Joe Tortorice, Lamar University Distinguished Alumnus and founder of Jason’s Deli, made a lasting impression as the featured speaker of Lamar University’s Beta Gamma Sigma spring banquet last year. He will be attending the banquet again this year, but in a much different role.
Tortorice has been selected by the national business honor society as a recipient of the 2008 Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneurship award. He will be presented the award at the Lamar chapter’s spring banquet in April.
The Lamar chapter nominated Tortorice because of his upstanding business practices and involvement with the university. In addition to speaking at last year’s banquet, Tortorice serves on the board of advisors to the College of Business and is well-known throughout the college.
“Joe is a very deserving individual who runs his company based on integrity and devotion to mankind. He is a huge advocate of education and is well-known at Lamar. His business, Jason’s Deli, embodies the ideals of Beta Gamma Sigma, and all these elements combined made him a wonderful candidate for the medallion,” said Elizabeth Hernandez of Nederland, the senior accounting major who developed Tortorice’s nomination packet.
“I am delighted that Joe has been chosen as a recipient of the Medallion for Entrepreneurship,” said Henry Venta. “In the last five years only 12 individuals nationwide have received this prestigious award. This is a tremendous recognition for Joe and his business, and as Joe would surely say, all of the people that have helped him along the way. We are proud to call Joe one of our own at Lamar University.”
Tortorice founded Jason’s Deli in November 1976 when he opened the original location in Beaumont’s Gateway Shopping Center. His wife, Shelley, and other family members ran the deli during the day while Tortorice was tied up at his full-time job. In addition to administrative duties, he worked lunches, nights and weekends to get the business on its feet.
Through hard work and passion for his restaurant, Tortorice turned a single, family-run deli into the thriving 180-restaurant business it is today. Jason’s Deli has locations in 23 states from Virginia to California. Tortorice is the president and CEO of Deli Management Inc., which owns 100 locations and is headquartered in Beaumont. The remaining 80 locations are franchise-owned.
The original 12-item menu has transformed into a variety of sandwiches, salads, soups and more, free of trans-fats. Jason’s Deli has received numerous awards in the past 32 years and most recently received the 2007 Restaurant and Institutions’ Consumers Choice in Chains Gold Award in the sandwich segment. To this day, Jason’s Deli continues to be a family enterprise, with daughter, Ashley, serving as director of customer relations, son, Rob, as a regional manager and son, Jay, a franchisee.
Prior to opening Jason’s Deli, Tortorice served two years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He earned a master of business administration from Lamar University in 1971, after completing his bachelor of business administration in marketing from Texas A&M University in 1970. Tortorice is a 1966 graduate of Monsignor Kelly High School.
The Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneurship honors outstanding individuals who combine innovative business achievement with service to humanity; it provides recognition to individuals and businesses that contribute significantly to the vitality and strength of the economy.
Beta Gamma Sigma was formed in 1913 when representatives from the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California united their schools’ individual clubs to form a national honor society. Beta Gamma Sigma’s mission is to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business, to foster personal and professional excellence, to advance the values of society and to serve its lifelong members. Membership in the society is the highest recognition a business student can achieve in a business program accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International. More than 480,000 individuals worldwide have accepted membership into Beta Gamma Sigma.
For more information about Beta Gamma Sigma and the Entrepreneurship Medallion visit www.betagammasigma.org or for information about Jason’s Deli visit www.jasonsdeli.com.
