Paving For Pizza: How Domino’s Is Upstaging the Government

Caleb Tolin | June 12, 2018

Domino’s Pizza is as fed up with crappy infrastructure as we are. The company has started a new campaign called Paving for Pizza, where towns can get funding to fix their damaged roads.

Though the project isn’t likely to fix widespread infrastructure problems, it certainly brings attention to an issue that the government hasn’t handled well. William Galston, from the Brookings Institution, told Newsweek, “It’s part good PR, but it’s also a cry for help.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that it will cost $1 trillion for the federal government to fix the country's infrastructure crisis. On the campaign trail, now-President Trump mentioned several times that he wanted to fix our infrastructure, but his plan has been so slowly moving through Congress that little to no progress has been made.

But, as usual, where the government fails, the private sector steps up.

So far, Domino’s has helped three cities with their pothole problems: Burbank, Calif., Bartonville, Texas, and Milford, Del.

Milford City Planner Eric Norenberg, who was given $5,000 for repairs, said, “Having worked for smaller communities, I’ve learned not to hold my breath waiting for the federal government provide answers to infrastructure problems.”

So why is it that while we wait for Congress to sit around and make no decisions, a pizza company has to fix our roads? Because literally anyone can do anything better than the feds.