Domino’s Pizza rolled out the red carpet at its 2001 Worldwide Rally in Las Vegas on May 17 at an event honoring the company’s top team members for excellence in maintaining Domino’s high quality and safety standards. More than 3,500 team members attended the event held at the MGM Grand, where Domino’s recognized nearly 75 individual with top awards. The most notable awards, Manager of the Year and Busiest Store on the Planet, went to a Gainesville, Florida and a Jacksonville, North Carolina, store, respectively.
The top individual honor, Manager of the Year, was awarded to Freddie Wehbe of Gainesville, Florida. For a record-breaking third year, Wehbe earned the title for his role in increasing his store’s sales 16.4 percent, along with his commitment to his employee’s operational excellence, and extensive community involvement. Wehb took home a cash awards of $10,000.
The Busiest Store on the Planet award went to a Domino’s store in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Managed by Chris Brusaw, the store had sales that exceeded $2.37 million in 2000. The store also received the Busiest Store on the Planet award in 1988 and 1999. Abroad, the Busiest International Store honor went to a Domino’s located in Iceland, which saw sales climb above $2 million in 2000.
In recognition of Domino’s driver safety standards, finalists were nominated for the prestigious Safe Driver Challenge award based on their outstanding driving records. Safe driving is defined as having no at-fault accidents, traffic violations or Domino’s Pizza safety citations. The final Safe Driver Challenge included a safe driving test and a written safety exam.
Sealing the victory, Anna Lewis from Ridgecrest, California captured the title of Full-Time Safe Driver of the Year. Anna has worked for Domino’s for ten years and was nominated based on her successful creation of a safety program and her accumulation of 28,000 safe driving miles. Marc Palmer from Duluth, Minnesota was awarded the Part-Time Safe Driver of the Year title for his safe driving practices and record. He leads the driving safety team and demonstrates selfless dedication to the customer, the store, and his fellow employees every day.
Additional Domino’s Pizza honors were awarded in the following categories:
• Rookie Manager of the Year—Chris Sumner of Hernando, Mississippi, was honored for best overall performance for a first-time manager. He opened a new store and increased sales by nearly twenty percent in less than a year.
• Franchise Trainer of the Year—Susan Davis of San Diego, California, a strong communicator and motivator to her colleagues, has impacted the growth of not only assistants and managers, but insiders and drivers as well.
• Franchise Supervisor of the Year—Eddie Hall of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma oversees six stores and boasted eight record weeks with an increase in area sales of more than twenty-one percent.
• Franchise Consultant of the Year—Julie Hepler of Charlotte, North Carolina opened thirteen stores, which represents thirty-five percent of her region’s net growth. Total sales in her area increased $2.5 million—a growth of 4.5 percent over the prior year.
• National Franchise Marketing Development Manager—Cara McGarry of Dallas, Texas, handled thirty-three active markets including two top five markets and three additional top forty markets in the country.
• National Operations Consultant of the Year—Theresa Robertson of Castle Rock, Colorado, places a heavy emphasis on training, but also reinforces it with a positive attitude and a clear focus.
