MEMBER NEWS
Aspire2B’s Chris Olexa Receives Spirit of Franchising MVP Award From Franchising.com
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ranchisee Chris Olexa of Aspire2B Hospitality Group has been recognized by Franchising.com with its Spirit of Franchising Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award for 2020. The MVP awards were initially going to be recognized in April 2020 at the Multi-Unit Franchisee Conference, but the coronavirus pandemic changed those plans. Olexa and other MVP winners were instead recognized recently with a story in Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine. To qualify for an award, entrants must have at least five operating franchise units and have been in their franchise system for more than two years. Olexa operates nine Buffalo Wild Wings® with more on the way, and several other concepts under the Inspire Brands umbrella. Olexa got his start in the franchise industry with Quiznos, which he left to open his first few Buffalo Wild Wings locations. After overcoming a cancer diagnosis and two hurricanes that struck his
Chris Olexa is the founder and CEO of Aspire2B Hospitality Group, which operates nine Buffalo Wild Wings, three Arby’s, one Rusty Taco and one Mellow Mushroom in Texas.
businesses, he has led Aspire2B to success. “This award shows how hard our team is working. It’s not just myself,” he said. “When you grow to the size we are, it’s a lot of people pulling the ropes and making us all look good. So, it’s awesome to see the team and my company be recognized for something like this.” Despite operating 14 restaurants, he still sometimes feels as if his business is a mom-and-pop shop in Beaumont, Texas.
“But when you see the other awards and the other winners that received recognitions, it’s a huge honor for us. Just being nominated for this is an awesome feeling.” Over his two decades in the restaurant industry, Olexa said the biggest change is the concept of hospitality. He knows that giving customers great hospitality is something his team now must teach new hires – it doesn’t always come as naturally to them as it has to previous generations. At Aspire2B, the phrases “maverick hospitality” and “be the bull in the room” are both used often, encouraging team members to go against the grain and be headstrong in everything they do, from customer service to preparing wings to wiping tables. Staying focused on growth and operational excellence are core values that make Aspire2B successful, he told Franchising.com. These phrases and values, Olexa believes, are what helped him win the MVP award.
Plattsburgh Buffalo Wild Wings Hosts Watch Party for Olympic Athlete
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2022 Issue 1
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uring the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Americans tuned in to see Team USA compete despite the 13-hour time difference. In Plattsburgh, New York, supporters gathered at their local Buffalo Wild Wings® to cheer on a hometown competitor, Hunter Church, in the bobsled event. At 25, Church continues a bloodline of bobsledders: His great-uncle competed in the sport in the 1940s, followed by his father and uncle in the 1980s. Church is proud to be the first of his family to make the Olympic team. “My lineage is what continued to motivate me throughout this entire journey,” he told People magazine. “For me to come full circle and be the first of my family to make the Olympic team and cement our legacy in the sport, it was a huge driving factor,” he continued. “It’s incredible this is where I am.” On Feb. 19, the Plattsburgh BWW® was packed with about 200 people who watched Church’s final two heats in the four-man bobsleigh event. Guests wore red, white and blue and brought posters and noise makers to cheer on Church. BWW
Hunter Church and his four-man bobsled team during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
A crowded sports bar cheered on hometown native Hunter Church to a 10th-place finish in his final two heats in Bejing.
team members wore American flag masks with their uniforms to show their support. The watch party was organized by Courtney Roy, Church’s girlfriend of almost four years. Roy wanted to get as many friends and family members together as possible to watch Church, and BWW was a natural venue since the couple frequently dines at the restaurant. She created a Facebook event page to spread the word, and the restaurant also advertised it on its message board in the dining room lobby. Church was the pilot of the bobsled in both this event and the two-man race
held earlier during the competition. He steered his four-man sled to a 10th-place finish. Darryl Moschelle, general manager of the Plattsburgh BWW, was overjoyed to see the support for Church at the restaurant. “It was absolutely amazing to see someone from our community out there representing Team USA on the world stage,” said Moschelle. “We are a very small tight-knit community, so we don’t often have our community members involved in events of such magnitude. Being able to see it was an extremely proud moment for all of us.”
