---
title: "Graze Craze Recognizes Top-performing Franchise Owners at First Brand Convention"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/215a3c0c-a5f9-47a1-a24a-37853eba56ac
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20230804_graze_craze_recognizes_topperforming_franchise_owners_at_first_brand_conven.html
category: "Retail"
industry: "Retail"
published: 2023-08-04T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T20:32:14.085Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1507679799987-c73779587ccf?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Graze Craze Recognizes Top-performing Franchise Owners at First Brand Convention

**TL;DR:** Graze Craze recognized top-performing franchise owners at its first brand convention, which featured workshops and networking opportunities. The convention included a Board Building Competition and an awards ceremony for top-performing owners.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2023-08-04. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20230804_graze_craze_recognizes_topperforming_franchise_owners_at_first_brand_conven.html).*

## Story

Keynote speakers brought inspiration and motivation. President Cory Hibbard announced the brand’s accomplishments and 2023 growth plans in his President’s Welcome, while Ray Titus, CEO of UFG, shared goals for the year and other inspirational thoughts in his CEO Message. Speaker Scott Mast, owner of Circo Who Furniture and former Vice President of Global Performance and Retail Marketing at UFG, shared with attendees “What I Know and What I Don’t Know.”

A highlight of the convention was a Board Building Competition, a relay event in which four teams competed to build the best charcuterie board. And at the farewell dinner, top-performing franchise owners were presented with awards, including:

- **President’s Award:** Cindy & Alan Rice (Spokane Valley, WA)

- **Rookie of the Year:** Brent & Samantha Stephens (Mt. Juliet, TN)

- **Most Valuable Player:** Donnie & Celeena Bedore (Southwest Fort Worth, TX)

- **Most Improved Award:** Pacific Bells (Oregon; Vancouver, WA; Las Vegas, NV)

- **Team Player Award:** Jigisha Patel (North Palm Beach, FL)

- Social Media Presence Award: Lindsey & Silas Coffelt (Okemos, MI)

Attendees left the convention inspired to realize the Graze Craze team’s strategy of multiplying national accounts and strategic partnerships, expanding offerings, and introducing new revenue streams.

Graze Craze is a member of the Starpoint Brands™ family of trusted companies, a division of United Franchise Group™ (UFG).

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Retail (sector)
- brand expansion (topic)
- United Franchise Group (UFG) (company)
- Ray Titus (person)
- franchise convention (topic)
- Graze Craze (company)
- awards ceremony (topic)
- Starpoint Brands (company)
- Cory Hibbard (person)
- Pacific Bells (company)

---
Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20230804_graze_craze_recognizes_topperforming_franchise_owners_at_first_brand_conven.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/215a3c0c-a5f9-47a1-a24a-37853eba56ac).