Temecula resident Louis Hauge will sign an area development deal this Friday with the Virginia Barbeque franchise, announced Virginia Barbeque CEO Rick Ivey today.

The signing ceremony is slated to occur October 19 at 4:30 p.m. at the Virginia Barbeque exhibit booth, #121, at the West Coast Franchise Expo.

The agreement will give Hauge the right to develop 12 restaurants throughout the communities of Corona, Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Riverside and Temecula. Hauge plans to personally open a number of restaurants throughout his territory, and will develop the rest of his territory by selling restaurant locations to other potential franchisees. A typical Virginia Barbeque restaurant costs approximately $120,000 to open.

Declared “the region’s Best Barbeque” by Richmond Magazine, Virginia Barbeque is a fast-food restaurant known for its authentic southern barbeque served with a focus on speed and value. Average order time is five minutes or less and a family of four can eat for less than twenty dollars.

After 20 years working for other companies in the hospitality industry, Hauge decided he wanted a greater level of control over his destiny. Once he decided on small business ownership, buying a franchise was an obvious choice for him. “I decided to purchase a franchise because I wanted the advantage of systems that were already in place and successfully tried in the marketplace.”

Virginia Barbeque is a franchise system headquartered in Fredericksburg, Va. with nine restaurants located throughout Virginia, with future locations slated to open in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Arizona.