News

Pizza Patrón helps Hispanic employees thrive in its system

August 18, 2005

DALLAS — Though Pizza Patrón franchise developer Ron Ram needs lots of help to develop the 40-unit chain's Houston market, he said he's having no trouble finding dedicated employees such as Johnny Hernandez and Guadalupe Rodriquez.

According to a news release, Hernandez joined the growing Hispanic-focused firm a year ago. He had been out of work for seven months after he was struck by a stray bullet. Immediately upon joining the team at Pizza Patrón, however, Hernandez distinguished himself as a leader and began to assume management responsibilities. Now Ram is grooming Hernandez to become a regional manager monitoring day-to-day operations of seven of the stores.

Rodriquez moved from Mexico to Houston less than a year ago and has since learned to speak English and moved up to a management position.

"Whenever possible, we take employees such as Johnny and Guadalupe and encourage them to take foodservice classes and either brush up on or learn English," said Ram. "We help them enroll in free English courses at the community college and work with their schedules so they can attend."