Seymour McDonald’s restaurants now family-owned

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Walking into either of the Seymour McDonald’s restaurants, customers should be greeted with a smile.

Then their order should be right and have high quality, the restaurant should be clean and the employees should treat each other with respect.

The same goes for people going through the drive-thru.

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If you don’t receive hassle-free service with a smile, George Saliba and Matt Dodd want to know about it.

On Aug. 1, Saliba, president/owner of GES Enterprise LLC, took over the restaurants at 427 Stevens Way and 913 E. Tipton St., and Dodd is the chief operations officer. The stores are now family-owned.

A phone number to reach either of them is prominently displayed in each of their 14 stores in Kentuckiana.

“We’re very reachable,” Saliba said. “If for some reason we don’t deliver, then all you have to do is call the number, and we’ll make it right for you.”

That goes for customers and employees alike.

“How we treat our people and the culture we have, it’s what translates to better service to our customers,” Saliba said.

“If you come in and I’m here, you’ll see me sweeping the floor, you’ll see me mopping the floor,” he said. “I will do whatever it takes because I’m not going to ask any of our employees to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. Every young man and young lady that works for me, they are a part of my family. I truly look at them as my own sons and my own daughters.”

Dodd said one advantage of being family-owned is having a “laser focus” on a small group of stores.

“(Corporate is) trying to make sure that they are able to run the restaurants that they still own,” he said. “Any outlying stores, if they have a very good operator looking for restaurants, they are patching them up with the right people.”

Geographically, Saliba said becoming owner of the Seymour stores made sense because he also owns the restaurants in nearby North Vernon and Scottsburg.

“I’m a firm believer that it’s much easier to service the restaurant when you have a patch,” he said. “If you only have one, it’s very hard to call a supervisor there because you only have one. But if you have a patch, then you can put a supervisor that can focus 100 percent of their effort to make sure the restaurants are running to the standard that we expect.”

One thing customers should notice at the Seymour restaurants is the number of employees working at a time. Dodd said his goal is to have a minimum of 55 crew members and 12 managers at all times at each store.

With sales already on the rise in Seymour, Dodd said he is looking to hire a minimum of 10 managers.

“A lot of them make more than the average person. We pay our management and even crew people very, very good,” he said. “Nobody in our restaurants works for minimum wage. I’d say minimally, they are $1 above minimum wage at least.”

Employees receive health insurance and free meals and uniforms, and tuition assistance is available for employees working toward a college degree.

“I wouldn’t be here today if people didn’t help me along the way,” said Saliba, a native of the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon. “So for me at this point, I want to provide the opportunity for many of our people to have the opportunity to grow with us or if they want to go to school and pursue another career. I want to be able to give them the financial assistance to help them with that.”

If an employee works an average of 20 or more hours, they are eligible for $3,200 in scholarship money. If a manager works 30 hours or more, they are eligible for $3,200-plus in scholarship money.

“That’s just growing,” Dodd said. “That used to be $2,500 just a year ago, so as more people get involved in it, it’s getting to be a bigger program.”

Saliba said it doesn’t matter what a person studies in college.

“I want people to follow their dreams like I followed my dream,” said Saliba, who left Lebanon when he was 21, came to America, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and started working for McDonald’s in 1985.

“My dad and I used to own a small winery in the mountains of Lebanon … and I always had a vision of wanting to be an entrepreneur,” he said. “I want people to follow their dream, and hopefully, I can make a positive difference that one day, whatever they become … people say, ‘Hey, I learned a lot while working at McDonald’s. It made a positive difference for me.’”

Saliba’s stores also make a positive difference in the community, focusing on the school system and police and fire departments.

Dodd said they offer McDonald’s Teachers Night once a month from 5 to 8 p.m. with 10 to 15 percent of the store’s sales during that time going back to the school.

With the police and fire departments, McDonald’s will be there to provide personnel with whatever they need after responding to an incident or provide donations or sponsorships.

Since becoming president/owner in 2012, Saliba has worked with his employees to develop high-performing stores that earn high grades in operations, cleanliness, service and complaint response.

“We’ve excelled way above the standard, and that’s why we were able to grow so quickly,” Dodd said. “Going from two to 14 (stores) is not a normal thing, so we’ve been very, very blessed.”

In the first half of 2019, both Seymour stores will undergo major remodels. While the interior work is done, the lobby will be closed, and customers will have to use the drive-through.

“It’s going to be state-of-the-art. It will look like a brand-new building,” Saliba said. “Not only the people from Seymour but I want people driving on the highway and stopping in at this restaurant to say, ‘Wow! My visit at the Seymour McDonald’s was so impressive. I want to stop in again next time.’ I want this to be a place where they know they can stop and they know they can count on us.”

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The McDonald’s restaurants at 427 Stevens Way and 913 E. Tipton St. in Seymour are now family-owned.

On Aug. 1, George Saliba, president/owner of GES Enterprise LLC, took over the restaurants, and Matt Dodd is the chief operations officer.

Their promise is hassle-free service with a smile.

To provide feedback, call 502-265-6232.

To learn more about Saliba and his company, visit facebook.com/DebbieCrawford.KN/videos/1061468457324518.

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