Restaurant franchises put God first
Ken Kovalik won’t force anyone to believe in God if they want to open a franchise of Friends & Family Pizza Buffet, the restaurant he and two partners launched in 2005.
But franchisees will have to put up posters in their restaurants stating the company’s goals and values, which include “To honor God in all we do.”
“We know that we want it to be more inclusive and not exclusive. We don’t say a person has to believe a certain faith, but it really is more for us in terms of how we want to conduct ourselves in business,” said Kovalik, president of the parent company, Friends & Family Enterprises in Langhorne, Bucks County.
The company’s first pizza buffet opened in 2005 in Bristol. This spring, it opened a corporate-owned eatery, not a franchise, in Silver Spring Twp. The company hopes to establish franchises throughout the Northeast.
The role of faith in the marketplace isn’t new. The Christian Business Men’s Committee, which has a chapter in the midstate, was formed in 1930 in the midst of the Great Depression.
In recent years, efforts to link spirituality and the workplace have intensified, according to Andrew Wicks, a professor at the University of Virginia’s business school in Charlottesville, Va.
Executives are reacting, in part, to the accounting scandals that rocked the business world in the early 2000s. Business leaders also are looking for more authenticity in their lives and to elevate what they believe is important, beyond just making money, Wicks said.
“Part of it is a question we ask ourselves about the meaning of life and what’s it all for,” Wicks said.
Younger people are more open about their beliefs and are used to sharing them on blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, Wicks said. They aren’t as shy as older workers about discussing religion and politics in the workplace.
“There is less space for you to just kind of hide things about yourself,” Wicks said. “That’s a multifaceted thing. That’s not all good. That’s not all bad.”
A person’s identity might center on faith, he said. Whatever it is, people are less reluctant to leave it behind when they come to work.
“Especially if I’m a leader or an owner of a company, I’m going to want to see it show up in some way, shape or form,” Wicks said.
Andrew Samuel said he brings a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to his role as chairman, president and CEO of Graystone Bank, based in Harrisburg. He prefers to let his actions do the talking.
“God’s word to me has always been about influencing people’s lives positively, so everything we do or have done has been driven around that,” Samuel said.
Because Graystone strives to be a caring company, some people think it doesn’t fire people, Samuel said. It does.
Before doing so, however, managers give employees a chance to rectify any problems and try to preserve their dignity no matter how the process ends, Samuel said.
“We are caring. We are loving. But we also hold people accountable to what needs to be done,” he said.
Kovalik said he knew he wanted to be part of a company that honored God when he was first approached about Friends & Family Enterprises. He had worked previously for The ServiceMaster Co., whose mission also included honoring God. He left in 2002 after a merger and became a consultant.
Friends & Family’s other two founders, Bill Bustard and Mike Dolnick, asked Kovalik to help craft their business plan and invited him to join them. They all agreed that honoring God should be part of their company’s values.
Businesses that promote their beliefs in the marketplace must be sure their actions match their words, said Wicks, who also is an adviser to the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics. That’s true whether a company’s values are rooted in spirituality, environmental responsibility or another area.
“There’s no question that, while it may be an attraction to the company, it also creates expectations that have significant risks attached to them,” Wicks said.
People simply might seek to knock a company off its self-appointed pedestal, he said.
The Body Shop, a cosmetics and beauty products retailer, came under fire in the mid-1990s for allegedly not living up to its claims of social responsibility.
Kovalik said he and his partners at Friends & Family Enterprises recognize the risks but are up to the challenge. “It raises the bar, no question,” he said.
Friends & Family honors God, for instance, by closing on Sundays and giving 10 percent of its before-tax profit to charity.
By the same token, the company’s owners don’t require employees or franchisees to share their beliefs, only that they act with integrity, Kovalik said.
“You can pretty much believe whatever you want to believe, as long as you’re willing to adopt and support the values that we say have to be stated,” he said.
So far, the company’s values have not been a turnoff to potential franchisees or customers, Kovalik said. He recalls only two instances where people have been offended and left the restaurant.
“I’d say by far and away the majority of people either are neutral or are very supportive,” Kovalik said.
For franchisees, the ultimate test will be the chain’s track record, said Brian Nejmeh, a professor of entrepreneurship and information systems at Messiah College, a Christian-oriented college in Upper Allen Twp.
If the company’s franchises enjoy above-average success for startup businesses, people will want to open one, Nejmeh said.
Financial success isn’t incompatible with religious faith. Indeed, Nejmeh said, “If you’re not viable, then there is no way to give back to God’s work.”
To make sure values aren’t lost in the mix, Nejmeh advises faith-minded businesses to appoint an external board to make sure they are living up to their word, whether that means giving to charity or emphasizing employment of people with disabilities.
“It doesn’t mean that we don’t have to make hard business decisions. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have to deal with the supplier who’s not really delivering or the customer who’s just being unreasonable,” Nejmeh said. “But even when we deal with that, we just have to do it in a manner that honors God.”
By JOEL BERG for the Times Tribune
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