Bloomington pizza chain Pizza X has announced a 75% raise for its hourly employees through June and has partnered with Baked! Of Bloomington to sell cookies during the bakery’s temporary closure.

Jeff Mease is CEO and co-owner of One World Enterprises, the umbrella company under which Pizza X, Lennie’s, Hive and One World Catering operate. He says the Baked!/Pizza X crossover is truly a win-win situation.

“We're gonna buy cookie dough from them," Mease says. "They're going to mark it up, we're going to sell it and we're going to give them a royalty of 5% on the sales.”

Mease says that markup will pay Baked!’s rent and cover some employee wages during a time when the cookie business couldn’t otherwise afford to stay open.

Baked! cookies are just the first à la carte option Mease is set to roll out at Pizza X. He says he has plans to partner with local and national ice cream brands and wants to work on offering sundry items for delivery as well.

All those extra products mean extra work for Pizza X staff, which is part of the reason Mease wanted to implement the 75% raise. He says that raise is only possible because of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, part of the CARES Act that passed last month.

“Now, a forgivable loan, that’s a horse of a different color, this is an unusual thing," Mease says. "Nobody does this, this is an unprecedented thing.”

Small businesses, including restaurants, are eligible for PPP loan forgiveness if that money is spent on payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent, utilities or additional wages paid to tipped workers.

And to Mease, it’s a no-brainer to give restaurant staff some of that economic relief.

“Because what are we asking them to do? First of all, we're asking them to work when a lot of their friends are sitting on the couch, you know, watching Netflix and ordering pizza, and making a lot more money on unemployment, but our guys are coming in and working a schedule and, you know, they're working," he says.

Pizza X rolled out its Baked! delivery April 20, an unofficial holiday for some to celebrate marijuana use and culture. Mease happily acknowledges the connection between the drug and snack food.

“That was total providence from the gods," he says. "We just looked at the next Monday after Baked! closed and lo and behold, it was 4-20-2020. And we said, that's a great day for Pizza X to get Baked!”

Pizza X locations are open during adjusted hours for delivery and pickup only.