Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 6, June 2003

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Cheeseburger U:

Scholarships offered by Dick's Drive-Ins

By JAMES BUSH

Would you like a college education with that cheeseburger?

At any given time, anywhere from 30 to 50 of Dick's Drive-Ins Inc.' 120 employees are attending college on the company's dime.

High school graduates who work for Dick's qualify for four years of college funding, provided they work through the summer, attend school full-time in the fall, and work at least 20 hours a week during the school year.

And the legendary North End burger-n-fries chain is seeking new scholars. High School grads (bring your diploma) who are hired at any of the five Dick's locations by June 30 are eligible to receive scholarships next fall.

"We're big believers in education," says Dick's Vice President Jim Spady, the son of company co-founder Richard "Dick" Spady. "Dick's Drive-Ins looks at itself as a transitional employer. We're trying to get people up some rungs on the ladder of success."

It's also smart business. In an industry in which employee turnover is a given, Dick's better pay and benefits help keep experienced workers on the job. The company's competitive edge, says Spady, is the quality of its people.

Greenwood resident Jackson Householder is finishing up his Associate of Arts and Sciences degree at Shoreline Community College and looking forward to transferring to a four-year school to study economics. He's also serving up burgers and fries at Dick's Holman Road restaurant.

"The program has really been a big help for me," says Householder. This quarter, his only school-related expense has been the $50 he had to pay for books. "If I didn't have the scholarship program to help me out, that probably would have cost me two-and-a-half weeks worth of work right there," he says. "That makes a huge difference when you're a student, and you don't have that much money."

A former manager at the company's Queen Anne and Lake City outlets, Householder has gone back to regular employee status in order to concentrate on his studies. A Dick's customer before he was hired there ("Sometimes I was just in that mood for a Deluxe," he says), Householder recalls the original attraction of working for the fast-food chain was the starting wage eight bucks an hour. (Dick's employees now start at $8.25 an hour and get a 50-cent raise after 12 weeks.)

Dick's employees can get $2,000 a year for schooling the first two years of college, and $4,000 a year for the next two, for a total of $12,000. Although the program is structured around students who spend two years at a community college and then move on to a four-year school, employees can choose to attend any local college or university, says Spady.