PROFILE: Jerry Fives ’89
A Team Mentality A former basketball player applies the lessons he learned on the court to his Dunkin’ businesses and attributes his success to his entrepreneurial parents and his Jesuit education.
From a very young age, Jerry Fives was driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. Still, never for a moment did he think he’d eventually find his niche in the coffee and doughnuts business, let alone the coffee and doughnuts business. “Very few people have a linear path in life. I’m no exception,” he said. For nearly 30 years, Fives ’89, and his wife, Sophia, have been highly successful franchisees for Dunkin’ Donuts, or just Dunkin’, as it was recently rebranded. All told, they own or coown nine Dunkin’ shops throughout Northeast Pennsylvania. “It’s a passion. It’s our life,” said Fives, 53. “There’s not a day that goes by without someone coming up to me and saying, ‘Here’s what happened at my Dunkin’ today.’ Fortunately, people have a love for this brand, and it’s great to be a part of that. And even though it’s a national brand, people know the franchises are locally owned and that it’s up to us franchisees to take the risk of running the business.” 36
THE SCRANTON JOURN A L
A Scranton-area native, Fives was a star basketball player at the former Sacred Heart High School in Carbondale before enrolling at what was then Keystone Junior College. After a successful academic year there, he transferred to the University in 1985. One day, while shooting baskets in gym class, the 6-foot-6inch Fives caught the attention of legendary former Royals basketball coach Bob Bessoir. The coach pulled Fives into his office and, in characteristically blunt fashion, declared, “You’re playing on the team.” A power forward, Fives proved himself a tough defender and rebounder for the Royals and an integral part of the team that finished runner-up in the 1988 NCAA Division III National Championship. “Bessoir was a good mentor in my career. He taught me a lot of confidence that I took with me later in life,” Fives said. “Bessoir tried to build his team with good players and the right people. A team is only as good as the culture of its people; the coach sets the culture, and this carries through in business.”
