WARREN, Ohio -- These days, the Covelli name is becoming as well known for Sam Covelli’s activities outside of the company that bears his surname, Covelli Enterprises, as his business interests.

That name is on the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, the result of a naming rights deal renewed in 2013. The venue is the site of one of the region’s largest annual charity events, the Panerathon, which incorporates the name of the company with which he’s affiliated, Panera Bread, after being the largest independent franchisee of the McDonald’s chain. Covelli and his wife, Caryn, are prominent donors to many more charitable causes in the Mahoning Valley.

And, in a move that surprised many community leaders, the Warren businessman accepted a seat on the board of the embattled Western Reserve Port Authority when Trumbull and Mahoning County commissioners publicly discussed its dissolution and starting anew.

Giving back to community is one of two key lessons Covelli says his father, Albert, imparted. As an 8-year-old, he often went to work with his father.

“I loved it when my father took me to the restaurant,” he recalls. “I put on the McDonald’s hat and I tried to look like I was working in the store, and I loved the business. I really did.”

Growing up, Covelli worked weekends and summers at McDonald’s. “I worked my way up – my father believed in that – and I learned every position, every area in the restaurant, whether it was maintenance, anything. I was an associate, waited on customers,” Covelli says. “There was nothing today that I would ask someone else to do that I didn’t do myself.”

His father, who died last year, was disciplined and fair, he recalls. Store associates knew he demanded a lot and had high standards. “But at the same time, he was fair with everybody and they knew that,” he says. Along with giving back to the community, the other key lesson his father imparted is to never to take the customer for granted.

“We ran McDonald’s like it was special, even in those days. We didn’t look at it as just a fast-food restaurant,” Covelli says.

One example of that attitude was the opening of what was billed as the “Most Magnificent McDonald’s,” a three-story glass structure on North Road and East Market Street just inside Warren, adjacent to the Covelli Enterprises headquarters. 

In Erie, Pa., where the company operated McDonald’s restaurants, Covelli met the woman who would become his wife. She shared an apartment with a woman employed as a hostess there, and one night she joined her roommate’s co-workers at a local watering hole.

Covelli “took over the room a little bit,” she recalls. “He has a great sense of humor.”

The first time they met, Covelli told her he was going to marry her. “She thought I was crazy,” he says.

“I just laughed,” she adds. The couple dated three years before marrying.

In his early 30s, Sam Covelli became more of a leader in the company. Covelli Enterprises continued to grow and accumulate awards within McDonald’s, but eventually he saw his ability to expand was limited. He also saw studies showing that Americans’ tastes were shifting as they became “fussier” about what they ordered. 

“Our surveys were showing people wanted something that was fast-casual, that was a step above fast food from restaurants like McDonald’s,” he says. After coming across Panera in a magazine, Covelli and his father visited several Panera cafes before arranging to meet with company officials.

At the time, the Paneras were “little neighborhood cafes,” and the Covellis made clear that were they to become involved, they wanted to take it to the next level.

 “We just did everything we said we’d do,” opening Panera’s first high-volume store, Covelli recalls. “The next one was even bigger and we just started breaking all their records in volume.”

Today Covelli Enterprises operates about 280 Panera restaurants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Ontario, Canada. Covelli employs more than 25,000, including 2,000 in the Mahoning Valley.       

Lisa Schultz started with Covelli Enterprises at age 16, when it was still a McDonald’s franchisee, and remained as it made the transition. Today she serves as regional director of operations for Covelli’s Panera and Dairy Queen restaurants in the Mahoning Valley, Pittsburgh, Erie, Altoona and Johnstown, Pa., markets.

“It’s amazing how far we’ve come and how fast we’ve grown,” Schultz says. “I remember just starting off with a few cafes in this area.”

The company’s success enables it to become a leader in philanthropy. For more than two decades the company has been a key contributor to the local Toys for Tots campaign. In 2012, Covelli donated $10 million to the Ohio State University athletics department to support construction of a multi-sports arena.

Covelli doesn’t focus on any particular cause, he says, but directs his efforts “where there’s the most need at the time,” whether it’s children’s charities, autism or combating cancer. “The opportunities that we have as a successful business to continue to give back to the community, they’re all just as important,” he says.

This year marked the fifth year for the Panerathon, which has raised more than $1 million for the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center in Youngstown. More than 10,000 participated in this year’s event.

“It makes you feel like everybody in the community is there,” Covelli says. “I still get chills when I see that group leave for the first race.”

When someone asks why he lives in the community, “I take them to the Panerathon and say, ‘This is why I live here.’ Look at the support of the people in this area. When they make up their mind to get involved in a project, they really get together and do it right.”

Caryn Covelli is involved with children’s issues and the Beatitude House, among others. “My No. 1 cause right now and for many years has been the Trumbull County Animal Welfare League,” she says.

“The animals are really a priority for me because nobody takes care of them,” she continues. “If we don’t step up and take care of them, nobody will.”

Although he serves on other boards, Trumbull County commissioners appointing Covelli a director last August to the Western Reserve Port Authority, a body caught up in infighting, caught the attention of the public.

“It’s an opportunity to help this community,” Covelli says of his appointment. “Everybody is seeing that all we want to do is what’s right for the community.”

Covelli’s appointment had a “significant impact” on the port authority, says Ron Klingle, chairman of the port authority.

“It just let everyone know that the future of the port authority was going to be very different than it had in the past,” Klingle says. “It meant a lot, to me especially, for him to be willing to take the time out of his busy schedule to help our community.”   

“There’s a lot of work. It’s not easy,” Covelli acknowledges. “We’ve been putting a lot of time in and I told the commissioners when they appointed me, I’m not going to get on there to say I’m on the port authority board. I’m going on it to make a difference and everybody on that board right now wants to make a difference.”

Covelli used to enjoy golf but quit about seven years ago. “I don’t play anymore because the business was expanding so much, and I enjoy that and I’m traveling a lot,” he says. “I used to be a pretty good golfer but if I can’t play the way I used to and spend the time on it, I don’t want to do it.”

Now Covelli relaxes by doing things with his wife and their three children: Candace, who works in real estate in Manhattan; Albert, who handles the company’s stores in the Columbus and recently acquired Dayton markets; and Danielle, a sophomore at Ohio State.

“Caryn and I try to travel when we can,” he says. “I might even travel and tie business into traveling.” During a getaway to Florida in December, he planned to visit company stores there.

“He works very smart. He does work hard. Nothing good comes easy,” Caryn Covelli says. “He’s home for dinner most nights, believe it or not.”

“She’s very supportive of everything I do in business. It takes a special wife,” Covelli says.

Covelli also enjoys exercising to relieve stress, and his wife says he often watches football games back to back as he works out on the treadmill in the gym attached to their house.

The gym, which features an official NBA backboard, is linked to the main house by a corridor lined with autographed jerseys and other sports memorabilia.

“One wonderful attribute that Sam has is he has a fabulous sense of humor,” she says. “Whenever he walks into a room anywhere, he’s always the life of the party and he’s always fun and entertaining.”

Caryn Covelli says her husband also maintains a healthful diet. “He’s no fun to go out to eat with because he gets plain chicken, plain fish, plain vegetables and a salad. It’s irritating,” she laments. “I’m getting appetizers and sauces all over my food.” 

The Covellis’ son, Albert, is following in his father’s footsteps, as did his father. “He’s doing a terrific job and making my life a lot easier,” the elder Covelli says.

Even so, retirement is far off. Albert Covelli, Caryn notes, worked into his 90s.

“I love seeing people grow with the business,” he says. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Pictured: Caryn and Sam Covelli make their home in Warren. They are generous donors to many charitable causes in the Mahoning Valley.

Editor's Note: Sam Covelli is the third of four individuals profiled this January in our 'Most Intriguing People' series.

Copyright 2015 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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