Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream is looking to retain all the talent it can, and has come up with a program intended to reward successful general managers with restaurant ownership.
Tom Sacco, brand CEO, announced the program that incentivized long-term managers’ success by offering them a chance at owning their own location. To kick off the program, Happy Joe’s awarded general manager Jeannie Radtke and her fiancée, Adam Clark, with the corporate-owned Maquoketa location through the new operator to owner program.
“Jeannie and Adam have been with the brand for many years and have done an excellent job in Maquoketa and earned the right to become franchise owners,” Sacco said.
“Jeannie has had unbelievable success growing her restaurant’s sales and presence in her community, so we’re proud to award her with a Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor to call her own.
“We hope this initiative acts as an added incentive for our restaurant managers – and restaurant managers in our industry as a whole – to see that their hard work will be rewarded by employers that truly want long-term success for their managers and franchisees like we do at Happy Joe’s.”
To qualify for the program, the brand evaluates the quality of the location’s operation, including how it’s being run, the general manager’s level of involvement in the community, the leadership impact on the restaurant, sales growth and profitability improvement over at least a three-year period.
Radtke moved to Maquoketa in 2011 and started at Happy Joe’s as a server. She ascended through the management ranks and eventually became general manager in 2019.
“It has always been a dream of ours to open our own restaurant,” Radtke said.
“When Tom proposed the idea of me becoming a franchise owner, I left the conversation in tears. I am still in shock at the incredible opportunity and am grateful that this was something Tom would make happen for me. I am thankful for the opportunity and for the support from our corporate office and my peers at Happy Joe’s.”
Read about Happy Joe’s Missouri and international expansions here.
