Thomas Reinhard: Cascadia Pizza Co-Owner

Bears in the Wild: Cascadia Pizza Co-Owner Thomas Reinhard
Posted on 02/11/2022

It’s a clear, crisp winter afternoon as Thomas Reinhard, co-owner of Cascadia Pizza Company sits down on the patio of the Maple Valley store. He laughs as he recalls that when he graduated from Tahoma High School (THS), he didn’t anticipate staying in Maple Valley. Now he is a co-owner of a landmark eatery along Cedar River.


Reinhard is a third generation entrepreneur and grew up knowing the value of hard work. He smiles big as he also remembers how he thought his life was going in a different direction when he graduated high school. He was on his way to Pepperdine University in California to become a lawyer. He had been active in We The People and had the support of family, friends and teachers for his chosen path of law school. He completed his B.A. in Political Science at Pepperdine and received his Juris Doctorate from Seattle University. In his third year of law school, he teamed up with co-owners, Christian Buck and Calvin Freatman to start a pizza trailer business. They started mostly catering and doing weddings. They became successful enough to open in a fixed location in Enumclaw. He still became a lawyer and also pursued his entrepreneurial roots with Cascadia Pizza Company.


He has had “tons of fun. Seeing lots of people from Tahoma who I grew up with makes it special and fun,” says Reinhard. 


At the time Reinhard was at THS, he took advantage of the opportunities with AP classes, extracurriculars and sports. He said “there is a special culture of teacher and administrator support and encouragement at Tahoma.”  He feels that along his Tahoma path, they “personally invested in me” as they talked to him and encouraged him in his desire to go to Pepperdine to pursue a law degree.


Reinhard feels that the staff of Tahoma still care just as deeply about their students today as when he was in high school. He says it is “fun now to see the same teachers that taught ten years ago teaching with the same passion today.”


Many Tahoma Bears, current and former, have come to work at Cascadia Pizza Company. Reinhard loves to employ Bears, saying how personable, communicative and hard working they are. As an entrepreneur in his hometown Reinhard takes pride in being able to provide a place of employment that for many is their first job and to see his employees thrive and make a liveable wage.


He encourages those who are in school now saying, “core things stay true. Follow your passion, stay positive and work hard in everything. Stay true to your roots. Our community is special and unique.”


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