On Tuesday, we had a great visit from Naveed Merchant. Naveed and his brother, Sameer, are the co-owners of the Papa John’s Pizza in Carlsbad. The two brothers from Houston worked their way up through the system. They’ve been owners and operators since 2005, and they own 35 Papa John’s across Texas and New Mexico. This makes them one of the top franchisees in the nation.
Naveed talked about originally setting up a pizza food truck in Carlsbad, but that was such a success that the brothers decided to open a restaurant here. Business is going very well, he said. They tell us they’ve got great employees and they are still looking to fill some vacancies. They plan a grand opening, but they have been so busy that they haven’t gotten to it yet. The Merchant brothers also have good connections with other business franchise owners. We know Papa John’s will continue to do well, and we believe that will help put Carlsbad on the radar for many other restaurants and retail options.
We look forward to showing Naveed and Sameer around Carlsbad when they have time. They are very interested in becoming more involved in our community. They’d love to have the town come by and say hello. Please join us in welcoming them to Carlsbad.
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Throughout the week, we’ve been listing a few of the many accomplishments of some of our students. Teachers, coaches and parents have been sending us more. Please keep them coming. You can always email local accomplishments you’d like to see in the update to mayor.office@cityofcarlsbadnm.com
Carlsbad High School’s track team is leaving Thursday for the state meet. We’ve listed the competitors on the girls’ side. Here are the boys.
Elia Asay, Ayden Bowman, Devin McWright, Dane Naylor, Bryce Owens, Helam Pedroza, Ian Sandoval, Chris Serna and Ty Shores. Best of luck to all of these competitors.
We have also been informed that Carlsbad High School’s culinary arts students won state and competed in Washington this past week, where they did an outstanding job.
We also have a huge number of local band achievements. This is not a surprise- as we have a great band that excels at everything it does.
Recently, the CHS Winter Guard and CHS Percussion Ensemble competed in the Caprock Color Guard Circuit. Both groups placed second. The CHS Jazz Band competed in April at the District Jazz Band competition and placed third. The CHS Varsity Band achieved an overall Superior rating during their April competition in Hobbs.
The achievements of band members extend well beyond these competitions, however, and into academics and community involvement. Congratulations to Ken Young and Robert Galindo for having such an excellent program.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway