Scaling Boldly: Whatabrands Wins the 2025 New Horizons Award

Whatabrands, LLC, the parent company of Whataburger, is a brand built on bold flavor, Texas hospitality, and operational excellence. As the company accelerates its national expansion, its capital projects team has had to rethink how they scale construction and development to meet demand without compromising quality or brand experience.

At the 2025 Project Empowerment Awards, Whatabrands was honored with the New Horizons Award, recognizing organizations that are redefining what’s possible through visionary project management and innovation in execution.

A Capital Portfolio for Growth

With aggressive plans to grow its footprint across the U.S., Whatabrands is managing a rapidly expanding capital program that includes:

• Ground-up construction of new Whataburger restaurants in established and emerging markets
• Strategic remodels of legacy locations to align with updated brand standards and guest experience expectations
• Development of corporate and regional support facilities to accommodate operational scaling
• Investment in project delivery systems that enable consistent standards, faster execution, and local adaptability

This portfolio spans multiple states, regulatory jurisdictions, contractor networks, and real estate markets—each requiring centralized oversight and regionally responsive execution.

What Project Empowerment Looks Like and Why It Matters

For Whatabrands, success means opening new stores on schedule, within budget, and with full alignment to brand standards every single time. With PMWEB, the capital projects team achieved:

• Streamlined project initiation and approval workflows, enabling rapid mobilization across markets
• Centralized visibility into budget, schedule, and vendor performance for all active projects
• Standardized processes across contractors and development partners
• Faster cycle times from design to grand opening
• Improved forecasting and portfolio reporting for executive stakeholders

By bringing rigor to their expansion process, Whatabrands ensures each new location opens strong, ready to deliver the guest experience their brand is known for.

Strategic Objectives Behind the Partnership

Whatabrands’ partnership with PMWEB is rooted in a clear set of business goals:

• Support accelerated national expansion with consistent project delivery infrastructure
• Improve agility and decision-making across real estate, construction, and finance teams
• Establish a scalable system to manage growing project volume without growing complexity
• Deliver stores faster, with tighter controls and greater accountability
• Protect and extend the brand experience as the company grows into new markets

PMWEB equips Whatabrands with the control, transparency, and speed needed to keep growth on track, even as the scale and complexity of their program increases.

Recognizing Visionary Growth: The New Horizons Award

Whatabrands earned the New Horizons Award for its forward-thinking approach to national expansion. Their strategic use of PMWEB has transformed how new stores are delivered, bringing speed, structure, and consistency to a growth engine that shows no signs of slowing down.

For Whatabrands, the horizon isn’t a limit, it’s an invitation. And with the right systems in place, they’re rising to meet it.