Our rapidly growing pizza chain’s exemplary veteran recruitment efforts continue to get accolades
The Blade, a Toledo, Ohio, publication recently featured an interview with 20-year U.S. Army veteran Scott Quagliata, vice president of Veterans Program and Recruitment. The article focused on Marco’s Pizza®’s commitment to finding management candidates and also included comments from Tallon Snyder, our first veteran-turned-manager as part of the new program. Tallon manages our Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, location near Nashville.
“I think it’s awesome what [Marco’s] is doing. They’ve definitely taken a step in the right direction helping veterans find steady jobs. They stand out in the industry,” Tallon told the The Blade, which has a daily circulation of 119,000
Marco’s Pizza prides itself on making the best delivery pizza money can buy, and our growth is testament to our devoted fans nationwide. Marco’s Pizza is handmade in the Italian tradition, using fresh, never-frozen cheeses, making the dough by hand in stores daily and using only premium meats and vegetables. Founded in Toledo in 1978, Marco’s is the only Top 20 pizza chain begun by a native Italian. Our pizza franchise has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years and is closing in on 800 locations nationwide, with a goal of 930 locations by the end of 2017.
Marco’s commitment to veterans keeps garnering great press, such as a Veterans Day weekend feature on the national TV show Fox & Friends. We have also been recognized by our franchise peers, having recently earned a top-three spot on the prestigious Military Times annual Best for Vets Franchises List, and Entrepreneur magazine ranks us among the Top Franchises for Veterans.
Veterans embody the leadership skills Marco’s Pizza seeks in managers and franchisees
Their rigorous military training instills in veterans the leadership skills that Marco’s seeks in its managers, and our company is on a mission to bring veterans in as managers with the ultimate goal as franchise owners. “We find that many of those coming out of service have the very skill sets and discipline we need — the elements that make them great human beings who are going to be very successful,” says Marco’s President and Chief Development Officer Bryon Stephens.
The veterans recruitment program will be an entry point in our management pipeline, providing a pathway for veterans to rise through the ranks as general managers, go through the apprentice program and ultimately become Marco’s Pizza franchisees. One of our most successful veterans turned franchisee is South Carolina franchisee Joe Walker, who represented our thriving pizza brand on a special Veterans Day Fox & Friends segment. The transition from the military to a franchising system was a logical career step for Joe, who just celebrated his 5th anniversary with Marco’s.
“The opportunity to bring my military skill set in team building and delegation was a very nice marriage with the franchising world because the operating systems were in place. It was just dependent and imperative upon the operator to build the proper foundation and infrastructure around that existing system. That was a very comfortable mission for me,” Joe told South Carolina Public Radio. Joe was named top veteran small business owner in the state of South Carolina by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s South Carolina office and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in 2016.
Marco’s Pizza plans to expand veteran recruiting program to other military service branches
Scott told The Blade that our national footprint makes it easier to recruit veterans in many parts of the country. “We get them trained for general manager, and then we place them in stores somewhere in the brand in a place in the U.S. where they’d like to live.” He notes that he plans to expand the network to include other military service branches in addition to the Army as our company continues to add managers who can demonstrate leadership, teamwork and self-discipline, whether they have a military background or not.”
“We know from experience that the military brings that in spades. We recognize that and that’s why we’re pursuing the veteran community.” Scott says.
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