Petersen becomes partner in Pizza Ranch franchise

A Red Oak restaurant manager has recently become a part owner in the chain.
Red Oak’s Tim Petersen, who is the general manager of the Red Oak Pizza Ranch, now owns a portion of the restaurant he manages. Petersen has been in Southwest Iowa his whole life, but is a bit of a transplant to Red Oak.
“I was born in Audubon, raised in Elk Horn, and graduated from Elk Horn Kimballton High School before going to college in Maryville, which is my only vacation from the state of Iowa. I worked in Clarinda for five years, and moved to Red Oak in 1990,” Petersen said.
Petersen has worked in the food industry since 1985, and spent almost 35 years with Pizza Hut before the opportunity arose with Pizza Ranch and he joined the restaurant.
“After I left Pizza Hut, two weeks later, two old friends, one that still works for Pizza Hut, and one that left Pizza Hut for Pizza Ranch contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in joining the Red Oak Pizza Ranch if certain actions happened,” Petersen explained.
So, Petersen said he met with Pizza Ranch representatives who were in the process of purchasing the store.
“Aug. 1, 2019, the Paymaster Group, which is a franchise of the Pizza Ranch, took over ownership of this one and I became manager, and recently, a co-owner of this store,” commented Petersen.
Petersen said he chose to become a partner in the franchise in order to get some skin in the game.
“The group that we work for are very good people who like to give back to their managers and give them a little bit of a piece of the pie, so to speak,” said Petersen “They gave me a really good deal on a certain percentage of the store, and I took advantage of that. With my joining, there are technically five co-owners of the store, and we all have our portion of the pie. I am the working manager down here, and the other four partners all reside in Northwest Iowa.”
Becoming a co-owner, Petersen said, was really simplistic on his part.
“You go through some details, and read through some paperwork and all of the legal details that go with it, and then I bought in, and became a part owner, and now I have a little more stake in what goes on. I’ve always strived to run a good store, and now the better it is, the better it treats me,” Petersen stated.
Petersen said his favorite part of the job over the years has been the people, and he likes seeing the people who come to Pizza Ranch for a meal or to join the team.
“I’ve been in Red Oak for more than 31 years now, and I’ve developed some relationships with the customers. I’ve seen them grow up, and have kids work for me that are the kids of the kids who used to work for me. Also there are a lot of friends I’ve made throughout my restaurants that I’ve seen grow up, get married, and have kids. It’s been a good experience to follow the path trough life with so many people,” Petersen said.
As he continues his career with Pizza Ranch, Petersen shared what he was most looking forward to.
“I want to make Red Oak successful, do some bigger and better things in the store, and bigger and being a part of the community,” Petersen commented.
Petersen added that he loves the opportunity to work with schools and other groups.
“We have just started some bake-at-home pizzas that people can use for fundraisers, and not everything has to be just for Red Oak. We’ve done things in Stanton, like school feeds, and we like to offer savings for teachers. I am more than happy to work with any of the schools in the area for any type of fundraiser they would be willing to bring to us. If we can make it work, we’ll make it work,” explained Petersen.
Jeff Van Schepen, vice president of business with Pizza Ranch, Inc. said that Petersen was exactly the person they  were looking for to operate the Pizza Ranch in Red Oak., and welcomed the opportunity for Peterson to co-own the Red Oak location.
“Tim’s experience in restaurants, and his successes he has had operating in the community of Red Oak, were a perfect fit. He deserved the opportunity to become an owner, and we are proud to have him as a partner.  Tim has also impacted our Paymaster Group, he’s the silent leader. He has re-faced the Pizza Ranch in Red Oak, and he has improved the restaurant in so many areas. Red Oak’s Pizza Ranch location will impact the community in a whole new way, with Tim Peterson leading the team,” commented Van Schepen.