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IN THE NEWS

<div>Dickey's Barbecue Pit is continuing growth in the Peach State with a Smyrna, Georgia, opening in Spring 2018</div><div><br></div><div>"At Dickey's Barbecue Pit, we pride ourselves on serving each and every guest authentic, Texas-style barbecue," Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, said in a company press release. "With new franchisees such as Ben Kessie that truly love the brand, we can continue our growth and more importantly continue serving our guests delicious barbecue.”</div><div><br></div><div>Smyrna's franchisee Ben Kessie spent years eating at Dickey's Barbecue Pit and made the brand a part of his family's holiday by catering Dickey's for Thanksgiving every year. With a passion for barbecue, he decided it was time to invest in a barbecue joint of his own. After researching other franchising concepts, Kessie found a home in Dickey's Barbecue Pit.</div><div><br></div><div>"The Dickey's Barbecue Pit model is unlike anything I have ever seen," said Kessie. "I have traveled all over the country looking at barbecue concepts and Dickey's was by far the best choice for me."</div>        
      

FastCasual: Dickey's expands presence in the Peach State

<div>Dickey’s Barbecue Pit continues growth in the Peach State with a new Smyrna, Georgia, location slated to open in Spring 2018. The new location will be owned by new Dickey’s franchisee Ben Kessie, a Georgia Tech alum and passionate barbecue lover.</div><div><br></div><div>“At Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, we pride ourselves on serving each and every guest authentic, Texas-style barbecue,” says Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. “With new franchisees such as Ben Kessie that truly love the brand, we can continue our growth and more importantly continue serving our guests delicious barbecue."</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Kessie spent years eating at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit and made the brand a part of his family’s holiday by catering Dickey’s for Thanksgiving every year. With a passion for barbecue, he decided it was time to invest in a barbecue joint of his own. After researching other franchising concepts, Kessie found a home in Dickey’s Barbecue Pit.</div><div><br></div><div>“The Dickey’s Barbecue Pit model is unlike anything I have ever seen,” says Kessie. “I have traveled all over the country looking at barbecue concepts and Dickey’s was by far the best choice for me.”</div><div><br></div>        
      

QSR: Dickey's Continues Georgia Expansion with Smyrna Store

<div>While many restaurateurs might be relieved to hear that a Texas judge struck down the 2016 rule expanding overtime protection to millions of white collar workers, one industry leader said it signaled a need for compromise.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>"Today's decision is a horrible step backwards for tens of thousands of workers," Boloco CEO John Pepper said of U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant's ruling Thursday that the U.S. Department of Labor improperly used a salary-level test to determine which workers were exempt from overtime compensation.</div><div><br></div><div>"While overtime at 1.5 times regular pay is incredibly harsh and hurts workers inadvertently by forcing them to find second and third jobs — because few businesses can afford to essentially pay 50 percent bonuses on hours 41 and after, and therefore don't — this is a loophole that needed to be closed," he said. "Seesawing back and forth between policy extremes is going to hurt everyone. If opposing sides would compromise, we might actually make progress. I've found neither side willing to do so with any consistency."&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Mazzant granted summary judgment to the Plano Chamber of Commerce and more than 55 business groups challenging the rule — initially created under the Obama administration — which raised the minimum salary threshold required to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act's "white collar" exemption to just over $47,000 per year. The mandate also would increase the overtime eligibility threshold for highly compensated workers from $100,000 to approximately $134,000.</div><div><br></div><div>"The department has exceeded its authority and gone too far with the final rule," Mazzant wrote in his order. "The department creates a final rule that makes overtime status depend predominately on a minimum salary level, thereby supplanting an analysis of an employee's job duties. Because the final rule would exclude so many employees who perform exempt duties, the department fails to carry out Congress' unambiguous intent."</div><div><br></div><div>The National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Law Center supports today's decision, said Executive Director Angelo Amador.</div><div><br></div><div>"The Department of Labor under the previous administration overstepped its authority in making changes to the federal overtime rule," he said in a press release. "Today's decision to invalidate the rule demonstrates the negative impacts these regulations would have had on businesses and their workers. We will continue to work with DOL on behalf of the restaurant industry to ensure workable changes to the overtime rule are enacted."&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>A reply brief from the DOL said that although it still could change the rules to allow more salaried employees to be eligible for time-and-a-half pay, it would not advocate for "the specific salary level [$913 per week] set in the final rule at this time."</div><div><br></div><div>Leaders call for a compromise</div><div><br></div><div>Many fast casual leaders said that although the Obama-era ruling had good intentions, it simply went too far. Today's decision is a chance to fix that, said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey's. "The OT law is a classic example of good intention resulting in bad legislation," she said in an interview with FastCasual. "The OT legislation had the unintended consequence of employers scrambling to reduce workforce instead of grow it, reduce hours instead of increasing them because the burden was too great for employers to bear. I would like to see the restaurant industry propose better legislation for retaining great talent instead of regulations suppressing talent, profit and free market principles."</div><div><br></div><div>Don Fox, CEO of Firehouse Subs, said he expects the Department of Labor to continue to collect comments regarding a possible escalation in the salary level, but that middle ground should be sought.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>"So I strongly suspect that will continue and that there will be a reset on the minimum salary requirement, but one that makes sense — unlike what was proposed by the prior administration," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Fazoli's CEO Carl Howard agreed, saying that exempt salary workers deserve a raise, but that the Obama plan was dreadful for several small business owners.</div><div><br></div><div>"I am very thankful that it will not go to $47,496. It should go up by 30-35 percent from the current rate, and then it should be increased every year with cost of living or some rational inflation wage rule," he said in an interview with FastCasual. "I think it can get to where the Democrats want it to go, but it needs to be gradual so businesses can adjust and plan for the new norm. "</div><div><br></div><div>Overall, Howard believes the ruling is good news for the brands that operate lower AUV locations.</div><div><br></div><div>"I heard from several Subway owners, and they were freaking out," he said. "With unemployment at 4 percent, very few hourly or exempt workers are being hired at the minimum threshold. The best part about democracy is the market really dictates the wage rate. If brands need employees or talent, they will pay for them.</div><div><br></div><div>"The fact is that the hourly and salary employee today has several choices, and almost every organization is in a need state to add quality workers to their business."&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Bill DiPaola, &nbsp;president and COO of Dat Dog Enterprises, said that although he agrees with the court's decision, it doesn't mean that restaurants and other industries can maintain the status quo.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>"I believe it imperative that the DOJ and the trade associations need to work together to find a more detailed, more nuanced means test that would properly classify employees so that the flexibility of scheduling, which is crucial to the restaurant industry, is maintained while also not allowing businesses to unfairly classify employees in order to avoid paying overtime," he said in an interview with FastCasual. "Having an imprecise duties test that is too broad is what causes this problem."</div>        
      

Judge Strikes Down Obama's OT Ruling, Industry Leaders Urge Compromise

Laura Rea Dickey was interviewed on the podcast, CEO in 10. Listen to the segment <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lifelessonsnetwork/2017/08/25/gpo-presents-ceo-in-10-with-laura-rey-dickey-of-dickeys-bbq">here</a>.&nbsp;

CEO in 10

<div>Taste why Dickey’s Barbecue has been the world’s best barbecue since 1941! Try our 6 pit-smoked meats, like our southern pulled pork or our family recipe polish sausage.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Don’t forget we’re also your catering experts! Any event, any size – let Dickey’s do the cooking, and you can take the credit. Graduation parties, weddings, office functions, you name it! Dickey’s Barbecue is the perfect catering choice for groups of all sizes – from 10 to 10,000!&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Tailgate Party Pack easily feeds up to 12 adults, boasting 4 pounds of Dickey’s most popular slow-smoked meats and enough classic barbecue sides to satisfy a defensive line<br></div><div><br></div><div>Football season is here and Dickey's Barbecue Pit has meal time covered with their new Tailgate Party Pack! The new Tailgate Party Pack is a dream come true! I'm always trying to figure out what to make for our football parties but to be honest it's just so much work to do it all yourself. With Dickey's Barbecue Pit I can simply place an order for one of their Tailgate Party Packs and literally have enough food for everyone at our party and then some.&nbsp;<br></div><div><br></div><div>Dickey's Barbecue Pit's new Tailgate Party Pack comes with 12 of the best tasting rolls that are sure to please. They're incredibly soft and are the perfect way to build your barbecue slider!&nbsp;<br></div><div><br></div><div>It also comes with 4 pounds of Dickey’s most popular slow-smoked meats that are oh so delicious! You can literally taste the care and time that went into slow-smoking these meats. The meat is extremely tender and makes the best barbecue sandwiches ever! Top your slider off with Dickey’s famous barbecue sauce and let your taste buds go wild!<br></div><div><br></div><div>Dickey's Barbecue Pit's new Tailgate Party Pack comes with 3 enormous sides that are sure to keep both you and your guests content no matter what team is in the lead. Dickey’s famous potato salad with Idaho Russet potatoes make the perfect side and has to be one of the best tasting potato salads I've ever had!&nbsp;<br></div><div><br></div><div>Dickey’s Cabbage Slaw is finely diced cabbage seasoned with a tangy sweet coleslaw dressing that is sure to satisfy all your taste buds! I'm a huge fan of Dickey’s Cabbage Slaw and absolutely love the sweet tangy sauce and how incredibly fresh all of the ingredients were!<br></div><div><br></div><div>Dickey's signature baked beans with a smoky pork flavor are the perfect addition to any party! These were a huge hit at our party and for as large as the pan was, I was blown away at how little we had left.&nbsp;<br></div><div><br></div><div>Dickey's New Tailgate Party Pack is the perfect way to kick off football season and is sure to keep your guests full and satisfied while enjoying the game!<br></div>        
      

Football Season is Here—Dickey's Tailgate Party Pack Has You Covered!

<p>View the full segment <a href="http://www.kvoa.com/story/36221284/news-4-cooks-pulled-pork">here</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Ingredients:</p><p><br></p><p>6 TBSPs Dickey's Barbecue Pit brand Rib Rub (sold at Dickey's)</p><p><br></p><p>1 Pork Butt (5-7 pounds)</p><p><br></p><p>Instructions:</p><p>Rub pork butt with 6 TBSP Dickey's brand Rib Rub<br></p><p>Foil boat the pork butt</p><p>Smoke at 225 degrees F. for 14 hours</p><p>Fork test, and verify internal temperature is 165 degrees F.</p><p>Grab squish tickle method to serve.</p><p>Serve on a roll, or on the side, next to your favorite sides.</p>

KVOA 4: News 4 Cooks: Pulled Pork

<div>New Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchisee, Leonard McEnery plans to open his first Dickey’s location in Joliet, Illinois. McEnery, a Dickey’s brisket lover and long-time business owner, is excited to bring delicious barbecue to the business park in South Joliet.</div><div><br></div><div>McEnery, an owner of several food and fuel locations in the Chicago suburbs, knew Dickey’s low and slow, Texas-style barbecue would be a great fit for his newest location in Joliet. “I’m excited to bring Dickey’s barbecue to the employees in the area, as well as others traveling along the highway,” says McEnery. “Everyone needs food and fuel, and I knew Dickey’s Barbecue Pit would be the perfect fit because of its authenticity and convenience.”</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>“We are excited to welcome Leonard McEnery to our Dickey’s family,” says Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. “At Dickey’s we are proud to have experienced franchisees such as McEnery in our family bringing authentic, Texas-style barbecue to the Joliet community.”</div>        
      

QSR: Dickey's Barbecue Pit Expanding in Illinois

        Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has expanded its popular Family Pack offerings to target the tailgating crowd. Its limited-time Tailgate Party Pack is a bigger version of the XL Family Pack the chain currently offers, featuring an extra pound of meat as well as larger quantities of sides and rolls. Rather than needing to order ahead, customers can order the Tailgate Party Pack on demand, both directly from Dickey’s or through one of more than 50 partnering third-party services, including GrubHub, DoorDash and UberEats.        
      
      

Operators Tackle Tailgate Season with Off-Premise Offers

<div>Dickey’s Barbecue: Old Fashioned Pit Barbecue for Wherever You Roam</div><div><br></div><div>In 1941, Travis Dickey came home from the war and opened a small barbecue restaurant in Dallas, Texas. The menu was small then: brisket, ham, barbecue beans, potato chips, milk and beer. Dickey’s has since grown from that humble barbecue stop to the nation’s largest barbecue chain. Today, all meats are still slow smoked on-site in each of its nearly 600 restaurants across 44 states. The family-run organization still serves the classics with 'No B.S. (Bad Stuff)' included.</div><div><br></div><div>View the full article <a href="https://www.fooda.com/our-food">here</a>.</div>        
      

Fooda: Old Fashioned Pit Barbecue for Wherever You Roam

<p>View the full segment <a href="https://www.ktbs.com/news/web-extra/members-of-dickey-s-barbecue-pit-stops-by-the-ktbs/article_4733e2ae-841d-11e7-a1ab-ebdf59fd1ddf.html">here</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Today we have a couple of special guest here to teach us a thing or two about cooking barbecue.</p><p><br></p><p>Roland Dickey and Catherine Long from Dickey's Barbecue are here with the know how towards better BBQ.</p>

KTBS 3: Members of Dickey's Barbecue Pit stops by the KTBS 3 studios

        <div>She doesn’t cook and she’s not a blood relative to the founders of Dickey’s Barbecue, but Laura Rea Dickey is running the show at the nation’s largest barbecue chain.</div><div><br></div><div>Earlier this year, Laura Rea Dickey was named CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. — not all that startling until you realize that Rea is her maiden name.</div><div><br></div><div>She’s the 38-year-old wife of Roland Dickey Jr. and daughter-in-law of Roland Dickey Sr., the iconoclastic patriarch of the nation’s largest barbecue chain, which operates a location in Erie’s Liberty Center.</div><div><br></div><div>Her ascension to mistress of the barbecue pit is an anomaly on another front: She’s a terrible cook.</div><div><br></div><div>“That is not the part of the business that I impact, I promise,” she said. “It’s a Dickey’s family tradition that the men cook. So I got on board with that really fast. I can make reservations and a martini, and that’s it.”</div><div><br></div><div>That may be true for the kitchen, but Laura Dickey holds considerable sway when it comes to technology, big data and marketing. In her previous role as Dickey’s chief information officer, she built an eight-year road map for bringing the family’s slow-smoked barbecue business into the lightning-speed digital age.</div><div><br></div><div>Such advanced technology is a must for a company that’s in a torrid expansion mode.</div><div><br></div><div>Four years into it, every restaurant operator can tap into point-of-sale analytics, study data heat maps and market directly to customers via the proprietary Smoke Stack system that Dickey’s codeveloped with iOlap, a Dallas-area big data provider.</div><div><br></div><div>Dickey’s and franchisees can spot what’s working in the 565 stores and what’s not to make adjustments on the fly.</div><div><br></div><div>Customers can order online and have their food delivered by third-party services, such as GrubHub and Doordash. Come September, a customer app will use beaconing technology so that you can pick up your order curbside without getting out of your car.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Currently, the five company-owned Dickey’s Barbecue Pits, including the original in Dallas, are test driving Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service before it’s rolled out to all of its stores by the end of the year.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Not that long ago, the original flagship was still using a cash register and faxing in sales reports.</div><div><br></div><div>At the beginning of the year, the family formed Dickey’s Capital Group, an umbrella company that owns its various investments including the barbecue company.</div><div><br></div><div>Roland Dickey Jr., 43, moved into the holding company’s top slot and Laura Dickey moved into his.</div><div><br></div><div>“Laura’s a perfectionist. She makes sure all of the details are tended to,” her husband said. “She brings high energy, creative vision that is absolutely remarkable.”</div><div><br></div><div>She’s hardly the lone female running the barbecue business. Twelve of its 14 top execs are women.</div><div><br></div><div>“We’re not a bunch of fat guys grilling meat,” Roland says.</div><div><br></div><div>Last year, Dickey’s opened 87 restaurants, bringing the total to 508 at year end, and it reported systemwide sales of $421 million.</div>        
      
      

Erie Times: She’s the leader of the pit

View the full segment <a href="http://www.kvoa.com/clip/13601365/news-4-cooks-brisket">here</a>.&nbsp;

Dickey's Barbecue Pit: The Brisket that Brings Flavor to Life

<div>Dickey's Barbecue Pit franchisees can manage their businesses from the kitchen via Alexa, thanks to the chain's incorporation of iOLAP's Enterprise Voice Platform.</div><div><br></div><div>"In working with iOLAP to customize this technology for our restaurants, we are giving each of our franchisees a way to carry out key business functions hands-free in their kitchens," CEO Laura Rea Dickey, said in a company press release. "At Dickey's, we are constantly looking for new ways to better our business along with our slow-smoked barbecue. This new technology means our franchisees can retrieve key data without having to stop smoking ribs."</div><div><br></div><div>This new software gives Dickey's franchisees the opportunity to have store information a voice-command away, and is the second phase of Dickey's big data initiatives, Dickey said.</div><div><br></div><div>"Smokestack, our proprietary data platform makes data accessible and actionable in our restaurants," she said. "By layering in this new enterprise voice platform, we hope to make data even more restaurant friendly. We've worked a lot with iOLAP to optimize Alexa for the kitchen from the data integration to the right placement in the back of house. We've also been thankful for franchisees that have opted in to further test the technology."</div><div><br></div><div>Operators can ask Alexa for daily sales metrics, KPI analytics or even when the brisket in their smoker should be finished smoking. That — coupled with the platform's ability to perform inventory analysis, food safety reminders and waste management controls — will help manage their business, Dickey said.</div><div><br></div><div>"I have been with Dickey's for over 20 years, and I never would have thought we would be using an Alexa to carry out parts key (to) the business," said Owner/Operator Dale Smith. "I can continue to do what is important, which is smoking meats, while Alexa can easily give me the business metrics I need."</div>        
      

Dickey's Franchisees Use Alexa to Track Operations: Fast Casual

<div>Dickey’s Barbecue Pit locations will begin incorporating iOLAP’s new Enterprise Voice Platform to carry out daily business functions in the store. Dickey’s, a known technology leader in the restaurant industry, is adopting this new platform accelerating the development, deployment, operations, and monitoring of Alexa Skills in the business environment.<br></div><div><br></div><div>“In working with iOLAP to customize this technology for our restaurants, we are giving each of our franchisees a way to carry out key business functions hands-free in their kitchens,” says Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. “At Dickey’s, we are constantly looking for new ways to better our business along with our slow-smoked barbecue. This new technology means our franchisees can retrieve key data without having to stop smoking ribs.”</div><div><br></div><div>This new software gives Dickey’s owner-operators the opportunity to have store information a voice-command away, and is the second phase of Dickey's big data initiative.<br></div><div><br></div><div>"Smokestack, our proprietary data platform makes data accessible and actionable in our restaurants," Dickey says. "By layering in this new enterprise voice platform, we hope to make data even more restaurant friendly. We've worked a lot with iOLAP to optimize Alexa for the kitchen from the data integration to the right placement in the back of house. We've also been thankful for franchisees that have opted in to further test the technology."</div><div><br></div><div>Dickey's owner-operators can ask Alexa for their daily sales metrics, KPI analytics or even when the brisket in their smoker should be finished smoking. That, coupled with the platform’s ability to perform inventory analysis, food safety reminders, and waste management controls will help owner-operators better manage their business.</div><div><br></div><div>“I have been with Dickey’s for over 20 years, and I never would have thought we would be using an Alexa to carry out parts key of the business,” says owner-operator Dale Smith. “I can continue to do what is important, which is smoking meats, while Alexa can easily give me the business metrics I need.”</div><div><br></div><div>View the article <a href="https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/dickeys-incorporates-voice-platform-business-metrics">here</a>. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div>        
      

QSR: Dickey's Incorporates Voice Platform for Business Metrics

<div>Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, a popular Texas-based restaurant with locations throughout the Central Valley, is integrating new technology to enhance its daily business operations.</div><div><br></div><div>The restaurant’s locations will begin incorporating a new enterprise voice platform from iOLAP, a data and analytics company, to operate hands-free and accelerate operations.</div><div><br></div><div>“In working with iOLAP to customize this technology for our restaurants, we are giving each of our franchisees a way to carry out key business functions hands-free in their kitchens,” said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s, in a statement. “At Dickey’s, we are constantly looking for new ways to better our business along with our slow-smoked barbecue. This new technology means our franchisees can retrieve key data without having to stop smoking ribs.”</div><div><br></div><div>The new software, Alexa Skills (the same used in Amazon’s Echo), gives owner/operators the ability to retrieve data via voice command.</div><div><br></div><div>“Smokestack, our proprietary platform, makes data accessible and actionable in our restaurants,” Dickey said. “We’ve worked a lot with iOLAP to optimize Alexa for the kitchen from the data integration to the right placement in the back of house. We’ve also been thankful for franchisees that have opted in to further test the technology.”</div><div><br></div><div>It’s Dickey’s hope that the technology will make data more “restaurant friendly.”</div><div><br></div><div>Franchisees can ask Alexa for daily sales metrics, KPI analytics or when brisket should be finished being smoked. The platform also allows for inventory analysis, food safety reminders and waste management control.</div>        
      

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