Local Panera Bread restaurants are expanding — and they’re hiring, too

Covelli Enterprises, the largest franchisee of Panera Bread nationwide and the operator of all Dayton-area Panera bakery-cafes, says it is "expanding its footprint across Ohio" and is looking to hire as many as 200 more employees across the Miami Valley to help make that expansion happen.

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The company will host a hiring event from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at its store at 2500 Miamisburg-Centerville Road near the Dayton Mall. Officials with the Warren, Ohio-based Covelli said in a release that the company currently employs more than 32,000 people and is focusing on growth in Southwest Ohio.

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Covelli officials cited a “tremendous growth in sales volume in Dayton, due partiality to the addition of Panera’s delivery service,” as the driving factor behind the hiring event.

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Company officials said they are looking to hire about 200 new employees ranging from restaurant managers and bakers to catering coordinators, delivery drivers and hourly associates. Interested persons should apply at the store between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Applications are also being accepted online at www.panerabread.jobs.

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Covelli Enterprises owns and operates 13 Panera Bread bakery-cafe locations in the Dayton region, and more than 315 in eight states.

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In the last three years, Covelli and Panera have opened new restaurants in Huber Heights, Englewood and Butler County, and have launched delivery of small orders from most of its local bakery-cafes. It also opened a bakery facility in West Chester in 2015.

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