LOS ANGELES —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
The foodservice leaders honored for their recent achievements and career accomplishments include Paul Clayton, chief executive of Jamba Juice; Gerard T. Gabrys, president and chief executive of Guest Services Inc.; Linda A. Lang, chairman and chief executive of Jack in the Box Inc.; Zach McLeroy, chief executive and chairman of Zaxby’s Chicken Restaurants; Craig S. Miller, chairman, president and chief executive of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse Inc.; Nick Vojnovic, president of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Also, James H. Maynard, chairman and co-founder of Golden Corral, will receive the Pioneer Award. Gerald Fernandez, president and founder of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, will receive the 2007 Innovator Award. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
All of the winners will be recognized at the gala Awards Banquet to be held Oct. 2 during MUFSO, which runs from Sept. 30-Oct. 3. During the banquet, which is sponsored by American Express, the Operator of the Year also will be announced. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
“In addition to an always strong educational program with outstanding speakers, MUFSO is an event which showcases excellence in leadership, a quality we have in abundance with this year’s lineup of award winners,” said Alan Gould, publisher of Nation’s Restaurant News, which produces MUFSO. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Curtis Wilson, vice president and general manager of the Restaurant Industries Group for American Express, said: “These honorees are outstanding executives who have taken their foodservice organizations to new heights, and we at American Express are proud to join with Nation’s Restaurant News in congratulating the class of 2007. We look forward to celebrating the achievements of these award winners at the MUFSO conference this fall.” —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Among the Golden Chain winners is Paul Clayton, chief executive of Jamba Juice since 2000. Kirk Perron, the chain’s founder, wanted a seasoned fast-food executive to help grow the company and drove Clayton’s recruitment to Jamba. With 16 years experience at Burger King and time spent at McDonald’s, Clayton was an ideal fit. In the past seven years, the San Francisco-based chain has become a publicly traded company and has grown from more than 300 units to 631 today. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
At Guest Services of Fairfax, Va., Gerry Gabrys leads a multifaceted company that manages businesses from campgrounds to white-tablecloth establishments. Since Gabrys became president in 1996, Guest Services has grown from $133 million in annual revenues to more than $300 million, with 250 units serving 25 million guests. Clients include the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Department of State, the National Park Service and museums across the country. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Linda Lang took the reins at San Diego-based Jack in the Box in 2005, and the company has been soaring ever since. Net earnings that year totaled $91.5 million on revenues of $2.5 billion. A year later, net earnings topped $108 million on revenues of nearly $2.8 billion. Through the first half of fiscal 2007, Jack in the Box is on pace for another record year with net earnings up more than 37 percent. The company operates 2,089 namesake restaurants in 17 states and also operates and franchises the Qdoba Mexican Grill chain, which has 353 restaurants in 39 states. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Zach McElroy has been the driving force behind the growth of Zaxby’s, a chicken fingers and Buffalo wings concept based in Athens, Ga. McElroy and co-founder Tony Townley launched the first Zaxby’s in 1990 and have expanded the concept to more than 380 restaurants in 10 states throughout the Southeast. McElroy envisioned Zaxby’s as a concept offering fresh food and a vibrant atmosphere in which employees would enjoy working. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
When Craig Miller joined Ruth’s Chris Steak House in 2004, he brought with him more than 40 years of full-service restaurant experience. With 106 locations worldwide, Ruth’s Chris, based in Heathrow, Fla., is one of the largest fine-dining companies in the United States, and Miller is dedicated to carrying on the legacy of the chain’s late founder, Ruth Fertel. Since 2004, new restaurants have featured a “luxury lounge” concept, which has enhanced decor and helped increase revenues. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
In 2005, Nick Vojnovic was named president of Family Sports Concepts, the franchisor of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, a Tampa, Fla.-based chain of “family sports pubs” that has grown to 225 stores nationwide. The chain’s goal is to have 500 restaurants by 2012, and Chuck Winship, the founder of Family Sports Concepts, says Vojnovic is the person to take them there. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
“He’s a real people guy with lots of energy,” Winship said. “He has been instrumental in attracting and training new franchisees.” —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Maynard of Golden Corral Corp. will be honored with this year’s Pioneer Award, which recognizes a veteran restaurateur for his or her lifelong innovation, creativity and success in the industry. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
“Congratulations to James Maynard, whose vision and leadership skills helped turn the buffet-style chain Golden Corral into a remarkable success story,” Wilson said. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Known for his financial acumen, Maynard transformed a single steakhouse in Fayetteville, N.C., into the country’s largest grill-buffet chain, according to NRN’s 2007 Top 100 report. Based in Raleigh, N.C., Golden Corral operates or franchises nearly 500 restaurants and has annual sales in excess of $1.5 billion. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., and 1965 graduate of East Carolina University, Maynard and a friend, Bill Carl, sought to get into the restaurant industry in the early 1970s by acquiring a franchise in a growing family-style restaurant chain. Lacking capital and restaurant experience, however, they were turned down by every major franchisor. Undeterred, Maynard raised $20,000 from family and friends and borrowed $20,000 from the bank. Still, he and Carl were short of what they needed to get their own steakhouse off the ground. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
In an early display of his deal-making acuity, Maynard invested all of his stockholders’ money in Carolina Wholesale Florist. He then persuaded the floral company to partner in the Golden Corral venture, with the understanding that Investors Management Corp., which he founded, would take control of the floral company, sell the assets and use the proceeds to get the restaurant started. Two years and $50,000 later, the first restaurant opened in January 1973. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
Although Golden Corral struggled early on, it eventually found its niche when Maynard decided to move the company away from a steakhouse concept to a buffet-style operation in the late 1980s. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
“The success we’ve had is the outcome of hard work and James’ persistence, ability to overcome adversity, and his keen financial and analytical skills,” said Ted Fowler, president and chief executive of Golden Corral. —Votes now are being tallied to decide who among the six 2007 Golden Chain winners will receive the prestigious Operator of the Year award during the 48th annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators Conference to be held here this fall.
For information about attending MUFSO, call (212)756-5201 or visit