U.S. Small Business Administration

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News Release
SBA Number: Pittsburgh 2002 AW


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U. S. Small Business Administration Names Jim Fox

2002 Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year

 

§         Founder of Fox’s Pizza Dens, Inc., ranked one of the best pizza and sandwich franchises nationwide

§         Recognized for business success and community service

§         Candidate for the 2002 National SBA Award

 
 
PITTSBURGH (Monroeville), PA (April 23, 2002 ) –   Jim Fox is an entrepreneur, community-minded citizen and mentor who has been named the 2002 Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year.  Founder and president of Pittsburgh-based Fox’s Pizza Dens, Inc., a chain of 225 fast-food outlets nationwide, Fox will be honored locally and in Washington, DC, for his achievements and community service. 

He is also among awardees from the 50 United States, District of  Columbia,
Puerto Rico and Guam who will be considered for the 2002 National Small Business Person

 of the Year Award.  

Fox will be honored at two U.S. Small Business Administration events where

hundreds of entrepreneurs and small business professionals are expected to gather:

the 26th Annual SBA Small Business Awards Luncheon, May 3, Pittsburgh, and

National Business Week ceremonies including a Capitol Hill luncheon, May 6-8, Washington, DC.   Jim Fox

 

LOCAL AWARDS PRESENTATION:  26th Annual SBA Small Business Awards Luncheon

                   Sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Small Business Network

   Friday, May 3, 2002 ·  Trade Exhibit 10:30 a.m. · Registration 11 a.m. · Awards Luncheon 11:45 a.m.

                   Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA

  

Al Jones, district director, Western Pennsylvania Office, U.S. Small Business Administration, will present 2002 Small Business Awards to Fox and other professionals who achieved success in 11 additional categories.  A panel of economic development professionals from Western Pennsylvania selected awardees.  A regional panel selected Pennsylvania and regional-level winners.  Region III encompasses Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

-- MORE --

SBA/Fox Named Small Business Person of the Year/April 23, 2002 – Add One

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NATIONAL AWARDS:  U.S. Small Business Administration  National Business Week Ceremonies, May 6-8,

Awards Luncheon, May 7,  Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.

 

Fox will represent Pennsylvania during National Small Business Week ceremonies, May 6-8, including a Capitol Hill luncheon, May 7.  At the luncheon, officials will announce the name of the 2002 National Small Business Person of the Year.  One national winner will be chosen.

Fox’s history is punctuated by examples of innovation and community service.  (See attached History of Achievement.) Fox has developed a leading pizza franchise chain from one pizza shop in 1971 in  Pitcairn, PA, to 225 stores nationwide today.  Fox’s is among the 10 largest pizza businesses nationwide and the largest in  Pennsylvania with $70 million in annual sales and  plans to open 40-50 more stores per year.  Fox’s was the first pizza business to offer home delivery, to add sandwiches to a pizza menu and to advertise with direct-mail coupons and newspaper inserts.  Fox introduced the Wedgie pizza-shell sandwich.  While achieving entrepreneurial success, Fox has taken young, hard-working people under his wing, mentoring them in the fast-food business. Fox has demonstrated a strong commitment to helping people in “dead-end jobs” find work and obtain financial independence.  He is also an active volunteer and supporter of community initiatives, especially those helping people with disabilities.

Upon learning of his award, Fox reflected, “All I ever wanted to do was to make pizza—at least that’s what I thought until I began to grow my business, to help people open franchised pizza shops and  to establish a franchise network with unlimited potential.  I found it was equally gratifying to help entrepreneurs get started in small business.  Now, I am realizing the best of  both dreams – expanding a pizza chain in a coast-to-coast direction and helping people of all backgrounds and abilities to be productive and lead good lives.  Clearly, I am an entrepreneur  blessed with many types of awards --  especially the satisfaction of helping  people achieve success.”

Jones said, “We had excellent candidates in all categories and are especially proud to be home to the 2002 Pennsylvania Small Business Professional of the Year.  For more than 30 years, Jim Fox has demonstrated the qualities and track record of an outstanding business and community leader. He began with $500 and the dream of selling ‘the finest quality pizza.’   He quickly reached  his goal, bringing fast food and a strong commitment of caring to the towns and neighborhoods where we live and work.”

Saint Vincent College Small Business Development Center, Latrobe, PA, and PNC Bank, Pittsburgh, nominated Fox for the award.  Jim Kunkel, assistant director, Small Business Development Center, St. Vincent College, explained, “Jim Fox has done something that I have rarely, if ever, seen in franchising.  He has refined the definition of franchiser to include a healthy dose of altruism.  Jim is not a profit maximizer; Jim is a people maximizer.”  Linda Smith, vice president, Government Sponsored Lending, PNC Bank, said, “I’ve known Jim Fox for more than 20 years.  He epitomizes the true entrepreneurial spirit and unselfishly helps others to achieve success—just as he has.”

                The U.S. Small Business Administration, established in 1953, provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses.  SBA is the nation's largest single financial backer of small businesses and  plays a major role in the government's disaster relief efforts by making low-interest recovery loans to both homeowners and businesses.                                                      ###        

 

NOTE:  Photo can be downloaded from http://www.estetacommunications.com/FoxImages or Contact can provide.
                                             

                                                                                               

 
A HISTORY OF ACHIEVEMENT:

     FOX’S PIZZA DEN, INC.

 

Highlights: 

§         Jim Fox started making pizza at age 12 in Monroeville, PA.  He “helped out” at a local pizza shop.

§         Fox started his own pizza business March 17, 1971 in Pitcairn, PA, with $500, a rented storeroom and equipment from a scrap yard.  Sold 300 pizzas and “was out of everything”  in six hours.  Next stores:  Harrison City, East Pittsburgh, Swissvale and others leading to the establishment of franchised pizza shops and Fox’s Pizza Distribution, Inc. in 1986.

§         Fox’s Pizza Den, Inc. today encompasses 225 stores in 19 states and is growing rapidly. See www.foxspizza.com

§         Pizza Today ranks Fox’s among the top 20 pizza companies in the world.

§         Among the 10 largest pizza franchise nationwide.

§         Entrepreneur and Pizza Today have ranked Fox’s as one of the best pizza and sandwich franchises in the U.S.

§         Largest pizza chain in Pennsylvania.

§         Annual sales topped $70 million in 2001.

§         More than 2,500 employees.

§         Served more than 7 million pizzas and 6 million sandwiches in 2001.

§         Plans to open 40-50 new stores per year, beginning in 2002.  Up from 27 in 2000.

§         Pizza Marketing Quarterly (Summer 2000) ranked Fox’s as ninth on the list of fastest-growing chains in the country.

§         Opening new prototype store in Plum Boro, PA.  Will be training center for franchise owners.

 

“Firsts” and Other Distinctions

Fox’s is the first pizza business to:

§         Offer home delivery.  Fox began deliveries in 1973 with a VW van.  To keep pizzas warm, he built a delivery box and lined it with hot bricks from a nearby steel mill.

§         Conduct direct-mail marketing with discount coupons.

§         Add sandwiches to a pizza menu.

§         Offer the Wedgie!  Fox created the Wedgie in response to demand for a sandwich in a pizza shell.

§         Develop a combined menu and price list that customers could take home with them.

§         Test-market products and tools that have become standards (hot bags for delivery, car-top delivery signs, etc.)

§         Use employee uniforms featuring the company logo.

§         Discount purchases for customers who wear a Fox’s T-shirt to the pizza shop.

§         Use a lighted sign with an engaging non-traditional background color  (red instead of standard white)

§         Use eye-catching reverse printing with newspaper advertisements.

§         Advertise by using 8.5” x 11”  inserts in newspapers.

§         Conduct fund raising for local school and church groups.

§         Redeem proof-of-purchase coupons to help buy computers for schools.

Also:

§         Fox financed his first 15 stores personally, using his home as collateral.  Once the business community saw that his concept worked, he established relationships with Pittsburgh banks. 

§         Fox’s is one of only a few pizza businesses to have a commissary.

 

Helping People Find Jobs and Become Entrepreneurs

§         Fox has shown a strong commitment to helping people in “dead-end jobs” find work and fulfilling professions.

§         Fox has taken young, hard-working people under his wing, mentoring them in the fast-food business.

§         More than 20 percent of Fox’s franchise owners are people who started working in the chain and progressed.

§         Success magazine ranked Fox’s as number two of all pizza franchises on the basis of franchise owner satisfaction.

§         A remarkably low, flat $200 monthly fee nets a new owner use of the Fox’s name and products.  Fox’s hesitancy to take a percentage of sales allows almost all new store owners to turn a respectable profit in their first year.

§         Fox established Fox’s Pizza Commissary, Inc. in 1986 to enable franchise owners to order quality food products that can be delivered to their stores.  Since that time, commissary staff and sales have tripled.

 

Benefiting Communities

§         Fox prefers to open stores in small communities where both the owner/operator and the town can benefit. 

§         Fox is an active volunteer and supporter of community initiatives, especially those helping people with disabilities.

§         Fox has helped people with disabilities to become entrepreneurs, enjoy careers and fulfill dreams.

§         Fox worked with Robotics Department at Carnegie Mellon University to develop the Pizzabot, a pizza-making machine that enables people with disabilities to own and operate their own shops.  Project was dropped because of budget, yet holds the potential for continued development and application.

§         Fox envisions pizza shop training center at a university where students with disabilities could learn about fast-food industry.