Jordan Kotowski will celebrate his fifth anniversary as owner of Abe’s Hot Dogs this month, an anniversary he attributes to the support of the Mountain Top community.
“They support me every single day,” the 24-year-old Kotowski said of the community support. “Without the community, I wouldn’t be here.”
To celebrate his fifth anniversary, Abe’s will hold $1 hot dog day on Feb. 4.
Kotowski recalled the day he met with former owners Gary Parks and Sandy Weitoish to discuss the purchase of the business. “They asked me ‘Do you have what it takes (to run a restaurant)?’,” he related. “My answer was ‘I think I do’.”
The young restauranter found the key to running a successful business was hard work and dedication. He pointed out that, shortly into the third year of his operation of Abe’s, the business was forced to close for one month due to COVID-19 restrictions. He then began to offer takeouts only for several months.
“If it wasn’t for the community supporting us back then, we wouldn’t be here,” he reiterated.
Kotowski is well known throughout Mountain Top for giving back to the community.
That’s one of the reasons he was named the Small Business Administration’s Eastern Pennsylvania District Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2022.
Kotowski was nominated for the award by Kristin Sassi, consultant manager at the Wilkes University Small Business Development Center. Sassi emphasized Kotowski’s community involvement in her nomination of him for the award. She pointed to Kotowski’s continuous generosity to local organizations, fundraisers, municipality police, fire fighters and other community first responders.
Kotowski credited the hard work of his employees for his success.
“It’s my ship,” he said of the restaurant. “But its my employees who make the ship run.”
