As this year’s chairman of the National Restaurant Association, Lance Trenary is determined not to neglect the second bucket of what he sees as a two-bucket job.
The first batch of responsibilities is near impossible to neglect. Although the pandemic has shifted into a lull, restaurants are still contending with the threatening effects, from an inability to staff midweek shifts to deferred rents and other expenses now coming due. The struggle might have eased, but the challenges are still extraordinary, as Trenary knows from his day job as CEO of the 360-unit Golden Corral buffet chain.
But, he says, those immediate threats can’t pull his and the association’s attention away from longer-range issues, not the least of them being the business’ perception among potential hires, politicians and even would-be entrants.
The image issues extend to impressions of the association itself, he adds. During the pandemic, the group was portrayed as a mouthpiece and protector of restaurant chains, if not an outright enemy of onesies and twosies, even though independents make up 83% of the organization’s extensive board. (The association is the majority owner of Restaurant Business.)
“I’m the first chairman in the last five years who’s not from an independent,” says Trenary. The position rotates on an annual basis in part to ensure that different perspectives are embodied in the leadership. Trenary succeeded Brian Casey, operator of North Kingstown, R.K.-based Oak Hill Tavern, who in turn succeeded Melvin Rodrigue, the president of Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Scott Redler, who’s working on a barbecue concept in addition to serving as chief experience officer of Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, will succeed Trenary in 2023. The post returns to a solidly independent operator in 2024 with the planned ascension of Jeff Lobdell, president of a collection of one-offs in Michigan called Restaurant Management Partners.
Trenary, who started in the restaurant industry at age 8, says he harbors no anger toward the independents who’ve accused the organization of having a chain bias. That includes the Independent Restaurant Coalition, the group formed by New York City chef-owner Tom Colicchio because local operations felt their needs were not being pursued in the association’s lobbying efforts early in the pandemic.
If anything, the Golden Corral leader says, he’s confused about why operators would lessen their leverage with politicians by speaking with two voices instead of one. It’s not as if chains and independents aren’t both suffering and in need of direct federal assistance.
Golden Corral has 360 restaurants currently open, down from the 420 that Technomic said were the sum total of the chain in 2020. Average unit volumes for the week were approaching $80,000 during the week Trenary spoke with Restaurant Business, and same-store sales were about where they were right before the pandemic began, according to the CEO. But it’s far from a joy ride.
“Those of us in the buffet business have been on the tip of the spear during the pandemic,” Trenary remarks.
He’ll still be running Golden Corral as he fulfills the grueling travel and speaking schedules that every National Restaurant Association chairman shoulders.
Fortunately, he says, Golden Corral has a deep and experienced bench, in part because of the longevity of managers at all levels. After 37 years with the chain, Trenary is hardly a rookie, but he’s not the longest-tenured member of the management team, either. There have been only two CEOs before him during the brand’s 49 years.
As he crisscrosses the country, speaking to groups of all shapes and sizes, Trenary intends to raise the issues that concern both Golden Corral and the CEO’s sister, the manager of a single restaurant.
“We have some big rocks right now,” he says. Trenary ticks off the immediate issues he puts in “the urgency bucket,” starting with the replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. The federal direct-aid program provided operators in dire straits with grants of up to $10 million before it ran out of money in three weeks. Trenary says Golden Corral franchises were among the businesses that were told they qualified but never received the aid.
He also cites the need to reinstate and adjust the particulars of another form of federal pandemic relief, the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Operators that maintained their payrolls despite a restriction in the operations during 2021 could request an advance tax credit of up to $10,000 per retained employee, but Congress shut down the program three months early.
The Internal Revenue Service is also way behind in processing requests for the credit, which many operators intended to put toward the rest of their 2021 tax bills. The association has asked the tax agency to push back the tax filing deadline for restaurants that are awaiting the credit.
“In this environment on the Hill, you have all this regulation that’s cropping up,” from changes in how servers’ direct wages are determined to which salaried employees qualify for overtime pay, Trenary continues.
And then there’s that second bucket, the collection of issues and opportunities that will affect the industry for decades to come.
“Workforce development—we should own that,” says Trenary, pointing to himself as proof the industry is an engine of opportunity. He began his time in the industry by washing dishes at his father’s restaurants.
Those longer-range issues also have to be addressed if the industry is to continue growing and prospering after the exigencies of the pandemic fade into memory.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a more critical time for us to walk and chew gum at the same time,” says Trenary. “So much has changed over the last two years. Look at how we need to embrace technology. It’s such an important part of the business now.”
He cites a need for the industry and the association to lead and not just react.
“It’s really important that we introduce some positives,” Trenary continues. “I don’t want us to be an industry of ‘no.’ We are for things, not just against things.”
To amplify that message, he intends to counter the notion that the association doesn’t speak for mom-and-pop independents.
“We’re doing the same for independents as we do for chain restaurants,” says Trenary. “If we want the same end goal, if we all have the same mission, we should all be pushing toward the same end.”
With that might, he says, “our comeback will be greater than our setback.”
Correction: The original form of this story incorrectly named Melvin Rodrigue as the National Restaurant Association's 2021 chairman. In fact, Rodrigue served in 2020. Last year's chairman was Brian Casey.