Pizza Inn announced that its Executive Vice President of Marketing, Denise Pedini, has been named a finalist for “CMO of the Year” by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Pedini began working at Pizza Inn in 2013 during a pivotal time for the brand. Under Pedini’s leadership, “America’s Hometown Pizza Place” has experienced a turnaround with eight straight quarters of positive same store sales growth and 20 percent of restaurants experiencing double-digit growth.

Pedini has become one of DFW’s most notable food marketers and is only one of eight CMO’s to be nominated for this honor. She will be recognized at the Marketer of the Year Awards Gala on May 2. The Marketer of the Year Awards recognize excellence in marketing in the DFW area across 28 marketing categories, plus awards for overall Marketer of the Year, Collegiate Marketer of the Year and CMO of the Year.

“We are incredibly proud of Denise for all of her hard work and dedication to the Pizza Inn brand,” says Bob Bafundo, president of Rave Restaurant Group, Inc. “Denise is a marketing powerhouse and has been a huge part of Pizza Inn’s resurgence and success. The DFW area is full of successful brands and marketers, its truly a significant accomplishment to be given this recognition and no one deserves it more than Denise.”

Pizza Inn is known nationwide for its exceptional pizza and friendly service. The popular pizza chain’s original pizzas blend everyone’s favorite ingredients to create distinctively unforgettable flavor combinations with homemade pizza crust that is made fresh daily. For the restaurant nearest you, and more information on the entire menu, visit pizzainn.com.