Hayden Glaubius ’21 first heard about Missouri Western’s Center for Franchise Development while a student at Central High School in St. Joseph. This spring, after competing in the franchise competition and graduating from the Craig School of Business, he was awarded an Auntie Anne’s pretzel franchise. 

“It was always in the back of my head, and I was working towards it, and now seven years later, here we are today,” he said.

“Think about a kid that says, ‘I’m going to play major league baseball’ when he’s 12,” said Seth Lyons ’08, one of the judges and winner of the first franchise competition in 2009. “He’s our major league baseball player. It’s pretty cool.”

Glaubius, a management major, was one of 14 students in a senior-level applied business ownership class this spring that prepared business plans for the store. Two finalists presented them to a panel of judges that included Steven L. Craig and other business leaders, as well as representatives from Auntie Anne’s and alumni franchise winners. 

The franchise awarded to Glaubius is the 32nd store to be awarded through the program. Alumni currently own 51 stores across the country, employing more than 600 people and generating annual sales of approximately $29 million.

Steve Craig, Pam Klaus ’03, director of the Craig School of Business Center for Franchise Development, and Hayden Glaubius ’21 are pictured after the award announcement.