PJ's Coffee Celebrates Franchisee Accomplishments at 2022 Conference
Oct 20th, 2022
This October, we held our annual Conference where we had a chance to celebrate the year’s many victories and look ahead to the bright future of PJ's Coffee. We recognized franchisees during the awards ceremony after three days of celebration, networking, and professional growth as a way to show our gratitude for our community of hardworking franchise partners.
Over the last couple of years, our franchise partners have seen some incredible achievements, especially in light of how turbulent the world has been. However, it was a night for us all to gather and acknowledge the strength and ingenuity of PJ’s community.
2022 Conference Awards Highlights
We had many franchise partners and team members to recognize and commend throughout the evening, and we’re proud of each and every one of them for their dedication to success. Together, each of these award recipients shows how our brand goes above and beyond as a whole.
Our Franchisee of the Year title went to Harry and Dalton Dodich, a father and son duo. Harry and Dalton became a part of PJ’s Coffee family back in early 2019, and since their first store opened in 2020, they’ve grown incredibly fast, with three locations they now operate in the Mobile area. They’ve earned this recognition for many reasons, starting with their positive attitudes and ambition to improve constantly. As members of our tech committee, they also test and deploy new technology to improve operational efficiencies, which has made a difference on a national level.
Our Phyllis Jordan Award is named after PJ’s Coffee franchise’s company founder, a trailblazer for women business owners all over the country. This year’s Phyllis Jordan Award winner is Patty Ballard, manager at one of the PJ’s located in Covington, LA.
Patty is a perfect example of what this award is all about. Not only does she mentor her whole team of baristas and managers and is deeply involved with her community in Covington, but she also strives to push the brand forward and increase awareness and sales for all locations. We couldn’t be prouder to award Patty with this recognition.
Our Rookie Franchise of the Year Award went to a location that’s been open for less than a year. However, in that short time, this same location has shown their commitment to the growth of the PJ’s Coffee franchise brand. Mark and Parker Sheets in Grand Prairie, TX, another father, son duo that is very involved in the day-to-day operations and invests time in developing their staff. They’re real team players in supporting the locations in their surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth area and have made an effort to speak to potential franchisees about their experience.
The Community Involvement Award is emblematic of the importance of giving back to PJ’s Coffee as a brand. This year we recognized Amanda Bennett at SW Railroad, Hammond, LA, as the perfect example of what community involvement means to us. She is the president of the Hammond Rotary Club and regularly donates to her local VFW. Every year, she also participates in Tangipahoa Parish Crime Stoppers’ Duck Derby to raise funds for local law enforcement.
The Top Sales in the First Twelve Months award honors a PJ’s location that has achieved the highest net sales in the first 12 months of operations. This year’s winners are John and Angie Lambert of Brookhaven, MS, who earned this recognition during their first year, starting in July 2020 and ending in July 2021.
Same Store Sales Increase Award recognizes a location with the most significant sales increases from 2020 through 2021. The winner was for the Grand Caillou Road location in Houma, LA owned and operated by multi-unit franchisees, Andrew Jones, Teddy Amar, and Mateusz Dabrowski. Not only did these franchisees achieve the highest same-store sales increase, but they also own three of the top five locations recognized for SSS increases this year.
We also gave awards to franchise partners for Emerging Market Expansion, Brand Ambassadorship, Exceptional Customer Service, Top Tier Compliance All-Star, Corporate Brand Champions, Most Improved, Managers of the Year, and Baristas of the Year.