and has led the journey to transform Inspire’s approach to efficient team member and guest experiences. Sentell joined Arby’s in 2012, leading field marketing and eventually brand strategy and culinary innovation and restaurant excellence. Phil Albanese was promoted to senior vice president,
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) company operations. In his role, Albanese will oversee the operations of more than 700 company-owned sports bars across the country. Albanese has been with BWW for 24 years and has worked in every sports bar operations role. In fact, his first management role at BWW was at the original sports bar in Columbus, Ohio. Most recently, Albanese was the division vice president for the south division, overseeing five regional vice presidents and more than 250 sports bars. Vans Nelson was promoted to senior vice president, operations innovation. In his role, Nelson will drive restaurant and format innovation, margin improvement, and operations, technology, and process enhancements initiatives for Inspire’s company restaurants. Nelson has been with Arby’s and Inspire for more than 13 years, holding numerous roles in field operations and support center leadership. While having a significant impact across Inspire, Nelson was particularly instrumental in several major projects, including the Alliance Kitchen, Inspire Brands Innovation Center, operations complexity model development, brand labor model development, and non-trad operating models.
McDonald’s McDonald’s added three new names to its senior leadership team.
Michael Gonda was promoted to senior vice president and chief impact officer, North America. In this role, he will be responsible for driving the holistic impact strategy across communications, state and local government relations, sustainability, and philanthropy in the United States and Canada. His cross-functional team will proactively engage stakeholders and communities to protect and enhance the McDonald’s brand and more efficiently and effectively partner with global and other markets. Sandy Rodriguez, vice president, U.S. communications, assumed the role of global chief communications officer for McDonald’s Corp. In her previous role, Sandy was responsible for working with leaders across the organization to drive McDonald’s USA’s reputation and brand trust strategy. She also served as a central point of contact for local and national community programs. Jami Guthrie was promoted to vice president, strategic insights and prioritization. In this role, he will be responsible for managing strategy, insights, analytics, and planning resources, creating an integrated view for the entire U.S. business. This team will help McDonald’s USA to focus on its most critical priorities, eliminate redundancy and inefficiency in work, and enable more rapid innovation and effective collaboration.
Playa Bowls
Playa Bowls, a superfruit bowl shop, appointed Dan Harmon as CEO. Harmon will leverage his extensive industry experience to continue to build on the brand’s unique strengths and assume responsibility for accelerating its overall growth strategies and performance. “Harmon has an exceptional reputation for exceeding business objectives and franchisee relationships in the restaurant industry and will be a valuable asset as we continue to grow and develop our company,” co-founder Rob Giuliano said. “Throughout his career, Dan Harmon has established himself as a leader who builds strong teams, drives great business results and develops trust with team members and franchisees. We’re incredibly honored to have someone of his caliber join the Playa Bowls team.” Most recently, Harmon was president and COO at Smoothie King, where he launched several transformative initiatives focused on profitability, productivity and ease of operations. Before joining the Smoothie King team, Harmon spent more than three decades growing his passion for franchising and refining operational processes with Papa Murphy’s, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Blockbuster and McDonald’s.
“I’m thrilled to take on this new opportunity and role. Playa Bowls is a unique brand with a combination of high-quality superfruit menu items, exceptional franchisees and passionate team members,” Haromon said. “There is a tremendous opportunity to grow the brand and mission nationally, and I’m looking forward to working closely with our leadership team and franchisees to make that happen.”
Restaurant Brands International Mike Hancock has been promoted to president of Firehouse Subs, a Restaurant Brands International (RBI) chain. “Throughout his 10 years with RBI, Mike Hancock has established himself as a leader who builds strong teams, drives great business results and develops trust with franchisees and restaurant owners,” CEO Josh Kobza said. “I also want to thank Don Fox who has been an excellent partner and has such an impressive career in QSR over the last 40 years,” Kobza added. “Don will become chairman of Firehouse Subs and continue to be involved in the brand’s Public Safety Foundation.” Hancock previously served as COO for the sub chain. “I am very excited to take on this new opportunity. Firehouse Subs has a unique combination of an incredibly strong brand, exceptional sandwiches, passionate franchisees, and an unparalleled foundation that supports fire fighters and first responders across North America” Hancock said. “There is tremendous opportunity to grow the brand and our mission across North America, and I’m looking forward to working closely with our franchisees to make that happen.”
52 FEDA News & Views
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