By Bill Lascher - Staff Writer
Pacific Coast Business Times

Successful enterprises can often tout a team of well-balanced leaders among their assets. For the owners of the chain of Domino's Pizza, it just happens that the leaders are related. Established in 1989, Hishmeh Enterprise Inc. has grown from a team of two brothers operating the pizza giant struggling Santa Paula outfit to 12 locations in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Along the way, the brother, Sam and Wael Hishmeh, have enlisted the talents of their siblings and parents to grow the business and plant strong roots in the communities in which they operate. They also now count 250 employees who have helped the company earn more than $11 million in sales. "With our size, we're very fortunate to have each other because every one of my family members brings something different to the table," Sam Hishmeh, the company's president, said. "We're all college-educated with different backgrounds."

Sam began as a delivery driver for Domino's after he came to the Los Angeles area from the family's native country Jordan to attend ITT Technical Institute.

A year after Sam arrived, Wael - now the Hishmeh's vice president of operations for the Santa Barbara market - came to the United States to study and also started delivering pizza. Eventually Sam became store manager. Shortly, thereafter, the two had the opportunity to buy the Santa Paula store. The two rotated responsibilities: one drove, the other managed the store and then the next day they reversed the roles.

Right about that time another brother - Husam - came to the States. His brothers quickly brought Husam to work for them. The decision to bring him in as partner was "automatic," Sam said. Husam is now Vice President for the Ojai and Ventura store.

It was also an automatic decision for the brothers to enlist their parents at their growing business - their second location was an Ojai Domino's purchased in 1991 - when they arrived.

"My books were at the time in a total mess," Sam Hishmeh said. "Naturally, my dad started establishing some kind of bookkeeping for us."

Nick, the eldest Hishmeh son, came to the United States about a decade ago and join as the final partner. He now serves as Hishmeh Enterprise's chief information officer.

Their mother also helps do some of the books, and Sam's wife, Lena, runs the company's human resources department.

Meanwhile, the youngest Hishmeh children - Ghada and Tareq - have found their own niches at the company. Gahda earned her marketing degree from California State University, Northridge and is now vice president of operations for the family's owned Oxnard, Fillmore and Santa Paula stores. Tarequ, a 2004 graduate of Loyola Law School, is now the company's legal counsel in addition to his work with the Ventura-based law firm of Hathaway, Perrett.

Together, the family works together to make a connection between their community in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and the nationwide Domino's brand.

"The owners of your local Domino's pizza store are part of this community," Sam Hishmeh said. "They go to school here; they shop here; and they spend their money here." Hishmeh said, "that's the only way he and his family were able to survive as a business was to become involved with the community." He advises other businesses to do likewise.

"That's where your money is," he said. "You can do all the advertising that you want in the world and that can only take you so far. If you want to reach the next level of success you have to go out and reach out to the local non-profits and organizations. You have to belong to the community."

"The involvement has to be sincere," he said, "and Hishmeh Enterprises has become involved with organizations the family has been touched by." They include the Boys & Girls Club, the Make a Wish Foundation, Pleasant Valley Neighborhood Learning, the Rotary Club, Foodshare and St. Jude's Children's Hospital.

The family also has supported a number of private and public schools in the Tri-Counties.

"They are short on funds," Sam Hishmeh said. "Many teachers are looking into their own pockets."

The commitment to education is clear in the family's own practices. Despite the involvement of so many family members in Hishmeh's business, none of the 13 children that make up the next generation of the family will be pressured into joining the company.

"Every one of them fully understands that his focus has to continue to be on higher education," Sam Hishmeh said. "They can study or major in whatever they choose to. They don't have to join the family business. I'm sure a few of them will."