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JB MDL Commissary wins superstore award

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tara A. Williamson
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The Joint Base Commissary is the proud recipient of the 2014 Director's Award for the Best Superstore awarded by the Defense Commissary Agency.

To win, a store has to exceed DeCA's normal criteria for customer service, accountability, safety, operations and sales.

DeCA recognized ten commissaries worldwide, with first and second place winners for each category. Col. Frederick Thaden, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and 87th Air Base Wing commander, presented the award Aug. 19 to John Zoubra, Joint Base Commissary director, and Donna Chew, assistant commissary officer.

"I am extremely proud of all the Joint Base Commissary team members," Zoubra said. "Seeing their hard work and dedication pay off made any challenges worth it. Without all of them, such an achievement would not be possible."

The awards are meant to encourage commissaries to push their performance in daily operations and reach out to their current and potential customers, while striving for exceptional accountability, customer service, sales, fiscal responsibility, safety and innovation.

"Our commissaries worldwide deliver the commissary benefit every day, and these awards highlight the best examples of supporting our service members and their families," said Joseph Jeu, DeCA Director and CEO. "It's important to note that a Best Commissary award speaks to superior teamwork - a collaboration of excellence involving our employees, industry members (vendors, suppliers, and brokers) and military stakeholders."

Based on the evaluation criteria, Zoubra said, this award is challenging to earn. When the awards were announced, he said he was surprised and filled with pride at what his team had accomplished.

"Our commissary team strives each day to deliver ... grocery items at cost while enhancing quality of life and readiness," said Zoubra. "We have boundless passion in this business and it's our pleasure to do so.  All of us at the commissary thank our service members for their service."