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With a clear vision, RTM president beefs up franchise company's holdings
Talking with Russ Umphenour - president of Atlantabased RTM Restaurant Group, the largest Arby's franchisee in the country - can be an uplifting experience.
"It's almost like you were in a pew on a Sunday morning," notes colleague Geoff Bailey. "He's a very passionate person."
That passion is fitting for the son of a small-town Midwestern preacher who has held onto his roots as firmly as he has administered 1,034 varied quick-service restaurants. In addition to running 706 Arby's units throughout the Midwest, RTM also has overseen 148 chicken concept restaurants in Southern states under the brands Mrs. Winners Chicken and Biscuits and Lee's Famous Recipe.
The Winners International chicken group, which also franchises an additional 180 stores to other companies, was being spun off from RTM this month into a new partnership configuration in which Umphenour's company would retain a 20-percent stake.
RTM's restaurant holdings are known for receiving guidance by Umphenour's firm but gentle hand.
He is at once "a mentor, a friend, a peer, a confidant and an achiever," whose influence is widespread, says Bailey, who runs a 65-unit Arby's franchise, Bailey Co., in Denver. "I don't think you workfor Russ Umphenour; I think you work with Russ Umphenour," he adds, noting RTM's loyal, long-term executive staff, whose members have logged from 10 to 17 years of service.
To Lloyd Fritzmeier, president of the Arby's Franchise Association, Umphenour is "a visionary, a risk-taker, a student and a teacher" who "doesn't want to do things the safe way."
"He wants people that are willing to challenge the status quo, bring new thinking to the mix and force good decisions with a lot of debate," Fritzmeier explains. However, the franchisee admits that he has not always seen eye-to-eye with Umphenour a fact he terms an asset. "Russ respects people that have the courage of their convictions and are willing to take a stand on issues that they feel strongly about. What's the old adage? 'If you and I agree on everything, then we don't need one of us.' "
For his own part Umphenour is quick to assert that he's simply not as influential as others are in the industry. After all,...