Stories & News | Whataburger

It’s A Wrap: 2019 Whataburger Family Convention Awards

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:44:00 -0500

More than 2,000 Family Members attended Sunday night’s Corporate Awards Banquet, as we wrapped up the 2019 Whataburger Family Convention – and came together to recognize the best of the best.

Corporate Awards

Area Manager of the Year: Jose Rodriguez, Area 5410 (2017); Joel Hernandez, Area 7320 (2018)
Director of Operations of the Year: George Gonzalez, Zone 8400 (2017); Aaron Valdez, Zone 5400 (2018)
Harmon and Grace Dobson Award: Marianne Dowdy, Vice President of Human Resources (2017); Mike Sims and Gary Sims, Franchise Support Managers (2018)
Franchisee of the Year: John Heiman, Whataburger of Mesquite (2017); Chris Johnson, G.V.C.S. (2018)
Franchise Key Operator of the Year: Chris Deters and Greg Deters, NCG Enterprises LP (2017); Micah Webster, Webster Enterprises (2018)
High-Volume Unit (2017 & 2018) - Corporate: Unit 178, San Marcos, Texas; GM Greg Goolsby
High-Volume Unit (2017 & 2018) - Franchise: Unit 1039, Dallas, Texas; Concessions Management Inc., Franchisee Gilbert Aranza

Thomas E. Dobson Awards

There are more than 800 General Managers in the Whataburger system, but only one can win the Thomas E. Dobson GM of the Year award.

It’s an honor bestowed upon a Family Member who delivers an unparalleled level of service to customers, Team Members and the community.

At the Whataburger corporate awards on Sunday, Chairman of the Board Tom Dobson recognized the GMs who earned this recognition for 2017 and 2018: Marsha Saxon and Richard Martinez.

Saxon, from Unit 931 in Pace, Florida, was recognized as the 2017 winner. Martinez, from Unit 790 in San Antonio, Texas, was honored as the 2018 recipient.

Congratulations to our winners! We’re proud of all your hard work and dedication to the brand. See you in 2021!

Game on, Whataburger! We’re serving up intense competition with a side of fries and gold medals

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 13:33:37 -0500

Whataburger’s all fun and games when you’re rolling up after midnight for a Patty Melt and chocolate shake. But it’s serious business on the other side – especially as WhataGames, Whataburger’s restaurant competition, heats up.

Family Members from Whataburger restaurants across the country vie for medals – and big money – at WhataGames, happening in Houston this March.

WhataGames 2019

WhataGames is three days of hard-core work. The playing field is the same as the training ground: a Whataburger restaurant.

For this competition, though, we close down a store and put the Whataburger warriors through their paces.

Extra avocado on that Whataburger! Double orders of bacon on that Taquito! Onion rings and chocolate shakes for everyone!

In a different restaurant nearby, maintenance games challenge our techs to find and fix breakdowns on the fly. Is the grill cooking at the ideal temp? Is the thermostat working correctly? Just how hot is the water in the hand-washing sink?

In It To Win It

How serious is this competition? Winners take home $5,000 cash. Each. Other medalists can win $2,500 or $1,000.

The Family Members who compete – about 250 individuals from all regions of the company – begin training months in advance. They spend hours studying Whataburger history and culture, and they focus on teamwork.

“To get to the finals, you’re the top of the top. Just getting there is a huge accomplishment,” says Andres “Andy” Cano, a Family Member at Whataburger #4 in Kingsville, Texas.

Cano has been to the competition twice before, and his restaurant won gold in 2017. He qualified to compete again this year.

“Yes, we want to win, but what we really want is to be better people,” he says. “Just go up against yourself and be a better version of yourself. Everything else will take care of itself.”

Lone Star teams sweep annual WhataGames!

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 12:54:00 -0500

Texas brought the broom to the 2019 WhataGames in Houston, with three squads from the Lone Star State sweeping the restaurant competition.

Teams from Whataburger stores in Allen, El Paso and Lindale brought home the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, respectively. They also shared in prize money totaling more than $200,000.

At WhataGames, held every other year, 15-member teams from 22 restaurants show their skills in the final round of competition that tests them on everything from customer service to company history.

Separate games challenge maintenance technicians to find and fix restaurant breakdowns on the fl.

Just getting to the final round of WhataGames is an honor, says Paul Craig, General Manager of the gold-winning Whataburger in Allen.

“Bringing home the WhataGames gold and seeing the community excitement makes us all proud,” Craig says. “WhataGames is about getting rewarded for doing our jobs correctly. And we do our jobs well because we love our customers.”

Whataburger’s 2019 WhataGames winners are:

Restaurants

Gold: Unit 984, Allen, Texas; Area Manager Donald Beaton; General Manager Paul Craig

Silver: Unit 412, El Paso, Texas; Area Manager James Martinez; General Manager Christian Noya

Bronze: Unit 1036, Lindale, Texas; Area Manager Helen Liggins; General Manager Nancy McIntyre (DKT Investments Franchise led by Franchisee Doyle Thomas)

MSC (Maintenance Service Company)

Gold: Region 8000 (Rio Grande Valley Markets)

Peter Hernandez, Lead Tech; Joe Benavidez, Oscar Chapa and Robert Garza.

Silver: Region 2000 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana Markets)

Danny Wise, Lead Tech; Bill Castanon, Scott Foster and Mike Bradford.

Bronze: Region 9000 (Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex Markets)

Andy Collier, Lead Tech; Bryan Hicks, Anthony Halter, and Greg Edwards.

Whatagames: How it began

Sun, 01 Mar 2015 17:36:00 -0600

Picture the Olympics, only with burgers, fries and a side of motivation.

That’s WhataGames.

The Olympics, in fact, inspired this flagship Whataburger event. In 1996, as people across the world watched the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Whataburger leaders had an epiphany: What if they could harness Olympic-style competitive energy to motivate Whataburger Family Members?

And, just like that, WhataGames was born.

Since then, high-performing teams have gathered every two years to go for the gold.

How it has changed

At the first WhataGames in 1996, Family Members competed as individuals and the top prizes included a television, a trip and a personal computer. In 1998, the top prize was a brand-new pickup truck. The stakes were even higher in 2000, with each of the top five finishers receiving a new car.

Then, in 2002, WhataGames became a team event, and the winners started taking home cold, hard cash.

This year, more than $150,000 in cash prizes is on the line.

The tough but friendly competition is fun, but there’s more to it. The goal is to improve restaurant quality by building camaraderie and a deeper understanding of company procedures and culture. In short, the games grow knowledge – and that knowledge reaps rewards for the business as well as the Family Members.