District Managers - Our Support Team
California - San Diego
California - Orange County

Reza Parshekofteh
District Manager - Our Daily Bread Orange County
Reza started with Panera Bread in March of 2007 and joined Manna Development Team in January of 2009. In the past 7 years Reza has seen the size of his district double from 7 bakery cafés to 14 bakery cafes. Prior to working with Manna Development, Reza held District Manager positions with Au Bon Pain, Johnny Rockets, California Bread as well as working with Corner Bakery. Reza earned a Degree in Civil Engineering from Leeds Polytechnic in Leeds, England.
Reza is married to a beautiful wife, has a daughter in college and a 4 year old son who keeps him on his toes. Reza used to play soccer for his college back in England and still enjoys supporting the Liverpool Football Club, He also loves to travel and visit new places.
California - Los Angeles
Michigan
Alex Lindholm
District Manager - I94 Corridor Alex joined the Manna team in January 2006 , initially serving as Training General Manager of the Rivertown Crossings bakery café. Alex was promoted to DIstrict Manager of our Lakeshore district and eventually took over the I-94 district which includes the Michigan City, IN bakery cafe. Alex says his passion is to create and embody a Heart of Service and a Passion for Achievement in himself and his teams. Prior to joining the Manna team, Alex worked in the casual dining food service industry, most extensively as a Training General Manager with TGIFriday’s. Along with being the proud father of Nicholas, Cassandra, and Katherine, he enjoys both contemplative practices and vigorous outdoor activity. |
Michelle DeLuca
District Manager - Lakeshore Michelle started with Panera in November of 2010 as a General Manager of our Alpine bakery cafe before becoming the Regional Training Manager for Bread of Life. Now Michelle works as one of our District Managers in the Grand Rapids and Lakeshore area. Prior to Panera, Michelle worked for an Applebee's franchisee for 17 years where she worked as Regional Training Manager for the last eight years that she was with them. Michelle and her husband Don live in Grandville with their two daughters and their dog Lando. She and her family enjoy spending time on their boat in Grand Haven and out on Lake Michigan. Time with family, traveling and staying healthy are some of the most important things in life to Michelle. |
Curtis Pruitt
District Manager - Grand Rapids Curtis started with Panera nearly 10 years ago in our River Town mall café working part-time as an associate while attending Grand Valley State University. He was quickly promoted to a shift manager, and during the next few years worked in multiple cafes in the Grand Rapids area as an Assistant Manager. In 2015, Curtis was promoted to General Manager of our Old Grand Haven bakery-café. Shortly after he worked as a General Manager in Alpine for 2 years. Curtis stepped away from the GM role and worked as an Assistant Manager in Standale, where he helped the cafe achieve training certification. In 2019 Curtis became a GM again and opened our new Grand Haven drive-thru relocation. After a successful opening, the café achieved training certification under his leadership and has been one of our top performers since! In his free time, Curtis enjoys spending time with his wife Jillian, and their boys Calvin and Coulson. Curtis also enjoys gardening and tending to his 100 Dahlia plants every summer. In the fall, he enjoys following the Detroit Lions and Michigan football, while spending as much time outdoors as possible enjoying the gardens until the first frost. |
Nick Meerman
District Manager - North Michigan Nick joined the Panera Family August 2011 as an Assistant Manager in the Saint Joseph café. He helped open the Mount Pleasant café in 2012, before being promoted to the GM of Mount Pleasant. He then opened our Big Rapids and Traverse City cafes back-to-back during the fall of 2014. As an Executive GM he helped open or support various cafes in Michigan including DT Grand Rapids, Cascade, Kentwood, Saint Joseph and Wyoming. Before his time with Panera, Nick managed various restaurants even starting his own small marketing company. Nick attended Central Michigan University where he studied Business Marketing, Advertising and Sports Management. In his free time he loves to cook, particularly on the grill, as well as spend time at the beach or in the woods. Nick is a big sports fan, and you can usually find him watching the Detroit Lions or anything Michigan State. Go Green. |
Oregon/Washington

Jacob Dutoit
District Manager
Jake has worked for Panera Bread for 9 years. He started as an AM for the Beaverton location and assisted in opening two locations. They successfully turned those locations into training locations and they both still train to this day!
Jake feels that Manna coming to the NW has truly been the best thing that has ever happened for his career. Being a District Manager was a career goal for him.
Jake married his wife Rachelle in July of 2015. We met when I was the GM in Corvallis. We currently live in Vancouver, WA. They are both animal lovers. He loves the Atlanta Falcons, Portland Trailblazers, and San Francisco Giants.
Colorado