the entire Domino’s Franchisee Community.

spotlight |

The Voice / dominosdfa.com

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FEATURES 5 Ken’s Korner Ken Peebles

16 New President, New Policies That May Affect Your Business J. Hagood Tighe & Liane C. Dublinski, Fisher and Phillips LLP

26 Reimage or Relocate? Mike McDermott

28 The Training Room Dominic Benvenuti

42 Planning For The Unknown- What’s Next For The ACA, Overtime and Immigration?

Brook J. Carroll

45 Cyber Liability InsuranceJason Upton, The Upton Group, LLC

49 Safety, Security and Loss Prevention Department Van Carney

Recently, Patrick Doyle approached me regarding the leak of inside information to the general public. After hearing the details, I was shocked. We both agreed we needed to first find a solution to stop future leaks and second, find out who did it… as well as why. Initially, my reaction was to defend our current Franchisee community. Then, I questioned if the leak was from a disgruntled former Corporate person. I quickly concluded there were too many possibilities to prematurely jump to conclusions. I decided the DFA was committed to working together with DPLLC to find who was sabotaging the wellbeing of our Franchisees as well as the Brand.

Right after my call with Patrick, I called Jim Gerety, the DFA’s current Chairman of the Board of Directors, to discuss the situation. He supported my initial concern regarding the severity of the situation and fully supported joining forces with Corporate leadership to investigate the source. I highly encourage anyone who has shared inside Domino’s information with non-current Dominoids to stop immediately. If you know someone who is sharing unreleased information, please do something to stop him or her. Whether it is marketing, financial or technical information, sharing with anyone outside our Domino’s community does not benefit our Franchisee system.

Statement from Jim Gerety, Chairman of the DFA Board

By now, everyone has probably received a letter from Domino’s regarding information leaked to investment analysts, which was further leaked to the general public including our competitors. The letter was sent on behalf of Russell Weiner, Ken Peebles and myself. This was extraordinary in the sense that rarely do we have any joint communications, but the issue was so serious in nature. Both Ken and I felt it was important enough to join the Leadership team in sending out the communication. It is also a testament to the respectful relationship the DFA has with DPZ since they requested our involvement in finding a solution.

THE NATURE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP

When trying to think of an appropriate analogy to define our relationship with DPLLC, I was remiss in finding one. But this morning when I was getting ready and went to tie my shoes, the “light” came on. Our relationship with DPZ is kind of like our shoelaces. They are tied together to keep our shoes on our feet. Sometimes, we do not

tie them well enough and the shoes can come loose. Sometimes, we tie them too tight causing some pain and discomfort.

Well, for quite a while now I think our shoelaces have been tied just right and our Corporate partners must agree since they decided to share key information with Franchisees on future changes and promotions. Sadly, that was an assumption based on the thought that;

a. We had built a relationship based on trust and confidentiality

b. We are all professionals who understand what confidential means

c. Our goals were mutually beneficial with the understanding we need to work together

But in the end, someone’s shoestrings were too loose and their motivation to talk caused the shoestrings to completely become untied.

MOTIVES

I can only think of three reasons why someone would speak to a Wall Street analyst. Money, ego or vengeance. Maybe the lure of easy money was too enticing and provided justification. Perhaps leaking the information to Wall Street gave them a sense of importance. Maybe they had an ax to grind with Domino’s and wanted to ruin things for people who are part of the Brand.

Whatever the motivation, the end result is that Corporate’s confidence in sharing information within the system has been shaken. Our Brand’s success is greatly impacted when the relationship between Corporate and us has been damaged. Certainly, it is fair to say Patrick, Russell and the rest of the Leadership team will think twice about sharing information with anyone other than the key people critical to its implementation. However, as confident as I am that key Corporate personnel and

Ken’s Korner updates | CEO

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Franchisees will continue to be part of future planning, I think the circle of trust will be significantly tightened to make sure our strategies are not divulged prior to their implementation. It makes me sad, but with 800 Franchisees and hundreds of Corporate operational employees, Corporate Leadership’s reluctance to share plans with the Corporate and Franchisee community will be great and, in my opinion, deservedly so!

INTEGRITY

Integrity, in its basic form, is an expectation we should have with each other. The definition for anyone who might need a refresher is;

• Implies trustworthiness and incorruptibility to a degree that one is incapable of being false to a trust, responsibility, or pledge.

I hope the person who disclosed this information does an internal gut check after realizing how disruptive their actions were to our Brand. If the decision was based on revenge and they feel like Domino’s deserved this setback, know the impact reaches farther than just getting back at the Leaders of our Brand! If it was vengeance, how does that play into their personal integrity? If it was ego based, realize these Wall Street leeches contact most of the Franchisees in our system looking for one or two gullible ones who think they are special.. These solicitors couldn’t care less about you and are using you like yesterday’s newspaper. Or if it was the money, was the thirty pieces of silver worth it in the end?

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Recently, I spent a Sunday afternoon presenting at the Texas SCC Driver Rally. I spoke about integrity in my presentation explaining how important their personal integrity is to their job and the Franchisee’s businesses. Doing the right thing, even when no one is looking was my main message to the 60+ drivers in attendance. After my presentation, a very long tenured driver, came up to thank me for my presentation. He was holding 3 napkins, each noted with a separate number. $8.00… $184.00… and $1,000,000.00. He asked if I knew what they meant. I guessed the first two were his starting Domino’s stock price and the current Domino’s stock price, but I did not know what the third number stood for. He said I was spot on the first two. Then he explained the million dollars was the current balance in his Domino’s 401k account. He finished the conversation by saying he was getting ready to retire and because of Domino’s, he did not have to worry about his or his family’s future wellbeing. Reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Thousands of Domino’s employees, Franchisees, and their families and friends are tied to our success whether it is on our P&Ls, their 401k or their investment in our stock. For many, it’s their retirement income… and to think that all of them are subject to a dumb bunny, either looking to make a few bucks, or to pump their ego. Or for possibly nefarious

motives just by talking to an analyst.

GUT CHECK

As business owners or Corporate individuals in the know, are we so omnipotent that we are willing to share information which can affect the financial outcome of hard working folks and their families? I do not care if you are on the Corporate side or the Franchisee side, the next time you get angry at our Brand or Leadership for something, remember the choices you make may have a much more far reaching consequence than your personal gain. In spite of our personal gain or feelings, doing the right thing even when no one is looking should be the priority for all of us. If you know whom the culprit is, do whatever it takes to stop them. People have to realize their actions can hurt far more people than just the Leadership of this company. The miniscule financial reward is far less then one’s personal integrity.

CONTINUING ROLE

I understand the success enjoyed by many in the system is not being felt in 100% of all Franchisee’s businesses. The DFA continues to work on pointing that out to our Corporate Leaders. We continue to remind them there are still challenges for some Franchisees. As the DFA, our role is to represent all Franchisees, whether you are a Member or not... whether you are successful or not. However, it makes it very hard to represent the system IF and when someone’s actions in the Franchisee ranks are creating issues impacting the entire Brand. Integrity matters to the DFA. We hold ourselves as Board Members to a high standard. We make it a priority to set aside any personal needs or ambitions as we focus on representing the needs of the entire Franchise community.

Lastly, some Franchisees did not understand why the DFA partnered with the Corporate Leaders on this issue. Well folks, protecting Franchisees is our main objective at the DFA. In this case, helping find the person who leaked confidential Brand information is a great reason for the DFA to stand united with Patrick Doyle and his Leadership Team. Integrity should always be a standalone principle focused on doing the right thing… whether it is the popular thing or not.

Ken PeeblesChief Executive [email protected]

Jim GeretyChairman of DFA [email protected]

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Franchisee Name: Emily Elwell

Title: President/Franchisee

Company: D&E Pizza, LLC

Age: 35

Family: Husband: Dan, Three children: Andrew (10), Anna (7), & Asher (11 months)

Years with DP: 16

Years as Franchisee: 6.5

# Stores: 6

Store Locations: Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma

# Team Members: 100

Awards/Accolades: 2015 & 2016 ranked an “A” Franchise

Domino’s Career Path: On November 1, 2000, I began working at Domino’s as a CSR. I was a sophomore at Missouri State University. The plan was to work through Christmas, make enough money to buy Christmas presents for my family, and then quit. I mean, honestly, who works for Domino’s their whole life? Well, I ended up loving the people I worked with. It was fun, plus physically and mentally challenging everyday. So, I stayed. A year later, I joined the MIT program. Soon after, I met my husband, Dan, at the monthly timed two-tray competition. We were actually both promoted to GMs at different locations on the same day. We were very competitive with each other. We both received promotions to busier stores. I made my way up to be the MIT Training Supervisor while overseeing operations at three locations. Somewhere during all of this, Dan and I had a son and got married. One Christmas day, Dan was getting ready to go into work. He stopped, looked at me as I was holding Andrew, who was 14 months at the time, and says, “We have to either move up or move on. I think it’s time to franchise.” I said OK. We started saving every penny. Almost two years later, we had saved almost enough to have the liquid capital requirement (at the time it was $30k). My franchisee, Art Hurteau, calls me up and says, “They are raising the liquid capital requirement to $50k starting next year, but you can still get into the next class in December.” It was November, and we still needed $10,000. There was just no way. Then Art says, “Listen, if you want this to happen you gotta make it happen. Just figure it out.” With a surge of adrenaline, I started making phone calls. That was the day I raised $10,000 in four hours. I signed up for class, and was approved to be a franchisee. In July of 2010, we bought our first store in Webb City, MO.

Key Accomplishments: Last year, I was asked to speak at the World Wide Rally about being a #1 Employer. I’ve never felt so honored in my life. Just years before, I was in the audience being inspired by franchisees like Robert Gavitt and Jason Schifflett, furiously taking notes on how to improve. Now I was speaking! In my first session, Robert Gavitt in the second row! Wow! What an honor! I was truly humbled. As nervous as I was, it was an experience I will never forget.

Biggest Mistakes: Oh, there have been so many simple mistakes. My first batch of menus, I had printed the wrong phone number on 10,000 pieces. I’m terrible at editing my own work. Dan handles all of that now. Seriously though, my biggest mistakes have been when I did not trust my instincts. Hiring or promoting someone I knew would not be a good fit, but hey, there was a spot to fill.

franchisee | Emily Elw

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Emily & Family


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Formative Influence/Event: I was not the greatest teenager, and my mom reminds me of this fact quite often. One time my dad pulled me aside and said, “You have to decide the type of person you want to be, and be it!” He planted this seed, which bloomed about 3 years later in college. I had been hanging out with a girl from my hometown. She started getting into drugs. I knew if I continued to hang out with her, people would assume the same things about me… and that’s not who I wanted to be. So, I had to start a new group of friends. Soon after, I started at Domino’s.

Local Organizations Involved In: I’m a member of our local Soroptomist Club where we focus on improving the lives and opportunities for women and children. I’m also a youth leader at my local church. We have a great team of about seven people. We have about 40 kids in our group who meet every Wednesday and every other Sunday. I have been doing this for about 2 years now, and it has taught me so much about my faith plus enhanced my relationship with God. It is amazing how much you learn when you reach out to teach others.

Three Highest Priorities in your Life:GodFamilyEmployees

Best memory while running a store?Back when Dan and I were first dating and were both Assistant Managers, our buddy, Ed Christianson (2004 National Manager of the Year), asked us to come run the Branson, MO location so they could have their Christmas party. “Don’t worry, it will be slow since it’s winter. You’ll probably do like $400 the whole night.” So no big deal, right?

Well, I ran the inside while Dan made deliveries. We would get about 5 or 6 deliveries and Dan would head out. While he was gone, I would do carry-out only. He would call when he was on his last delivery and I would take more delivery orders. With just the two of us, we ended up doing $1,200 that night. That’s the first time I realized what an incredible partnership we had. We make it work.

Is there a Franchisee mentor who has attributed to your success as a Franchisee? Art Hurteau and Marty Prather have always been mentors to us. Art still calls every month or so to check in. He lets me know what’s going on in different areas and of course, checks to see how my kiddos are doing. We have based a lot of what we do on principles they taught us. But most importantly, they taught Dan and I that there is always a way to get something done and to never give up when you come to a roadblock.

Diane Barrentine was also my mentor through the Women’s Leadership Forum during my first year as a franchisee. She taught me to “not sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.”

How would your childhood friends describe you during your “early days”? Would they be surprised by your success as a Franchisee? My college roommates still laugh that this “part-time job” I got when I was a sophomore turned into the wonderful career. What does it take to be a successful Franchisee in this day and age? I think you have to be committed to doing things right. One of my favorite quotes and mantras is, “If you always do everything right, you never have anything to worry about.” Doing things right is not always the quickest or the easiest, but it’s best. Also, you can’t do everything yourself. You need a team of people with a variety of talents. Dan is a wonderful business partner and husband. He truly balances me. My management team is full of people who are so incredibly talented. They each excel at different things, which as a whole makes the team so well rounded. We all learn from each other and improve constantly.

During the years you have been with Domino’s, what experience/event has made the greatest impact on your life? My first year as a franchisee was by far the most challenging. We had 15 inches of snowfall that February. Then on May 22, 2011, a tornado ripped through Joplin just 3 miles south of our home and store. It took out a third of the town including one of the 2 Domino’s in Joplin, a Pizza Hut, and several other restaurants. We were on vacation when it hit. The weather was bad for days keeping us from returning. Just when I thought things could not get any worse, my dad’s health turned

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for the worst. We lost him on May 25th. We got back to Missouri and Dan headed towards the stores as I headed to plan the funeral.

After the funeral when I got back to town, the destruction was unbelievable, and it had been over 2 weeks since the tornado came through. I was emotionally a wreck. I could not take the wreckage or the heartache of losing dad. I didn’t know how I was going to lead the team through this. Our sales were skyrocketing, the crew was tired, they needed a leader. I was reminded of a memory from when I was a child. My brother had been getting bullied by a guy. Enough was enough and the bully called for a fight after school. Sam went to my dad for advice on what to do. Dad told him, “keep your head down, and keep moving forward, like a tank.”

So, that’s what I did. That entire summer, I just kept moving forward like a tank. I told the crew that we were given an opportunity. We were serving customers now who normally wouldn’t order from us. If we did it right and truly served these people with excellent Domino’s

Pizza and service, even when the town was rebuilt, they would still choose us. I was right!

REIMAGING

How many stores do you have with the new Pizza Theater image? All 6! How many are reimaged? 3 reimaged How many relocated? OneHow many new? One (plus my most recent purchase was built a Pizza Theatre)

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently? I wouldn’t have waited so long to reimage the last two. The sales increase, the morale of the crew, the feeling of doing it right, it just feels so good when the project is over and you end up with something you can be really proud of.

Any tricks you can pass on to help your fellow Franchisee? Don’t cut corners. Don’t just go cheap. Build something you and your team can be proud of, and don’t let it go after it’s all fixed up! Dedicate more of your budget to maintenance.

MANAGEMENT

As an operator, what are the two most important things you rely on from DPLLC? Our supply chains have to be ever changing and evolving just as quickly as our stores. We can’t do what we do without them. Continue to be diligent about getting ahead of problems before they hit. I really appreciate all the efforts I’ve seen or heard about in the areas of improving product quality, quality control, and overall raising the bar in our stores.

What is your management method/style? We say that “D&E Pizza” stands for “Dedicated to Excellence.” The guiding principle behind this is that in the moment of truth, always do the right thing, and to treat other people how you want to be treated. So, I use this with a lot of positive energy to guide the team to making the right decisions.


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Left: Emily’s son Andrew’s first pizza

Right: Emily’s children Andrew & Anna promoting busi-ness


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We also strive to be result oriented, which gives our Managers the freedom to discover their own management style and methods. As long as their product is great, the customers are happy, and sales are going up, then we are happy, too. I have a theory that if you are always doing things the right way, then you have nowhere to go, but up.

What has been your greatest challenge? For me, I think my greatest challenge is saying “no” sometimes. I’ve really had to work on balance in my life. Keeping the balance between business health, physical health, spiritual health, my family unit, etc. is something I constantly work on and struggle with. In order to keep the balance, I’ve had to say no to certain things, and that’s always tough.

How do you find capital for expansion? I have a great relationship with a local bank.

How does your Membership with the DFA benefit you? It’s nice to have so many people giving advice on vendors, best practices, etc. There is a sense of comfort in knowing you’re not alone, especially in the first few years I was a franchisee. I love that when different laws are being passed I get notifications about how it will affect my business from the DFA. They constantly inform us of everything that is going on, and it is quite an asset to have!

TEAM MEMBERS

With business growing across the country, what are you seeing in your market? What tools are you using for recruiting, hiring, and retention? We were seeing a lot of turnover in the first 30 days. Last April, we created a Company Trainer position. This person is a MIT, basically just waiting for a store to open up. But, they dedicate about 10 hours a week to going around to the stores to do the training for all new hires. It guarantees one-on-one training by someone who is completely separate from operations. The new hires are getting the attention they deserve. The process is less awkward for a new hire. They feel more welcome and comfortable in the store. Plus, it helps the MIT be more prepared to become a GM. Since we have implemented this, our turnover has greatly reduced and the quality of training has increased.

What impact has the connections with other Franchisees in your region made on your organization? Dan has done a lot of work with a nearby market on pricing and coupons, which has had a great impact on lowering our ideal food cost. There’s a lot of anxiety when you decide to change a price on something. After you have a conversation with people around you who have already made the change, it makes the move a lot easier. Sometimes, it can prevent you from making a change that could potentially hurt. I think it’s very important to communicate with your nearby franchisees.

We also have a great relationship with our neighbor in Joplin, Shane Hudson. He helped us when we relocated a store. They were able to cover some of our area until we

were able to open so our customers never had to choose a competitor for pizza. We always try to help each other out with food when a store is in need or has a bit too much. We also had a cooler go out last summer and they offered up cooler space as well. It’s important to always remember we are one Brand, one team.

What do you consider when recruiting? I tell my Managers to hire for personality because skill can be trained. You have to look for people who know how to smile naturally, who make great eye contact, and can keep a conversation going. I don’t care if you have 30 years of Domino’s experience. If you have the personality of a wet sponge, I don’t want you.

How have you handled rising employee costs? We have been working on strengthening our core. What I mean by that is we have been working on creating a lot of upward motion. When you are in a rush with a GM, 2 MITs and your top CSRs, things just flow. It feels good. So, we have been working on creating more positions between CSR and MIT. We work a lot on promoting people who have proven skills, and we pay them more for these skills. My goal is to have zero CSRs on the schedule. If you do the math, it costs more to have 2 CSRs on the clock than it does to have one MIT. The more efficient we make our teams, the more of an edge we have on labor, and rising employee costs. Plus, people like to see an upward path and tend to stick around longer when they can see it. I’m working very hard on removing the stigma that Domino’s is just a “job.”

BOTTOM LINE

Overall, 2016 was a very good year for the Domino’s Brand. Are there any obstacles you overcame? Are there any you are facing in 2017? We purchased a store from another franchisee at the end of 2015. We were three days in when 80% of the crew up and quit. My husband, who was at the store when it happened, called me. I was at another store doing a ribbon cutting after our reimage was complete. I hung up the phone and told the Manager what happened. Immediately, I had a shift leader and two drivers step up and head that way. We sent out a message to the rest of the stores, and had the store staffed for the next couple of weeks

Emily & Dan

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within hours. We ran better service than we had in that location all week. I love having a team of people who truly care. They truly treat others how they want to be treated, and they amaze me every day.

Staffing will always be an obstacle to overcome. We just purchased a location this year and will have to retrain as well as hire to operate properly. In 2017, we have at least one new build coming up, and staffing a store with new people is always scary. Honestly, waiting for good hires to come through the door instead of taking what you get is key to overcoming tough times. Luckily, with 100 team members, we always have people who are willing to step up and help out their fellow team members.

How do you measure your growth? There’s the easy answer: PCYA. But, we also like to compare our cost and variance to the year before. We look at profit percentage year after year. Another factor we look at in terms of growth is “Are we ready to expand?” We must have the talent ready to take on a new store. So, we look at the quality of candidates in our MIT program. We’ve had some amazing individuals develop over the years. You can’t just promote a GM and leave them unsupported. Having quality MITs and shift leaders is important to turning a store into a success.

Where do you want to be in 5 years?I’d like to have 10 stores. We have a chalkboard on the wall in my office with all of our goals listed. We have a “Vision 2020” plan. We want 8 stores by 2020 that are doing $20k in AWUS. We have small town stores that do about $15k in AWUS right now. This was my alignment with Patrick Doyle’s goals he set at the last WWR.

Best memory in a store?When I was just starting out as a shift manager, I was in a campus store with a very busy late night. I had this CSR who just loved to jump on the dough table whenever he got a chance. The phones started ringing and he refused to slide to the phones. I looked at him and said, “Jimmy,

get the phone! You’re just not fast enough to keep up.” Jimmy Ruedlinger has been in the World’s Fastest Pizza Maker competition now at least 5 times. I guess he was out to prove me wrong!

What is the one “must” you instill in your people that is nonnegotiable?Integrity. There are a lot of things you can coach people through to get them to improve. But, once I’ve lost trust in your integrity, there is really no going forward in our company.

Favorite movie of all time and why?The Blind Side. I always watch that movie when I need to be reminded of the kind of person I want to be. I love Sandra Bullock’s character!

What trait do you have that you attribute to your parents and how has it helped you in your Domino’s career?My mother is very meticulous. She comes from a long line of women who do things the right way, every time. She is why my team has dubbed me the “Queen of Clean.”My father always taught us all to “have a plan.” I can’t remember the last time I woke up in the morning without a plan for the day. This practice has instilled discipline and focus.

What is the perfect weekend getaway for you... knowing the business side of life is all under control?A day at the beach with Dan on the next towel over, with my kids running around and miraculously not bickering with each other!

Is there anything else you want others to know about you, either personally or professionally?When we first moved to Webb City, we were living on bare bones in a two bedroom apartment with two children under 3. It felt like the walls were closing in on us with the amount of toys and noise. My office was my laptop, which sat on a binder on top of a two-drawer file cabinet that set next to our dining room table. 6 years later we have a beautiful home (with my own office) that sits on 40 acres! We have cows, chickens, and 3 dogs. We have a fishing pond. There’s a beautiful creek that runs through our property. This ride has been incredible! I can’t wait to see where this adventure will lead us!


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Politics aside, there is little doubt that the first few weeks of President Trump’s term seems to have come with a lot of change. At the time of publication, President Trump had signed eight executive orders, issued twelve Presidential Memoranda, and made two Presidential Proclamations. But what has actually changed? This article will look at three of President Trump’s new policies and how, if at all, the orders may affect your business.

Affordable Care Act

As his first executive order, President Trump signed the “Executive Order Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal” on January 20, 2017. The primary purpose of this executive order was, first, to declare the Trump administration’s intent to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Second, the Order directs federal agencies—most notably the Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS)—to exercise the discretion granted to them to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement” of the ACA that would “impose a fiscal burden” on states, health care providers or individuals. Even though the Executive Order does not specifically mention employers, the broad language of the order seems to include employers in the group of those burdened by the ACA.

It is important to note that this Executive Order is limited in scope and does not repeal the ACA. Only an act of Congress can repeal the law.

The way this Executive Order may affect you, however, is that it may impact employer reporting requirements and enforcement of certain provisions in the ACA, like the employer mandate to provide full-time employees with coverage or pay a fine. The two concepts go hand-in-hand since employer reporting is key to assessing any employer penalties. Some predict that the order may lead to the IRS extending its “good faith” standard, which says employers will not be penalized for certain mistakes and/or delays in the reporting processes as long as they can show they tried to comply in a timely manner.

While federal agencies may decide in the future to issue non-enforcement policies pursuant to the Executive Order, at this point in time all rules and regulations relating to employer reporting and mandates remain in place. Therefore, you should continue to consult with your legal counsel regarding how to comply with all current ACA rules and regulations.

Travel Ban

On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Entry into the United States by Foreign Nationals.” The Order created an immediate freeze on all entry for individuals from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Sudan. This executive order establishes a total suspension of entry from all immigrant and nonimmigrants from the listed countries for at least 90 days. The executive order also halts all refugee admission processing for at least 120 days and halts the entry of Syrian

refugees for the foreseeable future. Less than a week after going into effect, the White House clarified, via a memorandum from the White House counsel, that the ban will no longer cover green card holders.

In light of this order, you should encourage any non-U.S. citizen employees from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and the Sudan to indefinitely postpone any personal travel plans outside of the United States even if they have valid H-1B visas or a green card, if possible. Additionally, foreign nationals in the U.S. should carry originals or clear copies of their legal authorization to be in the U.S. at all times (e.g., copies of the identifying page of their passports, visa stamps and I-94 electronic cards, Permanent Resident Cards, Employment Authorization Cards, Travel Documents, Re-entry Permits, etc.). If stopped by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, or any other law enforcement officer, you should instruct them to be prepared to cooperate and present evidence of their U.S. immigration documentation and legal status. However, the foreign national should not sign any forms or other paperwork without consulting with an immigration attorney.

On Friday, February 3, a federal judge in Washington State granted a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking the president’s controversial immigration executive order. Accordingly, all visas previously revoked under the executive order have been reinstated, visa processing at U.S. consulates around the world is being administered as normal, and travelers

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New President, New Policies That May Affect Your BusinessBy: J. Hagood Tighe and Liane C. Dublinski


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from these nations, as well as vetted refugees from all nations, are permitted to enter the U.S.—for now. However, the Department of Justice has initiated an emergency appeal process seeking to reverse the judge’s ruling, so the last chapter in this battle has not yet been written. In light of the uncertainty of the status of this, you should continue to act with caution and consult your legal counsel with any specific questions about how the ban will affect your business or employees.

Federal Hiring Freeze

On January 23, 2017, President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum regarding a hiring freeze for the federal government. The memorandum states that no vacant positions may be filled and no new positions may be created within the federal government, except in limited circumstances. There are, however, exceptions for the military, and “any position that [the White House] deems necessary to meet national security or public safety responsibilities.”

As private business owners, this policy may not directly impact you. However, the policy may indirectly impact your business. For instance, the hiring freeze is having an impact on the Food Safety Inspection Service at the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of meat, poultry, and processed egg products. Due to the freeze, there is a delay in food inspection through March 3, 2017, which could possibly affect the food products you need to buy. Also, interacting with federal agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, may become harder if positions become vacant and are not filled. Therefore, it is advisable to allow for an increased response time anytime you need to interact with a federal agency.

Hagood Tighe and Liane Dublinski, attorneys with Fisher Phillips, concentrate their practice exclusively in the labor and employment area, representing Domino’s franchisees across the country. Hagood Tighe can be reached at [email protected] or (803) 255-0000. Liane Dublinski can be reached at [email protected] or (803) 255-0000.

Fisher & Phillips, founded in 1943, is one of the oldest and largest labor and employment law firms concentrating its practice exclusively upon representation of employers. For more information, please visit our website at www.fisherphillips.com.

J. Hagood [email protected]

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Franchisees Name: Nelson Hockert-Lotz

Title: President

Company: Perfect Pizza, Inc.

Age: 59

Family: Wife, Susan Goldsmith, and rescue dogs.

My Brother: Seth Hockert-Lotz also owns two stores in Massachusetts

Years with DP: 40

Years as Franchisee: 32

# Stores: 2

Store Locations: MA

# Team Members: 60-65

Boards: President of Providence DMA for 32 consecutive years… a truly great Top 40 DMA!

Domino’s Career Path: When I turned 18 and just out of high school, my brother Seth hired me as a driver at Steve Litwhiler’s Store #3101 (the first Domino’s outside of Michigan), serving Burlington and the University of Vermont. My sister, Esther Lotz, was managing a succession of Domino’s, and was one of the fastest pizza-makers in the company at the time… back in the day of wooden sauce spoons and the “windshield wiper” saucing method. Within a year of being hired, I was a store manager. The three of us (Esther, Seth and myself) bought a house for the family. As soon as the mortgage was approved, I applied for admission at UVM. I went back to running shifts, delivering pizza and doing whatever needed to be done. Domino’s put me through college. After college, I took over as a full time manager again, and we set sales records.

One day, Steve told me it was time to franchise. I had graduated with majors in English and History; I had no idea what franchising was. We opened our first store in New Bedford six months later, in a partnership. Good boss, great partner, exceptional friend. I owe a lot to Steve.

Key Accomplishments: I’m prouder of what we have done as a DMA in Providence, than anything I’ve done alone. Providence is a contender for highest AWUS DMA in the country these days, and we’re the Number One brand in our market. When I took over as DMA President in my second month as a franchisee, the market was failing, and the senior franchisees were behind in royalty payments. But for the last 20 years, the teamwork in the Providence DMA, on operations and competitive intrusion, has always been awesome. Our local Papa John’s franchise is closing stores. Pizza Hut is floundering. We’re rocking!

At the start of the Pizza Theater project, Jim Stansik came to New Bedford, bought me dinner, and asked me to build a flagship store for the Providence DMA. We took over a Bank of America spot with 3,200 square feet at THE major intersection in town. We put in double make lines and a big community room. It’s a lot of fun to be in that store in a 180 pie hour rocking the rush!

We set a new sales record on Super Bowl Sunday 2017, with more than 40 team members on the clock. Everyone showed up. We set up a buffet dinner in the conference room.

Owning a “flagship” Domino’s is energizing, and we managed to do it in a financially sound way.

Nelson Hockert-Lotz featured in the Standard-Times 2009 “New Bedford Man of the Year”

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Biggest Mistakes: Early on, we made some bad real estate decisions trying to meet our development contract, and we took on too much debt. When a deep recession hit, our sales were cut in half. Nothing seemed to work. New Bedford lost 10% of it’s population in three years. Our bank was taken over by the FDIC, and the FDIC appointed a new bank president who sent us a letter demanding we repay $500,000 in 30 days. We’d never made a late payment. We had no idea commercial loans were demand notes.

Formative Influence/Event: My mother was a huge influence on my life. When her MS left her too disabled to work, she ran for a seat in the Vermont state legislature. She ran her first race on crutches, and lost. Two years later she ran again, in a wheelchair, and won. She served three terms with distinction, until just months before her death. She never, never, ever gave up. She lived to make a difference in the world. And she died in her own bed, surrounded by her family.

Local Organizations Involved In: SouthCoast CEO RoundtableNew Bedford AHA! (Art, History and Architecture) ProjectHOPE Collaborative (Public Safety Initiative)

Three Highest Priorities in your Life:Family, health... and the team, the team, the team! Best memory while running a store?We try to have fun every day in the stores. We love our customers, and try to listen everyday for opportunities to provide value to the community. Our store “school tours”… where kids get to make their first pizza ever at Domino’s… those are always highlights of our week!

Is there a Franchisee mentor who has attributed to your success as a Franchisee? What is the best advice given to you? I’ve learned so much from so many. Steve Litwhiler, for instance, is one of the best competitive intrusion strategist I’ve ever met. Freddie Wehbe, Jason Shifflett and Team Washington have always been generous with their time and ideas. Diane Barrentine and the folks who put on Campuspalooza have always been great ambassadors of the brand, and facilitators of invaluable idea-sharing.

In our DMA, I’m always learning from my brother Seth, from Jim Pardy (our DMA vice president), John Eno, Tony Squizzero, Joe Zonfrilli and his partner Paul Mervine. Paul and Nuno Amaral are role models, with great operations and passion for the brand.

The best advice I’ve ever gotten is to find successful people, and copy what they do. There’s not a lot truly new in the world. We strive to take great ideas from Domino’s, and from exceptional franchisees, and just execute.

How would your childhood friends describe you during your “early days”? Would they be surprised by your success as a Franchisee? In high school, I was a distance runner. It’s a great discipline, and to this day it pretty much defines me. Business is a very long race, so set a good pace and just keep running. If you lose a shoe in the mud, just keep running. The longer the race, the less talent matters. Grit defines the victors.

What does it take to be a successful Franchisee in this day and age? Stamina, a strong team, and positive internal communications are critical elements.

We try to have fun everyday. I think this gives us real ”staying power.” Almost every pizza occasion is a celebration. If you can’t have fun selling pizza, you’re not trying!

“Team New Bedford” Store Leadership Team- celebrating Domino’s achieving Number One in Market Share in Providence

(left-right)Rui Monteiro, Nelson Hockert-Lotz, Patrick Doyle, Tamyka Ferguson, Gentry Grace

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During the years you have been with Domino’s, what experience/event has made the greatest impact on your life?I think being named New Bedford “Man of the Year” by the local Standard-Times newspaper was critical in defining who we are, and what that means to the community.

In our market, we have all the advantages of a strong global brand, but we are also a deeply local business. We get involved in almost every school, we support local sports teams, arts and culture, public safety initiatives... and every local initiative that makes sense for the brand.

We try to exemplify the best of both global and hyper-local business models.

REIMAGING

How many stores do you have with the new Pizza Theater image? How many are reimaged? Both stores are re-imaged.How many relocated? One. We doubled our footprint in the move.

How many new? None yet. But we’re looking at opportunities nearby.

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?I think we would have been more successful early on if I’d spent at least a year in multi-unit supervision before I franchised.

Any tricks you can pass on to help your fellow Franchisee? To improve communication across our Leadership Team, we’ve adopted the management information sharing platform “Asana.” It’s sort of an internal Facebook for business, with integrated project management. Now everyone knows what everyone else is doing in the business. Our Team Leaders love it, so it has vastly improved our internal communications.

MANAGEMENT

As an operator, what are the two most important things you rely on from DPLLC?It’s great when things just work: Pulse, OLO, and Domino’s Distribution. We want the same things from Domino’s that our customers expect from us… an exceptional level of cheerful competence. What is your management method/style? I try to be accessible to everyone on the team, and to invest in our most dedicated team members. Everyone on the team has my personal cellphone, and can call me anytime.

What has been your greatest challenge?Developing great store managers has always been our greatest challenge. I’ve got a great team that I’m enormously proud of, but developing great Store Leaders is still a challenge. We ask a lot of our managers. That’s my number one job.

How do you find capital for expansion? We re-invested significant cash from operations to relocate and re-image our stores, and a local bank lent us the balance.

Is there a specific best practice you have implemented you would like to share with fellow Franchisees? We invest in our team. For instance, we currently have about $35,000 in zero-interest car loans to long-term team members with limited credit. We finance used

Priuses and Volvos. Both vehicles hold up exceptionally well to the rigors of delivery, and are unusually safe. I personally select the cars. We hold the titles.

We think we may have the best looking, most


ockert-Lotz

Tamyka with a student working on stretching Deby Gula giving a “high 5”


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Deby Gula (left) and Tamka Ferguson (right) assist students in making their own pizzas.

Student topping his pizza

reliable delivery fleet of any urban franchise. The team members we invest in pay us back many times over in their loyalty and dedication. We also help all our drivers purchase snow tires. Safety is always a great investment, and we seldom close our doors when it snows.

Are there any new safety procedures you have recently implemented in your stores?We have the best camera systems in the business, and they help keep the team safe, while helping us manage the business. At the big store, we have 24 high definition IP cameras. It’s a significant investment, and well worth it, we think.

We also have bill-reader deposit safes, with an integrated night drop that can’t be opened by in-store personnel. We never had a deposit robbery, but we foiled one attempt. We now make our bank deposits primarily in daylight hours. We run high volume stores with a minimum of available cash.

How does your membership with the DFA benefit you? The DFA and our South Coast CEO Roundtable are two of the best investments I’ve ever made. Business is tough. We try to surround ourselves with smart people rooting for our success. The DFA and our CEO group remind us how important it is to have a team, at every level of the business.

Last year, I also joined The Forum. It’s a significant investment for a relatively small franchise, but The Forum includes many of the most successful people in our business. My first meeting, in NYC, was perhaps the most insightful Domino’s meeting I’ve ever attended. TEAM MEMBERS

With business growing across the country, what are you seeing in your market? What tools are you using for recruiting, hiring, and retention? The Providence DMA is one of the top markets in the country, but we still have opportunity. We think there is an opportunity to continue to significantly improve our carryout sales. Given our delivery dominance, that would give us total market dominance.

As we grow, we’re always hiring. We spend a lot of time and energy recruiting, training, incentivizing, coaching, and generally investing in team members. We have high standards, and we don’t apologize for that.

Our managers don’t always have time to hire, so we have a Hiring Specialist, who also runs one shift and delivers on weekends. One day a week, she interviews all the eligible candidates in ATS. She makes recommendations for second interviews. We appropriated the idea from a franchisee in Seattle. It’s made a world of difference in hiring when the store leaders are really busy, which is almost always these days.

Most of our full-time team members have their own business cards for hiring and referral, with their own names and the title “Hiring Ambassador.” Plus, we try to pay well, for our industry. Believe it or not, it makes a big difference!

Our accountant tells us we pay more bonuses for more things than any other Domino’s franchise they handle. And they tell us we have the best retention. But, we

don’t track that. We just want to put the best team in the stores every day. Long-term team members, exceptional new team members, I don’t care. I just want the best team I can find.

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How active is your DMA? Are there any specific areas you are networking on together? Our DMA is exceptional! It’s critical to our success in a very competitive market. When your surrounding franchisees are all insanely competitive, there’s no easy way for competitors to gain traction in your market.

What impact has the connections with other Franchisees in your region made on your organization? In New Bedford, one store is owned by Anthony “Tony” Squizzero, an exceptional single store franchisee. Together, we run Domino’s in the city under one “Team New Bedford” umbrella, sharing all the same menu pricing, coupons, advertising and promotions. We try to coordinate our recruiting, and our many community endeavors. Over time, we have developed a real partnership, trust and respect. As a franchisee, having exceptional neighbors is a great gift, and we’re grateful to work together on many, many things.

What do you consider when recruiting? Smart, friendly people, with a track record of holding jobs for more than one year. How have you handled rising employee costs? Massachusetts has an $11.00/hour minimum wage, and we try to pay well, so we have a labor cost that’s higher than most. But we have high volume, so we do well. We stress high productivity. We are currently trying to break $50 in sales per employee hour, and we’re very close to that. We do a lot of “Two-minute Tray Times,” that’s our “Gold Standard” on the makeline. We challenge our team members to slap, sauce and cheese 6 large cheese pizzas in 2 minutes or less. Our managers now get that down to about 1:40. That’s pretty fast. And we end up with preps for the rush, so there’s no waste. We pay

team members a $100 bonus, and a $1/hour raise if I approve they were able to make six sellable pizzas in under two minutes. We try to film at least one of our pizza makers each week. Don Meij influenced my thinking about minimum wage when he explained why he believes higher minimum wage can be good for the brand. He pointed out that more people can afford Domino’s more often, while Domino’s has the best technology, the best distribution system and the most competitive culture… in a higher minimum wage environment, Domino’s rules. No one else can compete! So, we try to embrace higher wages, and I think that helps us in recruit the best people.

BOTTOM LINE

Overall, 2016 was a very good year for the Domino’s Brand. Are there any obstacles you overcame? Are there any you are facing in 2017? We are entering our 25th consecutive year of positive year-over-year sales, and we’ve had Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s re-enter the market… so it’s always a challenge. We approach every day like we’re the underdog, and we have to prove ourselves. How do you measure your growth? We try to beat last year each and every week, no matter what, no excuses. Just beat last year, and everything else works itself out.

What is your current greatest need from DPLLC? We’re not at a point in our franchise where we need a lot of services. We see a lot of opportunities for tablet integration in Pulse, for Self-OER’s in a “Site Audit Pro” sort of format, inventory counting, and so on. We presume there are people working on that.

Where do you want to be in 5 years?In everything we do, we want to be the best. We’re writing a new Strategic Plan for the business now, to really focus on what our opportunities going forward. We are continuing to work on developing Store Leadership Teams with the capacity and desire to be managing partners and franchisees. This is really the key to growing any franchise.

What is the one “must” you instill in your people that is nonnegotiable?Integrity and hard work are non-negotiable. Cheerfulness is necessary, but we’ll work with you on it.

Teacher helping a student sauce

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We are just starting construction on our last store’s Pizza Theater reimage. We are relocating this particular store. We are not going far since the new location is right across the street. It is an old gas station I really have liked since we bought the store 5 years ago. It went up for sale and we purchased it. After removing the gas tanks and doing multiple soil tests, we are ready to start construction. We are going from an older non-anchored strip mall to a freestanding location with dine in and a pick up window. We are subscribing to the philosophy of “go big, or go home”. I am not sure this is the smart thing to do. The project is costing about the same as the GDP of a small country, but hey, it’s only money. I figure I need to increase sales by about $2,000 a week to just break even for the increase in monthly rent we will pay ourselves to cover the building costs.We relocated our last store from one strip mall to another. We have better visibility, but I would say the locations are on par with each other. The new location is about half the rent, so that helped us make the decision. We were trending about 20% up in sales for the previous couple of years. I wasn’t expecting much from the move. The locations were close to each other, on the same road, and in similar types of strip malls. With the rent reduction and the sales increase, I think the move was a good decision. We were able to start with a fresh clean slate, a new design and

renewed excitement from our team. We did accomplish another year at 22% up and are creeping up another 25% so far this year.There are definitely more dramatic changes of location to be had. John Bower and his team in Lebanon, PA did just that in 2014. His store was in the old location for about 14 years. He had 3 straight years of negative sales from 2011-2013. In 2014, he was up 8% coming into the relocation. This store had always been an average store. It seemed that no matter what he did, the sales would remain stagnant. After moving, he was up 36% for the remainder of the year. His carryout % has gone from 39% before the relocation to 43% after the move and has reached as high as 49% right after relocating. He has 40 seats and fills them all up on the weekends. John believes his success at the new store is based on several factors. The new location is in the heart of downtown, right in the middle of the central business district. Lebanon still has an old style small town downtown area. He gets a lot of walk in traffic that he never would have at his old location. The physical footprint of his store lends itself to create a nice atmosphere for dine in customers. His store is about 3,300 square feet and is in a square shape, instead of the typical rectangle. He believes this has helped him create a nice place for downtown shoppers to stop in and grab lunch… then continue on their way. Sales have continued to climb even after his first year at the new location. He was up around 15% each year for the first two years and is up 24% so far this year. He has moved up in the

rankings joining the million-dollar club and generally ranks in the top 3 stores in the DMA.Brian Edler has a similar story in Findlay, Ohio. He recently relocated his store for the second time. In 1999, he moved from a 1,050 square foot “B” location to a 1,900 square foot “A” on the 3rd busiest intersection in town. With that move, sales went up 37% and he had the highest sales increase in the nation for stores averaging over $12k for that year. The following year, he joined the million-dollar club. Brian and his team had 14 record years over the next 16 years.Brian relocated the store again last October. He moved to a 3,500 square foot building with seating for 66. His sales have gone from $30k per week to $51k per week in 5 weeks, winning two Rolexes during that time. He believes he will be up over 40% his first full year and hopes to be the #1 store in the region. His rent has gone up from $1,100 in 1993, to $3,300 in 1999, to over $5,500 in his current location. The amazing thing is that as a percentage of sales, rent has gone down with each move to a better location. Brian stresses to upgrade equipment with your relocation. If you can accomplish anything like John or Brian have done, you will need it.

Re-image or RelocateBy: Mike McDermott

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We are going to incorporate a lot of the things that John and Brian have done with our new store. We will have seating for about 35 with some outdoor seating as well. Dine in has not been popular with my other two stores, so we are going to see if “three is a charm” or “you don’t learn very fast” is the resounding theme when we get open. I think we will have some advantage on dine in at the new location. First off, 35 seats is substantial enough that it is not looked upon as an afterthought. We only have about 10 seats at the other two stores. I think customers just don’t feel comfortable enough to dine in for some reason. The new store is just down the street from a high school. We already get kids coming in afterschool and sitting on the floor to eat, so we have some built in traffic already.The pick up window is something new for me. From what I understand, RPM is very bullish on them. Glenn Mueller is way smarter than I am. If he likes them, then I like them. I think it offers a big convenience to people. This store already has a pretty high carry out percentage, so this plays well into building our carry out segment even

bigger. We will have a learning curve of incorporating it into our operations. I believe the floor plan allows for a good flow for our team to be able to handle an additional point of contact with customers and still remain efficient. It will be interesting to see what percentage of sales we will get through the pick up window and if it will actually increase sales. This is one of the aspects of the new site I am pretty excited about.We will have a little over 2,000 square feet. The site is right on a corner and has great visibility. The only negative is it is on a secondary road and not the main drag. I am not completely sure this is in fact a negative, as traffic on the main road is pretty bad at times. The ingress and egress into this site is very good with entrances on two different roads. We are keeping some of the old building’s historical look while making it look new, hoping to tie into the hometown atmosphere. I am betting kind of big that this move will be a big enough change to get the sales increases that John and Brian have seen. This store has been a lower volume store for as long as anyone in the area can remember. We have increased

sales over the last 5 years, but I am hoping this gives us what we need to really get things going.So, if you are thinking about whether to just reimage, or go full blast and relocate, I hope this has given you a little food for thought. I have cited just two examples, out of many successes across the country. They may convince you to at least take a look at what is out there. Obviously, there is no guarantee things will take off like these guys, but if I can get anything close from my relocation, I will be ecstatic. I need about a 15% jump and will be very happy with anything over 20%. When planning your move, if my experience is typical, it will take you twice as long as you think it will and will cost about double what you want to spend. I have been working on this since last May. Some of the best advice I can offer so far is, start early and save up a lot of money. I may have more advice once someone actually starts working on it. I will update you in a future article on how I made out. Brian, always the optimist, tells me to be ready for a big bump in sales. I can’t tell you how much I hope he is right.

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Happy New Year! I hope you had a great 2016 and on your way to an even better 2017! This time of year, friends always reach out to me asking what we are working on and what initiatives Boston Pie is focusing on for the upcoming year. If you read this article last year, you know that we focused on re-engineering the Manager’s position. I have been advocating for a total revamp of how we structure the role of our GM’s in the era of “The New Normal”.With the further increase in hours that came at the end of last year, it is now a fact that the majority of our stores are only empty for about 5-6 hours a day. There are still many Managers who have 5-day workweeks of 10-12 hour days. These Managers are at risk of burnout and it’s a real issue. If you have not already done so, I’d suggest looking at 4-day workweeks, mid shifts and cleaning crews in late night stores. I wrote about this in my last article and it is not my intent to revisit it here. Instead, I want to talk about phase two, truly tying compensation to performance.Around August of 2016, it was pretty clear that the federal government was going to force the minimum salary of a Manager to be roughly $925 per week. I started to warn my team that it was going to be a struggle to pay that to those who were putting in a less than stellar performance. Like most multi-unit owners, we have outstanding Managers, average Managers and those who,

in comparison to the others, are… well, let’s just say we all have a bottom 10%. For the last couple of years, we have successfully tied salary to OER score. The higher your Star the more you made and if you dropped a Star, your salary changed. We even gave 5 Star Managers a different bonus so it became an annual income advantage to stay a 5 Star Manager. Now, the government was making it a challenge for us to continue this. While I was working on how we were going to absorb these increases and preserve our culture, I was also preparing to raise all salaries to the minimum and was going to use bonuses to balance it out. I met with my Managers and we talked about the impending pay increase. Then, a few days before the deadline a federal judge made the entire thing a moot point, for now. So now we had a new problem, 18 Managers expecting a pay raise and no requirement to do so. Sound familiar? Many franchisees were unsure what to do. The DFA offered support with a call to advise on the issue. As we sit here today, no one knows how this will shake out and many franchisees have not come to a resolution. We felt strongly that the right thing to do was give some sort of salary increase. We had 3 salaries, one for a 5 Star, one for a 4 Star and one for 3 or less. I started thinking this was a great opportunity to create even more of a performance based structure so here is what we did. We listed the things that were most important to use in the Manager’s role. However, I did not do it. We had a Manager meeting and broke into groups. Each group was to define the following: what are the attributes

and measurable performance areas of, an elite Manager, an average Manager and a below average Manager? When we reconvened, we put everything on the white board and these are the areas they identified.Staffing to goal, Retention as measured by turnover, Service as measured by CDOT, load and wait plus BPI rank meaning where in our company you fell for CDOT. Training and development came next, motivation, administrative duties and policy such as checklist use, self OER completion etc, food variance, cash control, labor and a few other areas. Surprisingly, they set the bar actually higher than I would have which made it easy for me to hold them to these standards. It was their work and they now have to live up to it. I took the parameters they set and created a self-evaluation sheet and broke them up into 3 tiers… tier 1 elite, tier 2 average and tier 3 below expectation. You may have noticed one key metric missing, OER!Here is how it ended up; each tier had a different pay structure based on OER Star. Tiers 2 & 3 have salaries for 5, 4 and 3 Stars or less. If your Star is lower than a 3 (and you still have a job), you are automatically a tier 3 until your Star improves. A tier 1 elite can only be a 4 or 5 Star. Our Managers are now financially married so to speak to that OER score until it changes. Each Manager evaluated themselves as did their coach and myself. Not surprisingly, we were all pretty close. We only had one tier 1 elite and two 3’s. All the rest were 2’s. Salaries were then set. If you are doing the math, you have figured out that we have 8

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DFA 29

different salaries but each person had basically set their own. We agreed to review this every quarter giving each Manager a chance to improve their metrics and thus move to a higher tier. I would be thrilled to have a company on tier ones because it means a company average over 4 Stars (which we usually have) and fully staffed stores with great FL and low turnover. All salaries are above the 2016 level so they all got a raise but all salaries are also below the $925 set by the government, which meant I didn’t have to mess with bonuses.Yes, it’s a little work in the beginning, but now it’s easy. We have created a true performance based culture with clearly defined goals and metrics to earn top pay. If you would like to see the evaluation complete with our metrics and salaries, simply send an email to [email protected] and I’ll send it to you. Of course, you should adapt it to what you want to pay and the results you desire, but I’d suggest

giving your team a say in designing it as I did because people naturally accept their own ideas above ours.Best of luck to you this year and I look forward to seeing you at all the meetings throughout the year. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated.Train hard fight easy.Dominic

Dominic BenvenutiVice PresidentBoston Pie, [email protected]

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Franchisees Names: Craig Turner

Title: President

Company: Quality Pizza, Inc. and Positive Pizza People, Inc.

Age: 61

Years with DP: 30

Years as Franchisee: 25

# Stores: 4 (development agreement for 6 more)

Store Locations: CA

# Team Members: 98

Boards: Northern California Supply Chain Advisory Board

Awards/Accolades: Two Gold Frannies and Cornerstone Award

Domino’s Career Path: In 1985, I got out of the US Army and wanted to see how I could perform in the free enterprise system. I had read similar articles in two different magazines: Inc. and Success. Both articles talked about the success Domino’s was having and both said “If you successfully manage a Domino’s store for one year, you could franchise and there was no franchise fee!” I went to the local Domino’s in Tampa, Florida. I saw the excitement in the store and asked to meet with a supervisor. He hired me on the spot and said I could begin delivering pizzas in a new store that had just opened in downtown Tampa. I was off to the races. I had a dream of owning Domino’s stores and a vehicle to get me there: hard work, determination and the Domino’s Pizza system. Five years later, I franchised in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Key Accomplishments: One of my General Managers went to work for another franchisee. That franchisee told the GM, “I’m not like Craig. When I take off my pants at night I am not wearing Domino’s Pizza underwear.” The GM got his message, “Craig is extremely committed and fired up about Domino’s; me, not that much.” I am very proud of our brand. I always have been. I am very patriotic. I get a lump in my throat when the flag passes by in a parade or seeing returning combat veterans from serving overseas. I believe Domino’s embodies what the American Dream is all about. You can start out as a delivery driver with a dream, work your guts out and accomplish that dream. Domino’s and Tom Monaghan are true Horacio Alger stories. I can’t help getting excited telling people about Domino’s. Our colors are: Red, White and Blue. Need I say more?? My greatest accomplishment is staying excited and optimistic even when things were bad and even more excited when things are good! It is my hope this optimism has encouraged some Domino’s Team Members along the way.

Biggest Mistakes: I believe the only people who do not make mistakes are those who do not do anything! I have made many mistakes. I have learned from most of them. That is why I have achieved a certain level of success. I also believe you can learn not only from your mistakes but even better from other people’s mistakes. That is why talking to other franchisees and GM’s, who have been working in Domino’s for some time, can be so beneficial. Find a mentor. I have had several in Domino’s and still do. Formative Influence / Event: I began in Corporate (Team USA) stores. I met so many people who had a positive influence on my career and me. There is one who provided me with a system and a philosophy which I give credit to in my training with Team Members to this day. Frank Pichardo was my Senior Supervisor while I was working in Nashville / Little Rock. Frank had a profound impact on me. He taught me the basics: get your product, service and image right, then get F&L inline, then go after sales. You will keep your customers and make some money. Brilliant. Frank also told me to have a plan A and a plan B. That takes the pressure off and you can have fun! He also told me “to set my standards higher than my boss.” How can you go wrong with that? Thanks, Frank.

franchisee | Craig Turner Craig Turner


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Local Organizations Involved in: Church. My family and I are active members.

Three Highest Priorities in your Life: God, Family and Domino’s / business.

Is there a Franchisee mentor who has attributed to your success as a Franchisee? Too many to name. When I was still with Corporate, I would call the RPM training department monthly. I would ask, “Do you have any new training material (VHR Tapes)”. They would say “yes” and ship them to me. I always tried to pay for the tapes and shipping. RPM always sent them complimentary. That is why when Katrina happened almost 11 years ago, myself and many franchisees plus Domino’s Team Members went to New Orleans to help any way we could. We wanted to give back to Richard, Glenn and the RPM Team. RPM has given so much over the years as has Team Washington and many others. Tom Monaghan used to say at almost every meeting. The reason Domino’s is the best franchise company is because we have the very best franchisees. I agree!

Best memory while running a store? I was a new General Manger in Tampa, Florida. The Team was awesome. It was 30 minutes or 3 dollars off or 40 minutes and FREE! We did almost 90% delivery back then. I remember one night carryout customers came in the little lobby and were waiting for their pizzas. We were going through 150 pie per hour. It was busy. People were answering the phones, racing to make pizzas, drivers running in and out of the store calling out their “out the door” and “to the door” times. The carryout customers could not believe how fast everything was moving, how hard people were working together and how smoothly things were going. They told me so. It was a special moment to me for others to see what I had the privilege to see regularly: Domino’s Pizza operations doing our thing!!

How would your childhood friends describe you during your “early days?” Would they be surprised by your success as a Franchisee? I came from a small farming town and everyone knew everyone. I goofed off my last few years in high school, so maybe yes. My Dad owned and operated a full-service gas station. He is the hardest working person I have ever known. So, some of my friends thought I might go into business and follow my Dad. I asked my Dad what it was like when he ran the gas station after I franchised. He told me, “Son, I couldn’t wait to get up the next morning to go to work in my own business.” I understand Dad and thank you for your good example.

franchisee | Craig Turner

Craig’s Team (Top) & children (Bottom) working working the store and events

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What does it take to be a successful franchisee in this day and age? You need to be professional. Professional to me means “doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it.” When building stores or working to become a franchisee, I believe in doing something every day to get you closer to your goal. Keep pushing until you are over the goal line. You need to understand how the future is going to play out. You can know the future. It goes like this. First comes spring, then summer, fall and then winter. It happens like this every year and has for the last 8,000 years of recorded history. What does that

mean? Well in the springtime, you work hard to get your crop in (long hours and stress) then you protect your crop in the summer from the weeds and bugs. You harvest in the fall without apology. You either did the work or you did not. Read Galatians 6:7 in the Bible. “As a man sows, so also shall he reap.” If you sowed plentifully, you deserve to reap plentifully and vice versa. (Some people are waiting for their ship to come in and they never sent one out!) If you are smart, you will store up from your hard work and harvest because winter is coming. It happens every time. But hang in there and work through the winter, because spring is coming soon. Those franchisees that have been doing this awhile know what I am talking about. I have been through two winters. I survived. Some of my fellow franchisees did not.

During the years you have been with Domino’s, what experience / event has made the greatest impact on your life? This is a tough business. Tom Monaghan said, “This is not a business for wimps.” I agree. It is also tough on marriages. I am fortunate and blessed to have a wife who supported the long hours, sacrifices and tough times we both went through. I got married when I was 33. I had prayed for a wife for 7 years. I asked God for a wife with a good heart. I told God “I don’t care what she looks like.” He heard my prayers and gave me a woman with a good heart and beautiful also. I have fought and won in the capitalistic / free enterprise arena. It has been tough. There have been many sacrifices and my wife has been there supporting me every step of the way. The support my family has provided me over the years has made the greatest impact on my life.

Reimaging. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently? I sold many of my stores before the reimage started. The stores I currently own and operate are all either new or reimaged. I am glad

we decided to “go big” in a store we remodeled. It is a busy store. We shared the building with a hair salon. The hair salon owner was retiring and I took her space and expanded the store. It was like building a new store. We expanded from 1,400 square feet to over 2,000 with seating for 50. The store is beautiful and sales jumped after the remodel. We now have more room and the customers love their new Domino’s store.



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Management

As an operator, what are the two most important things you rely on from DPLLC? The brand is red hot. We are the fastest growing Quick Service Restaurant in the country and Domino’s is 56 years old! Our leadership and marketing has been the best. This has allowed the franchisees to grow stores, sales and profits. The Development Team has been great. I have opened 11 stores in the past 3 years. The development department has been a true ally and valuable asset in getting this done. Matthew Walls and Team are doing a great job. We are going to continue to open new stores with their help.

What is your management method / style? We continue to stress what Tom Monaghan thought us all those years: utilize the “Golden Rule.” That is to, “do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”

What has been your greatest challenge? That is easy, developing people.

What has been my greatest success? That is also easy, developing people!

Is there a specific best practice you have implemented that you would like to share with fellow Franchisees? Our company values are spoken about and taught. There are four cornerstones on which we have built the company. Here they are: We treat all people with dignity and respect; we are helpful and friendly; we are polite and professional and we build trust daily. This has worked well for us. If a Team Member does not follow these important values, we remind them and hope they change their behavior. If they choose not to, we exit them from the program.

Are there any new safety procedures you have recently implemented in your stores? Yes. We had a Team Member shot and killed on a delivery several years ago, Debbie Pirone helped us through this difficult time. She helped us implement the double and sometime triple callback. All first-time orders get a callback right after placing the order. The driver makes a second callback before leaving the store. A third callback is completed at the delivery addresses if needed. We bring suspicious orders back to the store. This has nearly eliminated robberies. It works if it is consistently utilized. Losing a Team Member is the toughest thing I have ever encountered. Do what it takes to keep your Team Members safe.

How does your Membership with the DFA benefit you? The DFA has benefitted me greatly over the years. I have spent quality time with many franchisees and Team Members at the meetings. The Voice is filled with great material that I use in my business. The DFA does many things most franchisees do not see. The DFA is a great advocate for the franchise body concerning important matters with the Domino’s Leadership

Team. I have encouraged (and still do) many new and existing Franchisees to join and become active members. I value my DFA membeship greatly!

Team Members

With business growing across the country, what are you seeing in your market? Great question! The Sacramento DMA was number 8 in market share 3 years ago. The Sacramento DMA Franchisees have worked hard, built many stores and are now number 2 in the market. We project through continued store and AWUS growth that we will be number 1 in the Sacramento market second quarter 2018!

How active is your DMA? The Franchisees work well together. We are all committed to building the brand and reaching number 1 in the market. Malli Patibandla Rao joined the DMA from the LA and Fresno markets. His leadership and the number of stores he has built has made a significant contribution in this effort. The


(Right) Craig and wife Arlene. Top Left: Family on kayaking trip down Russian River (Arlene is tak-ing picture). Bottom Left: entire family plus newest addition: Robert’s wife Olivia!

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Sacramento DMA is thankful for Malli and his Team’s hard work.

What impact has the connections with other Franchisees in the company made on your organization? Dan Hosseini does a great job controlling Food and Labor costs. He teaches a class on store profitability. Dan opens this class up to other franchisees and supervisors who want to attend. I have sent people to Dan’s class and have benefitted greatly. Brent Medders shares his philosophy concerning his operations and how he treats his “friends.” Some people call them customers. Brent builds beautiful Pizza Theaters also. Robert Gavitt has allowed many franchisees to visit his stores and see the G-4 operations. Robert is an amazingly gracious host. Jay Feaval and Steve Dolan teach the coupon management class that helps lower Food and Labor costs while raising sales. Great stuff! Greg Keller, Mike Brown and the Seattle Franchisees have opened their Pizza Theaters to many people. They share the improvements they have made with training Team Members which helps

with rising labor costs. Great job! I have watched Brian Bailey grow from 13 stores to over 50 in a short amount of time. I am utilizing his strategy for growth by hiring qualified above store level people before we begin the rapid growth. Patrick Kelly (Tracy, CA franchisee) helped me even before I became a franchisee. Patrick coached me and provided the support I needed. Patrick has been a dear friend ever since. Shane Casey opens his stores up to franchisees to visit and see his strong operations. Sam Hishmeh and his brothers have made a significant impact in Northern California with their operations and presence. Sam was visiting Northern California even before owning and operating stores here to help franchisees during difficult times. This is the DFA spirit! Franchisees helping Franchisees!!

Bottom Line

Overall, 2016 was a very good year for the Domino’s Brand. Are there any obstacles you overcame? Are there any you are facing in 2017? Labor costs continue to rise in California and the west coast. They are going to continue going up. We must select the right Team Members and provide them with quality training. Team Members (and all people in the work force) are compensated based on the value they bring to the Team. The government is increasing the compensation for our Team Members. It is up to us to train them to make sure they can bring the value to the business and the Team.

How do you measure growth? Our plan is to build four stores this year. The Sacramento DMA is a Fast Forward market. Malli, Greg DeGrandis and I have committed to build 10 stores in this market in a short amount of time. We are growing stores and we are also seeing double digit same store sales year after year (as many in the country are seeing).

Where do you want to be in 5 years? Our 5-year plan calls for us to be at 20 stores. We plan to build 6 more (that will make 10) and then look to purchase stores. I want to develop and implement operational systems for the business to run smoothly. I have two sons, Donald and Robert who are working hard in the stores. I can see them becoming more involved and taking over the day to day operations of the stores and attending franchise classes and following in their Dad’s footsteps.


Craig & Arlene Management Team at area Manager Rally 2016Craig and his two oldest sons: Robby & Donny


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With the presidential election over and the winner in office, employers are readying for transformative changes in how the federal government regulates the national workforce. Below is a summary of the current state of affairs with the Affordable Care Act, white-collar exemption and the employer’s obligation to verify eligibility to work.

Affordable Care Act

Despite almost daily news reports of its imminent demise, the Affordable Care Act remains current law, and it’s anybody’s guess whether and when the law will change. The ACA has not been repealed and its requirements remain in place – for now. There appears to be no consensus among legislators for a replacement plan. Despite the fanfare, President Trump’s Executive Order on the ACA won’t likely change any major employer obligations in the short term. The executive order instructs federal agencies to “take all actions consistent with law to minimize” economic impacts and to give states flexibility in implementing the law. The order also instructs agencies to “exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the” ACA that imposes a financial burden. What does this mean in practical terms? Employers can anticipate increased piecemeal state regulation of health insurance markets and plans. The states have historically regulated insurance markets, and the Trump administration appears to favor more state autonomy. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal involves, in part, federal tax breaks and grants, with states regulating their own insurance markets. In the interim, the ACA’s requirements may stay in place through 2017 and covered employers (50 or more full-time and equivalents) must continue offering affordable plans or pay the associated penalties.

White Collar Exemption and Overtime

In 2016, the Department of Labor issued new regulations for the “white collar” exemption. The amended regulations raised the exempt salary to $913 per week ($47,476 per year). As soon as the new regulation was to take effect, a federal court temporarily blocked enforcement in December 2016. As the case moves

through the courts, what do employers need to do? Will a higher court overturn the judge’s ruling? Will the Trump administration initiate new rule-making? Will Congress change the rule? Will the rule apply retroactively if the rule is upheld in court? And, what happens to those employees who are exempt under the “old” rule but who are not receiving the higher salary? Will the employer be on the hook for retroactive pay? Will current salary-exempt employees lose their exempt status and be entitled to overtime because they did not receive the higher salary?

There aren’t clear answers. One alternative is to take a “wait and see” approach and monitor developments (but be aware of overtime liability from December 2016 if the new rule is applied retroactively); or 2) employers can track employee time from December forward and be ready to pay the increased rate if the rule applies retroactively; or 3) employers can pay the new salary rate (likely with a substantially increased payroll cost). At a minimum, employers should be sure current exempt employees understand how they are being paid, and be ready for future developments with the court’s ruling, including paying retroactive overtime or wages if required.

I-9 and Immigration Compliance

As of January 2017, employers must use the latest I-9 form for new hires. The new I-9 form is available as a “Smart Form” here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9. Employers must maintain an I-9 form on file for every employee on their payroll. The digital I-9 form “checks” whether required fields are entered correctly. Beware: the new form is not electronic I-9 software. Employers that do not use digital I-9 software (i.e. from a third-party provider) must still print the form and obtain handwritten signatures. To summarize, the general I-9 requirements are: • The employee must fill out Section 1 of the I-9 no later than the first day of employment. • The employer must complete Section 2 of the I-9 no later than the 4th day of employment – 3 days after the first day of employment. • The employer must request and examine the original work authorization documents of the employee. A photocopy or scanned copy of these documents is NOT sufficient. An employer may not verify an employee

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Planning For The Unkown-What’s Next For The ACA, Overtime and Immigration?By: Brook J. Carrol

remotely using digitally scanned or faxed documents. • Do not accept expired documents from new hires (except for the 90-day grace period for new hires that are U.S. Citizens or permanent residents that have already applied for a replacement document)• Reverification: employers should not re-verify the I-9 of an existing employee who provided documents showing they are a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident. Foreign national workers must be re-verified – if this situation applies, please contact counsel in advance of the re-verification date.• Records: employers must maintain I-9 records throughout employment and for 3 years after termination.In short, employers must be vigilant about their I-9 and verification paperwork or risk increased penalties. The new penalties (effective August 1, 2016) are substantial, but most significant is the increases for paperwork violations. These penalties will increase from a minimum of $110 and maximum of $1,110 to a minimum of $216 and maximum of $2,156. If campaign promises are ever an indicator of policy actions, employers should expect that I-9 enforcement will increase under the current administration’s stated policy goals.

Brook J. CarrollAttorney at Clark*Everson, LLP in Westlake Village, CA


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impersonating you or another authority figure contacts your employee. They may bully them on the phone or send a seemingly legitimate email instructing them to transfer money from your accounts. If the scammer is successful, you could lose tens of thousands of dollars. The only way to cover this would be to have what is often referred to as “Cyber Deception” coverage; this coverage is most often a sublimit with a higher than standard deductible due to the increased risk of sustaining a high loss.

Another increasing trend is extortion involving malicious software or virus. In this scenario, an employee downloads an infected file or opens the wrong attachment, and your data is destroyed or you lose control of your computers unless you pay a ransom. You can protect yourself from this risk with “Cyber Extortion” coverage. Cyber Extortion coverage provides expense and payments to a harmful third party to avert potential damage threatened against you such as the introduction of malicious code, system interruption, data corruption, destruction or dissemination of personal or confidential corporate information.

Finally, most franchisees are aware of the need for PCI compliance. The correct Cyber Liability Insurance Policy addresses this issue as well. What is “PCI-DSS Assessment” coverage? The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) was established in 2006 through a collaboration of the major credit card brands as a means of bringing standardized security best practices for the secure processing of credit card transactions. Merchants and service providers must adhere to certain goals and requirements in order to be “PCI Compliant.” If you fail to uphold your obligations, you could be subject to an assessment for breaching the terms. The Cyber and Privacy Liability Policy responds to PCI assessments as well as claims expenses in the wake of a breach involving cardholder information.

I often hear from franchisees that assume their Business Owner’s Policy provides this coverage. While some policies may offer some coverage, it is likely grossly inadequate compared with your liability. In many cases, the policies have a low limit of $10,000 to $50,000. They may not even cover the risks described above. Because of this, I strongly recommend a stand-alone policy, which was designed to address your potential liability with meaningful coverage and adequate limits. Please do not rely on “throw in” coverage to protect you from these threats.

For more information on Cyber Liability Insurance, please contact me at [email protected] X101 (office)256.738.6752 (cell)

CYBER LIABILITY INSURANCEBy: Jason upton

Jason UptonPresident

The Upton Group, LLC

As a franchisee in today’s business world, you face a significant number of challenges: regulations and compliance issues, employment practice liability, and auto liability. While the list could go on, the point is that a business owner faces a significant amount of liability.

My article today discusses a type of liability your organization faces regardless of your revenue or number of locations. If you read a newspaper or watch the news with any regularity, you are going to see and hear about the threat of cyber-attacks on businesses of all sizes.

Below, I will discuss the highlights of Cyber Liability Insurance and address misconceptions regarding what Cyber Liability Insurance covers but also why every Domino’s franchisee should have a stand-alone Cyber Liability Insurance Policy. Let me repeat, every Domino’s franchisee needs a stand-alone Cyber Liability Insurance Policy. You are at risk whether you have one store or 100.

What is Cyber Liability Insurance?“Cyber” Liability is insurance coverage specifically designed to protect a business or organization from:• Liability claims involving the unauthorized release of information for which the organization has a legal obligation to keep private or confidential• Liability claims alleging invasion of privacy and/or copyright/trademark violations in a digital, online or social media environment• Liability claims alleging failures of computer security that result in deletion/alteration of data transmission of malicious code, denial of service, etc.• Defense costs in State or Federal regulatory proceedings that involve violations of privacy law• Provision of expert resources and monetary reimbursement to the insured for the out-of-pocket (1st party) expenses associated with the appropriate handling of the types of incidents listed above

The term “Cyber” implies coverage only for incidents involving electronic hacking or online activities, but this product is much broader and covers private data as well as communications in many different formats –paper, digital or otherwise.

While this short article cannot explain in great detail the coverage afforded by the right Cyber Liability Insurance Policy; I want to hit a couple of critical risks you might not realize you face. I hope we all recognize that accepting customer credit card information is a significant exposure, and a good stand-alone policy will have the limits you need to protect you in the event of a serious breach. You might not know that scammers have increased their attempts at “spear-fishing” or “social engineering”. With this type of scam, someone

We say ‘so long’, but never goodbye …

Over the last six months Jim has been traveling to visit franchisees and say farewell. If you haven’t had an opportunity to do so already, please join us as we sincerely thank him for his multiple years of service,

When anticipating retirement, most of us envision sleeping in and casual days of relaxation. Those of you who know Domino’s EVP and Partners Board Chairman Jim Stansik personally won’t believe that is what will happen in his life when he officially retires his 30-year career on March 31, 2017. Actually, his future plans include maintaining his healthy lifestyle, traveling to visit his children, spending more time at his home in northern Michigan with his beloved wife Sally and his good buddy Tucker, continuing his love of cycling, winter snowshoeing and fishing.

awe·some (ˈôsəm) adjective: extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration

The definition of AWESOME exactly describes Partners franchise supporters who always amaze us with their generosity! Contributions allowed the Foundation to provide $1.2 million in financial assistance (second year in a row) in 2016 to nearly 1,200 team members in crisis. The Partners team begins 2017 by offering its sincere gratitude and thanks to all of our donors. Your investment in the work we do is vital and validating not only for our staff, but also for those team members whose lives you touch and enhance on a daily basis. We wish you could hear the heartfelt thanks, the exclamations of relief and the joyful tears shared when team members learn we can help in their time of need. We say this and mean it: we could not function without your assistance and are extremely grateful for it. We hope your lives will be touched with the same compassion and integrity you demonstrate through your support of the Partners Foundation. THANK YOU! The Partners team again offers its sincere gratitude and thanks to all of those Who contribute, validating our mission. Partners looks forward to

Over the last six months, while conducting business, Jim has been traveling to visit franchisees and say his farewells. If you haven’t had an opportunity to do so already, please join us as we sincerely thank him for his multiple years of service, dedication, support and guidance of the Partners Foundation.

Best wishes for good health and much happiness Jim!

Domino’s Partners Foundation Call 1-734-930-3297 or 1-800-284-0911 Op.2

Email: [email protected] TEAM MEMBERS HELPING TEAM MEMBERS


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As we continue to make progress on the road to being the number one pizza company in the world, the Safety, Security and Loss Prevention Department is set to hit the road and bring a greater awareness of programs the department offers to Franchisees. The Department plans to present at many of the Franchise Business Planning Meetings this year. Discussing programs such as the Tiger Program, which continues to identify suspicious employee activity to protect a franchisee’s profits. The Department will continue to focus on common loss opportunities such as MPC’s, Bad Orders, Edit Down Orders, Abandon Orders and Food Variance. The Department will continue to provide Tiger Training for Franchisees in the market place and by conducting Webinars. In addition, the Department will continue to work with the DFA and its Franchise Safety and Security Workshops. Speaking of workshops, in February 2017 the DFA held a workshop in Dallas focusing on improving Franchisee profitability and crime reduction. Plans are in place to bring other DFA Safety and Security Workshops to you. Let us know if you would like to have one in your area. The great news is that they are FREE. The workshops continued to focus on better preparing Franchisees and Supervisors for how to create a safer working environment in their restaurants and on delivery. The workshops were designed to develop safety & loss prevention awareness, create open discussion and solutions among Franchisees and Supervisors. One highlight of the workshops are the panel discussions of various safety and security topics consisting of key Franchisees. Another favorite presentation focuses on common loss opportunities such as MPC’s, Bad Orders, Edit Down Orders, and Abandon Orders. In addition, the presentation touches on the importance of following up when a business review is sent from the Safety, Security and Loss Prevention Department to a Franchisee identifying a problem. Franchisees discuss how to work with the local police to build relationships and prevent in store robbery. The session includes topics such as food delivery procedures, team alerts, robbery prevention training, and best practices when dealing with law enforcement.Franchisees speak about how a critical incident can affect the security of a restaurant and its employees. The session includes how to grow your business in an urban environment with security in mind and how to do deal with the aftermath of violent/injury related

incidents as it pertains to a victim’s family, DPLLC, and the media along with ideas and plans on how to build community relations within a store’s delivery area.Franchisees speak passionately about security “Best Practices”. How to reduce in-store robbery and the importance of “Building a sound restaurant safety program is the foundation to reducing turnover and minimizing increasing insurance costs as they pertain to security/incidents.” This session educates attendees on how to operate in areas with a heightened level of security.Information Security educates Franchisees about the importance of protecting information in today’s business environment. They discuss data breaches within the industry and the impact it can have on a company. Credit card fraud is a billion-dollar business. The session provided “best practices” on how an organization can protect information and gave insight to programs being developed to help Franchisees fight credit card fraud. If you have questions about the events or you want to get involved, please feel free to reach out to Ken Peebles at 210-845-4811, [email protected] or Mauricio “Reece” Arroyave at 847-846-9491 or [email protected] or Van Carney, Domino’s National Director, Safety, Security and Loss Prevention, 609-314-9215, [email protected].

Safety, Security and Loss Prevention Workshop

By: Van Carney

Domino’s Safety and Loss Prevention Team

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THANK YOU for the many years of unwavering service and dedication to the Domino’s Franchisee Association. You will be greatly missed!

Chris Reisch

Pam Tobie

WELCOME to the Domino’s Franchisee Association Dave has served on the President’s Advisory Board, 2 Terms on the National Supply Chain Advisory Board and 10 years on the CT SCC Advisory Board. He has also previously served a 3 year term as DFA Board member and would bring that experience to the table. David has received 5 Gold Franny’s, 3 Silver Franny’s, Rookie Manager of the year 1981 and Sponsored 12 Franchisees over the years.

Just like most franchisees, David started as an Assistant manager in Lansing, MI. He moved to the East Coast after a year and opened stores for corporate in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland before opening and settling in to manage a store in Delaware for 2 years. David opened his first store in the Boston area in 1984.

His previous experience on the DFA board as well as the various Domino’s Advisory Boards gives him insight that can be of value to the DFA.

Why do you choose to serve on the DFA Board?I feel I can represent the franchise body. I can be the voice of reason when needed but I will also stand up and push back if I feel decisions have been made without integrity.

Dave Jenks

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Ron Perry


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First, let me wish you all a Happy New Year. This is a time to reflect and make plans for the New Year. At the DFA, we are doing just that. Looking back at 2016, we recognized the need to improve communication to our Members. Hopefully, you have noticed the steps we have taken in that direction. We recently held our 2017 DFA planning meeting where Membership communication was a main topic and at the top of our priority list. We are currently testing a new communication system that will allow us to better communicate with our Membership. In turn, it will also allow Members to communicate with the DFA as well as other Members. Stay tuned as we work through this initiative!

As a reminder, the DFA is an advocacy organization with Franchisee Members who elect a Board of Directors. The BOD consists of 15 Franchisees who volunteer their time and energy to support as well as promote the DFA Members. There are three Board Members in each of the four regions West, South, East and Midwest. Additionally, there are two FORUM Representatives and a Board appointed “At Large” representative. These hard-working Board Members are eager to learn what the issues are that are impacting your business so I would encourage you to get to know them and share your concerns.

Being a Member of the DFA has its advantages; it connects you with

fellow Franchisees for you to access when you need to share ideas, best practices or seek guidance plus, they are part of your Domino’s family. Currently, the DFA Membership consists of 58% of all Domestic Franchisees representing 74% of all Domestic Franchisee stores in the system. This is the highest Membership level the DFA has ever had and can only improve with increased participation and Membership. With these numbers, Corporate must acknowledge and listen to our concerns and suggestions. Some of the issues we are currently addressing are three day per week deliveries and the ability for each commissary to service our stores. Also, with your Membership you have access to quality vendors who have been thoroughly vetted by the DFA. Our vendors continue to be committed to providing quality products and services, which will help Members improve their operations as well as bottom lines. I have been working with several existing and new vendors to improve relations and provide even better services. As we are working on a new communication system for our Members, we are looking to integrate our vendors into it as well, which will allow better access and more frequent updates.

2016 turned out to be another good year for the Domino’s community with strong sales and profits but it also came with new challenges as well as changes, which impacted your business and profits. The DFA tackled

these at our recent Board Meeting and are taking steps to address them on your behalf.

The DFA Board and staff respects the trust and responsibility our Members have given to them and are committed to continue to work hard on your behalf. With a strong and healthy Association, we are poised to take on the challenges and ensure your voices are heard.

We would like to thank those of you who are Members and support the DFA. It is greatly appreciated. For those who haven’t yet joined, you can visit our website at www.dominosdfa.com and complete an application or reach out to me at [email protected].

Here’s to a prosperous 2017!

Ron Perry

Ron PerryDirector Of Operations

210.845.1072 ext. 7 (office)[email protected]

DFA Membership updates |

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Dave Jenks35 Stores MA, NH, ME502.867.7087 (office)502.316.3456 (cell)

[email protected]

Steve GfellDFA Board Vice Chair

20 Stores in OH419.706.8571 (cell) [email protected]

Your DFA Board MembersFor complete Board Member bios, terms of service and election process, please log onto dominosdfa.com.

Rob Jonas1 Store in NJ

609.846.6872 (cell)[email protected]

Brent Medders24 Stores in AR

501.753.4111 (office)[email protected]

Alan Murph73 Stores in TX & TNDFA Board Treasurer210.657.4043 (office)512.844.4594 (cell)

[email protected]

Mike Brown 12 Stores in SeattleDFA Board Officer

253.474.4831 (office)253.468.8557 (cell)

[email protected]

Jim Gerety16 Stores in TX

DFA Board Chairman432.570.1990 (office)


Tareq Hishmeh84 Stores in AZ & CA805.901.7407 (cell)

[email protected]

Peter D’Andrea32 Stores in TN, VA, AR, & AL


John B. Glass29 Stores in OH

513.886.2639 (office)[email protected]

Art Hurteau21 Stores in MO


Osman Qasim37 Stores in NC704.223.1440

[email protected]

M i d w e s t C h a p t e r

E a s t C h a p t e r

S o u t h C h a p t e r

W e s t C h a p t e r


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Mack Patterson42 Stores in NC


Daniel Dain9 Stores in TX


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F orum R epresentat ive

Your DFA Staff

Ken PeeblesChief Executive Officer


Jamie ReamsThe Voice Editor & Designer210.845.1072 ext. 4 (office)

[email protected]

Amy VillastrigoOperations Manager


Page Advertiser

43 Ascentium Capital

8,9 Cintas

18 CIT Franchise Finance

2 Coca-Cola

32,33 Deliver Media

53 Ecolab

39 Equipment & Supply

3 EDSS

31 First Franchise Capital

51 Genesis

50 Gnich Architecture

46 Helm

Page Advertiser

48 Heritage

44 Horne

29 HTG

19 MaSSCorp

40,41 MDI

15 Middleby Marshall

64 Ross4Marketing

54 SMM International

25 Sterling

30 The Bottom Line (TBL)

63 XLT Oven

dominosdfa.comBookmark our website

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Advertisers Index

Ron PerryDirector Of Operations


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62 DFA

Plasticard-Locktech Intl (PLI)Tracy Morris | 800-752-1017 ext.1299

Supplies & Products

Middleby Marshall OvenJason Bireta & Larry Bireta248-302-1199

Hightech Grafix/dpReportingBR TechnologiesBryan Nichols | 817-268-4040

Technology

Ross4MarketingEileen Bromwell | 800-421-1684

Marketing Services

Fisher & Phillips, LLP Hagood Tighe | 803-255-0000

Labor Lawyers

XLT OvensNick Roths | 316-719-3722

Coca-ColaMidwest: Lisa Mayer | 248-318-7630 Northeast: Jennifer Goodyear | 410-330-4434 Southeast: Ryan Cochell | 404-676-6093 West: Stephanie Somenek | 480-797-4527

Cable, Internet & Phone Services

Accounting & TaxHorne, LLP Michael Sassano | 866-281-3950

The Bottom Line (TBL)Marnie Feinour | 800-237-0704

Human Resources

Finance & Lending

Vendor Partner DirectoryLog onto dominosdfa.com for the most current list of partners.

Sterling Info SystemsCurtis Anderson | 646-435-6125

SFV-LLGC, LLC Arthur Rosen or Tim Rhode800-630-1021

My Dominos Insurance (MDI)Jason Upton | 800-251-7407 | 256-738-6752

Insurance [Business]

MaSSCorpJeff Murphy | 800-766-5677

PaychexPamela Estes | 913-636-3063 | 913-814-7776 x5140458

Background Checks

Ovens

Cleaning Products

Ecolab / SSDCPhilip Perry | 859-312-4041

Cintas CorporationMarc Friend | 513-701-2014

Is your company interested in

partnering with the DFA?

Log onto dominosdfa.com and visit the Vendor section

for information about:

• Partnerships• Advertising• Sponsorship

or contactAmy Villastrigo

210-845-1072 ext. [email protected]

Capital SourceMichelle Ternus | 402-993-2569

Wizardline TechnologiesShawn Brunelle | 978-423-0875

First Franchise Capital Karen Johnson | 402-562-5111

Ansira Engagement MarketingLauraliisa Gudgeon | 972-663-1162

Construction & Facilities Management

Ascentium Capital LLCAngela C. Anderson | 281-902-1972

Gnich Architecture StudioJason Gnich | 503-552-9079

GDP AdvisorsJohn Powter | 800-473-8697

Streamline/DirecTVMartin Hornek | 877-780-8385

SprintStephanie Showich | 248-249-0954

CIT Franchise FinanceMatthew Goyette | 603-501-0788

Whaley Parts and SupplyJeff Quattlebaum | 800-877-2662 x7103

Genesis LightingMagen Bybee | 469-322-1906

Heritage PartsErica Carter | 855-718-7760

SMM InternationalChristopher Wick | 888-SMM-INTL

Balboa CapitalPaul Herrera | 949-553-3452

EDSS EnergyDavid Ely| 810-227-3377

Energy Savings

Priority CapitalJeffrey Parker | 339-293-6113

Hightech Grafix/dpReportingBR TechnologiesBryan Nichols | 817-268-4040