Local pizza store owners receive awards

By Staff
Former pizza delivery person, Tony Osani of Madison, now franchisee and president of a chain of 16 area Domino's Pizza stores, was recently awarded the prestigious Domino's Pizza Gold Franny Award. The award signifies operational excellence and is awarded each year to only 14 franchisees across the country.
Osani said this Franny Award is the fifth one he and his group, Valley Pizza, have received since he opened his first store in Madison in 1982. Osani employs 450 people in his organization and he credits them with winning the award.
"We have a good set of managers," he said.
Osani and his franchisee partner, Jay Newby of Huntsville, have 12 stores in Madison County, three of which are in Madison. Three are in south Tennessee and one store is in Scottsboro.
Osani's organizational structure includes three area supervisors and a manager for each store. All of his employees advanced through the ranks, including himself and Newby, Osani said.
Osani and Newby also received a Diamond Award and a Positive Impact Award from the Dominos Pizza Partners Foundation. Funded by Domino's employees, the Partners organization provides financial assistance to employees who have a critical need. Osani said the employees in his organization contributed more to the foundation that any of the 4800 stores nationwide.
"We have some very generous folks and we are very proud of them," he said.
The awards were presented to the Valley Pizza management team at Domino's Worldwide Rally, recently held in Las Vegas.
"A Franny Award is one of the highest honors that Domino's can bestow upon a franchisee for operational excellence," Patrick Knotts, an executive vice president with Domino's Pizza, said.
"Tony's and Jay's tireless efforts produced solid results for Domino's Pizza in 2002, and they are an inspiration to their peers."
Osani said his job is to provide the tools his employees need to do their jobs.