RNR Tire Express concluded its 20th annual franchise conference in Orlando, where it honored a franchisee with its first Lifetime Achievement Award.
With nearly 300 in attendance, it’s here that franchisees, store managers, corporate team members, operators and vendors converged for the chance to discuss the franchise experience, and the impact they’ve had on communities nationwide.
Tony Raffo, an RNR franchisee with 24 locations across the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. A franchisee since 2004, Raffo was amongst the first franchise partners to join the company following its launch in 2000. Today, he continues to expand his business under the RNR franchise with plans to add three more stores in 2023.
“I can think of few moments more humbling or memorable in my nearly two decades with the franchise than this,” Raffo said. “RNR gave me the chance to pursue the entrepreneurial lifestyle I’d always wanted, with a business model that allowed me to reach greater depths of success than I ever anticipated could be reached.”
“Tony has been a pioneer in the RNR franchise, exemplifying the commitment to community and customers that we’ve built our entire culture around,” said Larry Sutton, founder/CEO of RNR Tire Express. “His role in helping advance the brand across the country, as well as his ability to provide guidance to new and existing franchisees, make him an integral part of our development and, above all else, the deserving recipient for such an award.”
The yearly gathering affords the RNR corporate team the opportunity to recognize the milestones, developments and growth achieved by franchisees throughout the system. Other honors awarded at the conference this year included Franchisee of the Year, Faye Sutton Woman of the Year and Rookie of the Year, to name a few, RNR Tire Express said.
