NRA News

A new slate of officers, including industry veterans Roz Mallet and Xavier Teixido, has been elected to the boards of directors and trustees of the National Restaurant Association and its Educational Foundation, Dawn Sweeney, the NRA's president and CEO, said.

The new officers, who were installed Jan. 1, led their first board meeting last month in Phoenix.

"We are excited to continue to advance our strategic plan for both the National Restaurant Association and NRAEF," she said. "The collective experience of all our officers will help grow membership, educate future industry leaders and strengthen the restaurant and foodservice industry as a whole."

Mallet, president and CEO of PhaseNext Hospitality, a franchiser of fast-casual brands in contract foodservice venues, took over as the NRA's 2012 chair. Joining her at the association are vice chair Phil Hickey, chairman of Nashville, Tenn.-based O'Charley's Inc. casual-dining restaurant company; and treasurer Marshall L. "Ken" Conrad of Greensboro, N.C.-based Libby Hill Seafood Restaurants.

For Laura Habr, ecological and economical conservation have combined to become center-of-the-plate at Croc's 19^th Street Bistro, the restaurant she owns and operates with her husband, Kal, in Virginia Beach, Va.

In business for 19 years, Croc's is, possibly, more relevant now than when it first opened its doors. Today the 125-seat eco-friendly bistro is its state's first restaurant to be certified "Virginia Green," a designation signifying it implements green business practices into its operations. Those include recycling, reduction of disposables, grease recycling, elimination of Styrofoam, water efficiency and energy conservation.

Habr's interest in operating a green restaurant is manifold, but primarily it reflects her love for the community and makes good business sense, too.

The National Restaurant Association named Liz Garner its new director of commerce and entrepreneurship. She joins the NRA's policy and government affairs team from the Food Marketing Institute, where she was government relations director.

Garner will be responsible for advancing the Association's tax and profitability priorities. Her credentials will be especially helpful in the NRA's efforts to enhance debit card swipe fee reforms and increase the transparency of credit card fees, says Scott DeFife, the NRA's executive vice president of policy and government affairs. Garner also will be critical in advocating for new payment systems to improve data security.

Her broad legislative experience will serve the restaurant industry in the ongoing tax reform debate, as the NRA works to secure a permanent 15-year depreciation schedule for restaurants and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, says David Koenig, the Association's vice president of tax and profitability.

AT FMI, Garner helped coordinated legislative efforts of the Merchants Payments Coalition. The coalition of more than 20 national retail trade associations --  including the National Restaurant Association -- represents millions of card-accepting merchants. She will continue that role at NRA.

The IRS has released guidance and forms that employers can use to claim a newly expanded tax credit for hiring veterans.

Employers can claim the credit for eligible unemployed veterans they hired on or after Nov. 22, 2011. The credit -- part of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit -- can be as high as $9,600 per veteran. The amount of the credit depends on such factors at the length of the veteran's unemployment before hire, the hours the veteran works, and the amount of first-year wages paid. The maximum credit applies if employers hire veterans with service-related disabilities.

Discussion on legislative issues, job creation and the promotion of locally grown foods topped the agenda at Georgia's recent Public Affairs Day event.

The event, held Feb. 9-10 in Atlanta, was attended by Gov. Nathan Deal, state senators, representatives and council members; Roz Mallet, the National Restaurant Association's 2012 chair; Karen Bremer, executive director of the Georgia Restaurant Association; and Patrick Cuccaro, the GRA's 2012 chair, as well as GRA member restaurateurs.

Mallet, who addressed attendees at the Feb. 9 GRA's Taste of Georgia and the Hospitality Education Foundation of Georgia's Hospitality Career Expo on Feb. 10, applauded those who have helped promote the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's ProStart program statewide.

Another National Restaurant Association member is getting noticed for its commitment to diversity and inclusion. Sodexo recently received a Catalyst Award for its innovative approach to recruiting, developing and advancing women and minorities.

Sodexo, one of two companies honored this year, was recognized for a multi-faceted diversity and inclusion strategy that resulted in culture change for the organization. As a result of the program, several important changes occurred between 2003 and 2010:

• Women in leadership positions have increased 74 percent.
• The number of women on the executive committee is up 67 percent.
• The number of women in executive positions is up 53 percent.
• Women in the pipeline for executive leadership roles has increased 77 percent.
• The number of women of color in senior vice president and vice president positions has risen 63 percent.
• Women of color in senior leadership positions is up 211 percent.
• Sodexo appointed its first chief financial officer, Debbie White, and its first female market president, NRA board member Lorna Donatone.

Catalyst evaluated Sodexo on business rationale, senior leadership support, accountability, communication, employee engagement, innovation, measurable results and other criteria.

The award validates the significant progress Sodexo has made and underscores its position as a benchmark organization for diversity and inclusion, Donatone says.

"As an award winner, we join the ranks of other organizations committed to diversity and inclusion such as Campbell Soup Company, McDonald's, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble," she notes.

Full-service operators can build business and turn tables quicker by allowing time-crunched consumers to order meals online before arriving at the restaurant, research from the National Restaurant Association has found.

According to the 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, 53 percent of adult diners said they likely would place their orders online in advance of their visits and schedule the time to arrive at the restaurant so their food would be served shortly after being seated.

The research also determined that younger consumers are more apt to embrace online ordering than their older counterparts. The report found that 68 percent of adults aged 18 to 34 years old would prefer to order ahead of time, compared with 64 percent of 35- to 44-year olds and 28 percent of adults aged 65 years and older.

The Department of Labor will not be ready to put one of the 2010 health care law's most controversial rules into effect by 2014, according to new guidance issued by federal agencies Feb. 9.

The DOL says it will delay a mandate that requires employers of 200 or more full-time employees to automatically enroll full-time employees in company health care plans. The National Restaurant Association has argued that the so-called "auto-enrollment" requirement is redundant, expensive and burdensome, especially in industries with higher employee turnover. "We're glad the DOL has delayed the rules and believe this is an opportunity to ask Congress to repeal the mandate entirely," says Michelle Neblett, the Association's director of labor and workforce policy.

A majority of diners say they are ordering more healthfully when they eat out, according to recent research from the National Restaurant Association.

The 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast found that 72 percent of adult diners said they try to eat more healthfully at restaurants than they did two years ago. The report further determined that 78 percent of adult females said they were more likely to choose more healthful menu items, while 65 percent of adult males said they would make healthful choices. Additionally, younger adults said they were more likely than their older counterparts to order more healthfully.

The research found that 74 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds said they order more healthfully at restaurants than they did two years ago, compared with 73 percent of 35- to 44-year-olds, 76 percent of 45- to 54-year-olds, 72 percent of 55- to 64-year-olds and 65 percent of adults aged 65 and older.

Tax season is here -- and with it, questions about tips and taxes.

Here is a guide to tip-related topics restaurateurs and their tip-earning employees might be talking about in the coming weeks.