Congratulations to this year’s ambitious team members who are taking advantage of the scholarships we have to offer! The following individuals applied for one of two options: the Border Foods Scholarship or the Carol Williams Scholarship, named in honor of our late, great vice president of operations(learn more about Carol).
Border Foods supports YOU in your pursuit of higher education!
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of the following individuals:
$12,500 Carol Williams Scholarship Recipients
Alivia Brainard, Northland, MI Eric Dobberstein, Winona, MN Madeline Helton, Cedar Springs, MI Mariam Abdalla, Woodbury, MN
$8,000 Border Foods Scholarship Recipients
Ariana Abad Romero, Blaine, MN Caleb Galvan, Albion, MI Logan Gross, Little Falls, MN Nichole Dittbrender, Superior, WI Quinn Ohlemacher-Lonetti, Buffalo, MN Theodore Skare, Stewartville, MN
Interested in applying? We’ve got all the details here. Check back in early 2025 to find out next year’s application deadlines.
Jose Jimenez immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. when he was 26 years old. Of all the places he could land, he says he came straight to Minnesota at the prompting of a friend. Once he got to here, everything just fell into place.
Jose joined Border Foods in March 2006 as a Cleaning Captain at our Woodbury Taco Bell, where relatives of his already worked. Today, this great guy leads the very same restaurant where he started 18 years ago, serving as Woodbury’s Restaurant General Manager(RGM).
It’s happiness, it’s joy for me to go to work.
Jose Jimenez, RGM
“When I first came, I don’t speak any English,” he shares.“People talk to me and I have no idea what they say … but you know, it was a good challenge to me.”
He says he picked up right away on how great Border Foods treated its people.
“I feel like family all the time,” Jose says. And he wanted to be a part of it!
Despite the language barrier and initial lack of local connections, Jose says that his co-workers and bosses at Border Foods have always been very supportive, pointing out his potential and encouraging him to climb higher.
Tempted By Tacos
Josestarted making tacos about a year after joining the company — and according to him, it was about time! He remembers being frustrated that he wasn’t being given a chance to learn and then, someone on the team called in sick.
“I really, really want to make food because it looks so cool,” he remembers.“People … working with their hands and be able to, to serve others.”
Jose got his big chance and never looked back. He became a Food Champion and eventually, got promoted to Shift Lead and Assistant General Manager(AGM). And then, he hesitated. He didn’t want to become an RGM at first; he was concerned about the extra responsibility and pressure. As an AGM, he says, he could still leave work at work.
Ready To Be RGM
As a loyal, hard working leader, it seems Jose couldn’t resist that next promotion forever. He became RGM at Woodbury six years ago and in his words, it’s been“life changing” for his family.
Once Jose became manager and received a pay upgrade, he says his wife was able to stop working to stay home with their kids. But, he admits, it’s not all about the money. Jose shares that he was once pursued by another company that tried offering him higher pay, but he’s found something special at Border Foods.
“It was about the way that Border Foods treat[s] me,” he says.“That they always like, always care aboutme, they know my wife by name ...”
And now, Jose, passes on that care to his team. He says he enjoys talking to people, relating to them and genuinely cares. He’s met many friends through work, and feels close to our other restaurant leaders.
To win the BOTB trip, a restaurant needs to achieve certain metrics as a team. It’s one way we try to show our sincere appreciation for folks like Jose.
“The trip is amazing, you know,” Jose says.“It feels like all the work you do over the year in some way, it’s paid off.”
Even though BOTB is all about the metrics, Jose indicates that the second time around becomes more natural.
“We were not looking for a number,we were working and enjoying what we’re doing, and the reward came along,” he shares.“That was the best part … it just came together, the work we did.”
I’m enjoying working for Border Foods … this is one of my best experiences in my life.
Jose Jimenez, RGM
The best part for us is, Jose seems genuinely happy in his role. He says that he can see himself staying put as a manager for the rest of his career.
“Not many people can say they enjoy what they’re doing,” he says.“I’m happy to get up at four o’clock in the morning, every day, and go to work.” And we’re happy to have you, Jose!
Recognition is one of the pillars to success here at Border Foods, which is why our annual“Best of the Best(BOTB)” reward trip is a company highlight! While in Mexico for BOTB, we caught up with Area Coach Angela Love-Hamlin while she was basking in the glow of a job well done.
What’s Angela’s Mexico vibe?“Having the time of my life with my friends,” she effuses.“I’m excited to be here!”
I love the company!
Angela Love-Hamlin, Area Coach
Like any good coach, Angela recognizes that success is a team effort. She’s quick to give ashoutout tothe Taco Bell crew in Area 36, the“Quad Cities Squad”:“I’m so proud of you guys!”
Angela’s goal for the rest of 2024 is to get more of her team to Mexico next year.“This is our year baby, let’s go!” she says. Consider that your Coach Angela pep talk!
Here at Border Foods, we’re proud to provide opportunity to team members of diverse backgrounds and nationalities throughout our many Taco Bells. Meet Shift Manager Vanessa Green, who knew little English when she joined our company 24 years ago. Now, she’s essential to restaurant operations at our Edinburgh Centre Taco Bell in Brooklyn Park, MN.
Taco Bell is my second home.
Vanessa Green, Shift Manager
Vanessa has been an incredible asset to her restaurant team while leading with a warm smile, positivity and engaging attitude. Early in her career, she quickly became one of the fastest on the line pulling together food orders while greeting guests by name. Her teamwork and work ethics are phenomenal!
In honor of this fast food veteran, here are some fast facts about Vanessa!
Year hired: 2000 Years of service: 24 Referred by: Older sisters First location: Rogers, MN First job: Making tacos on the line Currently at: Edinburgh Centre, Brooklyn Park Typical shift: Morning Fave part of job: Working on the line Team strengths: Helpful, works together Her boss: Very nice! Appreciates: Training, instructions, opportunities Fave menu item:Cheesy Gordita Crunch In her own words: “The company is excellent.” “I’m happy in my job.”
Each year, the Taco Bell Foundation donates money to youth-serving organizations in areas where Taco Bell does business.These contributions are made possible by generous customers, Taco Bell team members and franchise owners to support local charities.
Funds raised in local communities stay in local communities, bolstering the impactful work our partners are doing every day. -Taco Bell Foundation
Border Foods is honored to be a recipient of the Foundation’scommunity grants! With restaurants in six states, our giving is spread out across the country. While geographically diverse, one theme remains the same: We want to serve our communities through generosity. We’re so much more than tacos!
As leaders in the QSR industry, it’s our responsibility to give where we can and support our communities.
Mollie Sommer, Community Engagement & Outreach Specialist
Our favorite local organizations received over $1.6 million in community grants. In total, Taco Bell Foundation gave out $23 million in grants! Below is a breakdown of the distribution of funds to our favorite local organizations. Thank you to all who helped make giving back possible!
Susanna“Susy” Gonzalez is an Assistant General Manager(AGM) for Border Foods’ Maple Grove, MN Taco Bell location who boasts 22 impressive years of service to the brand. We simply had to sit down with Susy and figure out her recipe for career success!
Susy began working as a crew member at our Brooklyn Center, MN location. After only one month on the job, she was well on her way up the career ladderand got promoted to manager. Three months later, she became an AGM. Susy worked at a couple other Twin Cities Taco Bell restaurants before settling in Maple Grove over six years ago.
Before joining Taco Bell, Susy worked in the hospitality industry, so she knows a thing or two about working with people. What sets Border Foods apart, Susy shares, is the training we offer our employees, as well as our family atmosphere.
I believe Border Foods cares about all[of]their employees.
Susy Gonzalez, AGM
Family FriendlyCulture
The family atmosphere is something Susy strives to maintain with her team.“When I come in, I hug everybody and when I leave, I hug everybody — no matter what,” she says.“I treat them like family.”
As a manager with a natural inclination to be a hard worker, Susy leads by example. She knows it makes a big difference when the team all works together.
“If they see me working hard, they will do the same thing,” she says.
Susy also makes an effort to make sure her team feels appreciated. Every month, the Maple Grove location has a party for their crew as a way of saying“thank you” for a job well done.
“We appreciate all[of]the hard work they are doing for us,” she shares.
It’s the best place to work.
Susy Gonzalez, AGM
Opportunity Is Knocking
Susy cites Border Foods’ many opportunities for career advancement as another item on the pros list for company loyalty. She has three team members currently training to move up to management roles!
If the saying,“we rise by lifting others” is true, then Susy is definitely in the right place!“I just love to work for Taco Bell,” she says. And we love having you as part of the team, Susy!
Market Training Manager(MTM) Maria Flores has been with Border Foods for 27 faithful years, spending a third of that time leading one of our most challenging restaurant locations(Franklin and Cedar avenues, now closed).
Maria began her career with Taco Bell in California and says that it’s the promise of more opportunity that moved her with the brand to Minnesota in the’90s.
And opportunities are what she landed! A young, eager Maria started as a team member at our South Minneapolis location on 41st Avenue and Lake Street. About six months later, she was promoted to Shift Leader. Then, when the manager position became available, she says it was hers if she could prove to company leaders that she was ready to run a restaurant on her own. If not, there was still the Assistant General Manager(AGM) position.
From the time I started, there was opportunity.
Maria Flores, MTM
Not surprisingly, like many of our people who feel supported to climb higher, Maria rose to the occasion and took on Franklin’s Restaurant General Manager(RGM) role. She stayed at that level of management until her recent promotion to MTM. To her, the career ascension seemed“very fast,” as she skipped the entire AGM rung on our career ladder.
Through every transition, Maria says she’s always liked working with different types of people and guests, which now seems like a foreshadowing of what was to come!
The Frenzy At Franklin
Maria is a revered restaurant leader at Border Foods — and she’s earned all that admiration! After all, she managed our now shuttered Franklin Taco Bell for over a decade. As the story goes, she carried the Franklin location through an unreal number of challenges: the period of unrest following George Floyd’s death, the day-to-day business impacts of a pandemic, increasing homelessness and drug use on the sidewalks outside, and ongoing safety concerns for both employees and guests.
She says the neighborhood setting wasn’t always like that:“Itwas fine at the beginning.” But eventually, it all became a lot to juggle!
“It was a challenge to be running that store,” she says.“It was bad … people, you know, hanging around the store … people sleeping outside doing drugs …”
Ironically, she says the Franklin team managed to maintain pretty good metrics for the company despite increasing concerns about the area and changing demographics.
But Maria stuck around. To her, Border Foods is a great company with great benefits. And that matters! Health care and bonuses have been important to her. Maria also mentions the significance of being recognized for achieving restaurant goals. Yes, we like to treat high performers with reward trips!
It’s a very cool company, a lot of benefits … you feel like you are working with family around.
Maria Flores, MTM
When company leadership decided to finally close the Franklin Taco Bell, eight of Maria’s team members followed her to the next restaurant. It’s a testament to Maria’s leadership that she’s humbled by. Colleagues followed her to our Highway 7 location for training and then to a brand new restaurant at Holiday Lane in Eagan, MN, where she transitioned from RGM to MTM in March.
Holiday Lane opened in 2022 and Maria says it’s beautiful. There’s still room for additional development in the area, but currently there’s a Holiday gas station, Amazon warehouse and Minnesota Vikings’ TCO training facility nearby.
Change Is Good
Maria says the Holiday Lane location serves up tacos to a very“nice crowd.”
“I’m more happy than what I was before,” she shares candidly. Maria enjoys her new role and says her main goal is to win the Best of the Best trip again. We say, go for it!
Golden Bell is Taco Bell’s premier restaurant leadership award. To be selected among 8,000 restaurant managers and only 24 Area Coaches(ACs) nationwide is exceptional and we’re proud of the 11 individuals here at Border Foods who won this year. These special people have just returned from their celebratory trip to Hawaii!
This lifetime experience is available to all general managers.
Gay Demaree, Director of Operations
According to Gay Demaree, our Director of Operations, what’s especially exciting about this year’s winners is that we not only had eight Restaurant General Managers(RGMs) named to the top 100+ list, but three of only 24 ACs across the entire Taco Bell system were from Border Foods!
For context, there were no ACs from our company on the 2022 list and only one the previous year.
“That’s a really big deal,” Gay says.“Top 24 Area Coaches must have at least one Signature Restaurant in the Top 200 and achieve an“A” letter grade for their area.”
Letter grades, Gay says, speak to an AC’s consistency in performance across all of the restaurants in an area. Octavia Erickson from Area 2 doubles down on the accolades — she’s our AC of the Year, too!
Managers Make Más Happen
As for the stellar GMs who made Golden Bell, Border Foods is honored to have so many within our ranks. Selected managers also need to achieve“signature status” by following brand standards, committing to 5-star restaurant performance all year long, and maintaining a clear focus on people, guests, the fundamentals and sales.
“Golden Bell is Taco Bell’s way of adding más flavor to recognition culture by celebrating the success of the“best of the best” restaurants and leaders across the system,” Gay shares.
As a company, let the record stand, we support our finest leaders in celebrating their achievements in big, bold ways! Beyond the brand’s Golden Bell accolade, Border Foods hosts its own annual“Best of the Best” reward trip to honor our top performers.
Congratulations to the following purveyors of operational and brand excellence!
General Managers
Area Coaches
Brittany Caldwell* Daniel Mulhair* Gayle Grigsby Jose Jimenez* Kaci Denman Lindsay Wuhrman* Paula Volenski* Tamaran Carlson
Heather Aos, Area 31* Hillary Roelse, Area 23 Octavia Erickson, Area 2*(also Border Foods’ AC of the Year!)
*Lucky to be treated to Border Foods’ Best of the Best trip in Cancún, Mexico, AND Taco Bell’s all-expenses-paid Golden Bell escape to Hawaii!
Border Foods’ Best of the Best 2024 reward trip represented a series of“firsts” for Restaurant General Manager(RGM) Skyla Behm: It was the first time she’s been to Mexico AND the first time leaving her 10 month-old baby girl. Skyla admits it was a challenge to leave the baby. Good thing she’s always up for a challenge!
Per Skyla’s own admission, the Rice Street Taco Bell location she manages can be difficult at times, but her hard–working team helped bring the restaurant from 116th place to the top 50, all while she was away on maternity leave!
“Honestly, I have my team to thank for this,” she shares.“They really went above above and beyond.”
Aside from R&R(emphasis on the rest, we imagine, with an infant at home), Skyla’s focus for her week away was to get to know new people and broaden her horizons — all with her little sister in tow as her“plus one”!
Ed Heskett has been our Loss Prevention Manager since May 2012, but to many, he’s“Mr. Ed” and so much more. As Ed prepares for retirement and handing the reigns over to Area Coach Logan Alderson, he remains revered for being a wonderful listener, friend and conversationalist, and a humble and trustworthy leader.
“Ed is what I like to call a‘Border Foods soldier,’” company President Aaron Engler says.“He’s part of the family and our culture.”
“He treats everyone like an extension of his family,” shares Brian Davies, VP of Facilities.
Border Foods is a special place to be.
Ed Heskett, Retiring Loss Prevention Manager
Throughout the many years and variety of roles Ed has taken on at Border Foods, he’s always been a role model of Border Foods’ core values. In fact, it’s hard to pin just one value to him. Chief People Officer Sharla Hennek says Ed represents integrity, accountability and excellence, and“always does what he says he will do.”
“Ed shows the utmost integrity in our restaurants and the office,” Brian says.
What’s Ed’s perspective?“It really starts with family, not accountability,” he says.“You can’t have family without teamwork, accountability, integrity … that’s always been where I start.”
Actually, Where He Really Started …
Ed’s career in foodservice began in 1973 when he was a bus boy and dish washer for an iconic burger chain. He went on to secure Above Restaurant Leader(ARL) positions, including franchise consultant there, then, at Wendy’s, Taco Bell Corporate, Boston Market and finally Border Foods.
He first joined our beloved brand in 1986, when he was hired by Taco Bell Corporate as a District Manager, overseeing six restaurants in Detroit, MI. Eventually the role expanded, giving him responsibility over 14 locations, and then there was talk of taking on 30! Ed claims he“wasn’t qualified” to oversee 30 Taco Bells and in 1991, his position was eliminated.
Approached next by Wendy’s, for whom he had previous ARL experience, he returned as a District Manager and later Director of Operations for the brand. Following his time with Wendy’s, Ed transitioned over to Boston Market first as a District Manager, then Regional Director of Operations, which took Ed and his family to Minneapolis. He says this was a turbulent period in his career as Boston Market eventually fell into bankruptcy. In March 1999, Ed was let go:“You can’t be a Regional Director of Operations without restaurants,” he says.
Boston Market’s COO implored him not to settle, saying something like,“Don’t do something that you’ve done before … find a new brand. Minneapolis is a mecca for new brands.” Then, a local recruiter mentioned Border Foods.
“I absolutely fell in love with Carol’s vision,” he says fondly. Co-founder Lee Engler remembers it similarly:“Ed was eager to be part of the newly formed Border team, led by Carol.”
After another round of interviews, Border Foods surprisingly, rejected him. A few days later, company personnel changed their mind and invited him back! Ed became the first above -restaurant leader hired from outside Border Foods. On realistic job preview day, he remembers walking into a Taco Bell that was short-handed and jumping into action. By the time the Senior District Manager arrived, Ed was already running the register.
“It was like I’d never left!” Ed quips. Current Senior Safety & Risk Manager Juli Sargent(also a Senior District Manager at the time) became his first supervisor. Fast forwarding through the years, Ed went on to serve as a District Manager, Area Coach and Area Manager(now called Region Coach) before assuming the role he’s preparing to depart.
I made a career out of Border Foods by saying‘yes.’
Famous words by Ed Heskett
After many years in restaurant operations and management, Carol approached him about loss prevention in early 2012.
”Ed had great knowledge of the systems and tools used in the restaurants, so it was easy for him to know where to look for losses, develop solutions to issues and mitigate risk,” says Sharla of Ed’s qualifications.
Passionate About Preventing Loss
Loss prevention quickly became Ed’s passion. He says there were a few years when he was asked to split time between Border Foods and Delagat, being intimately involved in developing Delagat’s Guard and Detect loss prevention tools. But once he returned to Border Foods full time, Ed built Border Foods’ Loss Prevention Department from the ground up, his greatest contribution to the company. Lee says he’s the best in the business!
“Our loss metrics are among the best in the Taco Bell System,” Ed shares. A sampling of Ed’s incredible work:
He developed a process to certify our managers to be loss prevention auditors(at time of print, includes 20);
Every single restaurant received an audit in 2023;
According to him, 800 people have taken loss prevention classes since 2018; and
Armored car safes — which could save“hundreds of thousands of dollars in time and loss” — are being deployed for every location, a Border Foods standard.
“You feel safer knowing Ed is there for you whether it’s loss prevention or anything you need,” Brian says.
Ed says he’s grateful for the leadership and friendship of many; he’ll miss the people and relationships the most. Frequent travel to restaurants companywide has afforded him the opportunity to interact with teams all across the country.
“I’m proud to be one of the very few people in the company that everybody knows,” he says.
“I’m looking forward to retirement, not necessarily looking forward to not working,” he admits. His plans include plenty of reading, domestic travel, cycling, boating, fishing, volunteering and chasing around his 15 grandchildren. Sounds like Ed will be busier than the Taco Bell lunch rush!
