Out of the projects, Emir Lopez returns to give back.

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Name: Emir Lopez

Company: Domino's Pizza

Number of Units: Two

Locations: East Harlem, N.Y.

Years in Franchising: Since 1996

When Emir Lopez was ready to open his first Domino's Pizza store, he could have done it anywhere. But after working his way out of the James Weldon Johnson Project in East Harlem, New York, Emir decided the best place to open that store was right in the neighborhood he had come from.

Born in Puerto Rico, Emir came to New York when he was four, brought over by his mother. He was raised in the Weldon Project, a cluster of ten, 14-story buildings in the heart of East Harlem, known as Spanish Harlem. During his youth, Emir focused on education as the way to get out and make a better life for himself.

"I wanted to be financially independent," Emir says. "I wanted to enjoy life, and I knew I had to work hard to get there." The path he took, however, was not the one he expected.

Emir worked his way through the New York Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in architecture. He landed a job after graduation and was on his way until he was laid off which often happens in tough economic times. Disillusioned, Emir gave up architecture and went in search of something else.

"I thought I would go into the food business, because I really love food--I love to eat," he says. "I wanted to get into restaurants with the idea of owning my own one day."

Still paying for his architecture degree, he decided not to take on more debt for additional schooling. By happenstance, he saw an ad for a manager-in-training position at Domino's Pizza.

Hired as a manager-in-training, Emir plunged himself into the job, often working up to 80 hours in a week. "People at first thought I was crazy to take a job making $4.15 an hour, especially because I was in debt from college. But I decided to bite the bullet and pay my dues. Within six months, I was a general manager."

Emir managed the shop at 89th Street and Third Avenue for more than three years before deciding he was ready to open his own store. Domino's Pizza was expanding rapidly at the time, and opportunities existed throughout the United States and across the globe. Emir's choice for his first store: East Harlem, where no other delivery business had ventured to this point.