As restaurants all around Cleveland began closing their doors and laying off employees due to the coronavirus pandemic, Michael LaMarca of Master Pizza, with 11 stores in the Cleveland area, made an unusual move: He put out the word that he was hiring more staff.
“We really want to make sure we are taking care of our business .. and providing the best service and can be counted on,” LaMarca tells PMQ’s Brian Hernandez in this installment of PMQ Live Update. “If we can keep doing that and sustain that (level) of service through (the pandemic), when we get out of it, hopefully we can grow and develop a bigger customer base and a stronger relationship with our customers.
In this video, LaMarca reflects on his efforts to avoid layoffs and continue training his staff to “win every order.” He also recalls his recent visit to Capitol Hill as part of a delegation from the Ohio Restaurant Association—and how their lobbying efforts saw fruit in the CARES Act.