General Manager Managing Partner

Michael Gertz

•*** Amistad Drive, St. Augustine, FL 32086 • Cell 256-***-**** • Email ****.******@*****.***

Restaurant Operations Director

Area Director/Opening Unit Director/Training Director/Managing Partner/General Manager

Top-performing restaurant director with 25+ years achieving revenue growth, cost reduction, and enhanced profitability for multi-restaurant operations in startup, turnaround, and established settings.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

COLUMBIA, St. Augustine, FL 2023 – 2024

Casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Spanish and Cuban cuisine with 16 locations in Central Florida.

Manager – Operated the Columbia Restaurant with annual net sales of 21 million dollars per year. Oversaw all aspects of the business including forecasting, scheduling, staffing, R&M, inventory, sales vs. prior year growth and P&L results.

CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN, Tampa, FL 2014 – 2022

Casual dining restaurant chain specializing in American cuisine, with 210 locations around the world.

Managing Partner – Increased top line sales from 3 million to 6 million over an 8-year period. Doubled EBITDAR during tenure as Managing Partner. Nominated GM of the year for the past three consecutive years. Exceeds expectations reviews for all 8 years of employment.

MACARONI GRILL, St. Petersburg, FL 2013 –2014

Casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian American cuisine, with 200 locations around the world.

General Manager – Recruited to help turn around an underperforming unit in St. Petersburg, FL, and quickly accomplished substantial enhancements, including dramatic improvements in health inspections from failing to zero critical violations.

• Revenue & Profit Growth: Mitigated declining sales (negative 10% versus prior year) and returned to positive 4% growth first year. Improved bottom-line profits from negative $65,000 for rolling six months to positive $45,000. Aggressively implemented cost-reduction solutions, lowering labor costs by 2.1% and COS by .8%.

• Customer Service: Reduced guest complaints from an average of 10 per month to 2 per quarter. Elevated Guest Satisfaction Survey (SMG) scores from 45% to 85% highly satisfied.

• Staff Management: Motivated, mentored, and supervised all staff members, reducing crew turnover from 234% to 68%. Earned status as a certified training restaurant. Developed assistant manager into a general manager role.

WINGHOUSE BAR & GRILL, Tampa, FL 2012 – 2013

Casual dining restaurant chain with 21 locations in Central Florida.

Area Director – Initially retained to turn around six underperforming units. As a result of immediate positive impact, given responsibility for two additional units.

• Revenue Growth: Increased average annual revenue of single units from $2.6 million ($15.6 million regional revenue) to $2.8 million ($16.8 million regional revenue). Upgraded and mentored management team; replaced underperformers at all levels.

• Performance: Ranked #1 area director for top performance in sales vs. previous year, labor controls, operational quality, and financial results.

• Cost Control: Reduced labor by 1%, comps/discounts by .5%, and supplies by .4%, leading to improvement versus previous year’s net income.

CHILI’S BAR & GRILL 1998 – 2012

Steadily advanced with the Chili’s organization into positions of increased responsibility, from management trainee and general manager to opening unit director, regional training director, and area director.

Area Director (2009 – 2012) – Handpicked by regional director to take over and turn around an underperforming area of five restaurants and, within six months, added a sixth restaurant based on successful performance.

• Revenue Growth: Increased average annual revenue of single units from $2.2 million ($13.2 million regional revenue) to $2.6 million ($15.6 million regional revenue). Grew revenue to $15.6 million annually with consistent profitability in excess of ambitious goals.

• Customer Satisfaction: Took area from the highest in guest complaints in the company to the lowest. Raised quality of operations to a level that exceeded corporate and guest expectations.

• Staff Management: Transformed understaffed and poorly managed facilities to appropriate staffing levels with greatly improved quality of managers to significantly improve operations.

• Cost Control: Reduced COS by .5%, supplies .3%, and labor 1.5% to achieve cost-efficient operations.

• Operations Management: Directed all business and food service operations of six restaurants, involving recruiting, staff development, finances, quality control, facility maintenance, contract negotiation, marketing, and community outreach.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE continued

CHILI’S continued

Regional Training Director/Opening Unit Director (2006 – 2009) – Earned promotion to oversee the design and presentation of all franchise training programs, while opening eight stores in Alabama and Mississippi. Directed training of 13 managers and opened two restaurants (overlapping) during 2006.

• Contract Negotiations: Achieved cost savings through savvy negotiations for 17 restaurants’ monthly services, such as linen, waste disposal, grease disposal, Ecolab, landscapers, fire suppression, and security systems.

• Disaster Management: Handled fire recovery for units, from ServPro cleanup to strategies for staff and managers to reduce downtime before reopening.

• Community Relations: Served as company spokesperson for radio, TV, and local governments regarding store openings, advertising, and legal matters. Facilitated large offsite community events involving up to 700 people, within and outside the company, including local government representatives, to promote Chili’s brand in given markets.

• Restaurant Openings: Started up eight restaurants during three years. Oversaw all aspects of construction, licensing, management and hourly staffing, and coordination between all departments, always meeting deadlines and budgets; reduced opening costs by 23%.

• Compliance: Presented ongoing training to ensure that all facilities complied with Chili’s corporate standards and procedures. Consulted with all departments, including IT, HR, accounting, legal, and operations.

• Training Oversight: Recruited trainers from all over the country, coordinating travel and accommodations and providing fill-in team members to reduce costs and cover expenses.

• Employee Coaching: Mentored all employees from hourly trainer to area directors, and advised company board members on opening unit procedures and expectations.

General Manager/Managing Partner, Jones Valley Chili’s (2002 – 2006) – Promoted to general manager of a struggling new restaurant that had been through two GMs since opening six months prior.

• Staff Supervision: Halted high turnover rate and established procedures and recognition programs that improved employee satisfaction for 85 hourly employees and three managers. Served as regional consultant to training team.

• Revenue Growth: Raised annual revenue by 9% per year from $2 million to $2.7 million during four years by implementing new systems and enhancing employee training.

Lead Manager, Huntsville Chili’s (2002) – Took on temporary assignment with an underperforming restaurant that was struggling operationally and financially. Supervised 70 employees, improving individual and team performances.

• Revenue Increase: Raised annual revenue by 10% from $2.6 million to $2.85 million.

Operating Unit Manager, Florence Chili’s (2001 – 2002) – Promoted as lead manager for new store opening, in charge of all hiring and punch lists prior to opening. Generated $2.5 million in revenue during first year of operation.

• Restaurant Startup: Placed all opening orders and set up restaurant once operations team was onsite.

• Operations Management: Remained as lead manager after opening, supervising 150 employees in all daily operations.

Manager, Montgomery Chili’s (2000 – 2001) – Took assignment to an underperforming restaurant that was struggling operationally and financially, returning it to a level consistent with company standards.

• Restaurant Management: Supervised 50 employees and directed all restaurant operations.

• Revenue Growth: Increased annual revenue by 18% from $1.1 million to $1.3 million.

Manager in Training, Key Hourly, Server, QA, Cook, Bartender, Jacksonville Beach, and St. Augustine Chili’s (1998 – 2000) – Earned praise as key hourly employee and received entry into management training program.

EDUCATION

KENNESAW STATE COLLEGE, Atlanta, GA FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE, Jacksonville, FL

• Efficiently oversaw all financial and food service operations with up to 18% annual growth in highly competitive markets.

• Improved quality standards, employee retention, and customer satisfaction for full-service, casual dining restaurants.

• Delivered profitability through expert negotiations, waste and inventory control, proactive scheduling, and savvy purchasing.

• Directed region-wide training, effectively meeting targets for up to 17 facilities; led cost-effective, timely opening of eight restaurants.

Demonstrate broad strengths in:

Full P&L Accountability

Group Facilitation

Brand-Specific Training

Customer-Focused Service

Team & Relationship Building

Corporate Reporting

Quality Initiatives

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