MILWAUKEE (Mar. 5, 2019) \u2013 Cousins Subs , President and CEO, Christine Specht appoints Chief Financial Officer, Jason Westhoff, to role of President and bolsters leadership team.<\/p>\n
Starting January 2019, Specht began transitioning from her dual role to narrow in on her responsibilities as CEO. This change comes following the brand\u2019s expansion into Chicagoland and ahead of continued Midwest growth. As CEO, Specht remains the brand visionary focused on continuing a strong culture across Cousins\u2019 system and leading growth and business strategy. In contrast, Westhoff will implement Specht\u2019s visions, head up the leadership team, and be responsible for the day-to-day business decisions while developing systems and leading teams to execute core objectives.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we prepare for broader Midwest expansion, it is imperative that Cousins\u2019 leadership team is in optimum position to execute strategy, and growth takes a team with varying focuses and skill sets,\u201d explained Specht. \u201cWe are in a time of change, and I believe that to drive brand success and meet objectives, we need the right people in positions to not only carry out the vision but be the driving force behind change. There is no better candidate to take the wheel than Westhoff whose capabilities to \u2018see beyond the numbers\u2019 are proven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Specht\u2019s tenure as President started in 2008 when she assumed the role of President and Chief Operating Officer transitioning to President and CEO in 2015 following her father’s retirement. During this time, she successfully brought new life to the legacy brand by strengthening Cousins\u2019 unit-level economics, creating a strong core of franchise partners, and positioning Cousins for Midwest growth through implementing a series of system changes. Changes include launching a largescale rebranding strategy to establish consistency and unify the brand in look and feel across all locations, implementing grills in all restaurants, and bringing Cousins\u2019 Midwest heritage to its menu with signature local products.<\/p>\n
\u201cRestructuring the leadership team allows me to focus my efforts on strategy versus task and harness my energy into building stronger relationships with our franchise partners and system,\u201d stated Specht. \u201cWhile growth is a core objective, culture is equally important. Culture lies at the heart of the business and provides opportunities for employees while making Cousins an attractive employer of choice in today\u2019s highly competitive labor market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Westhoff joined Cousins Subs in July 2012 as CFO responsible for accounting and finance with a heavy involvement in defining and developing technology strategies into executable and measurable results. Westhoff\u2019s focus has been on Cousins\u2019 growth strategy through organic and inorganic channels. He also developed systems to achieve greater profitability, created structure for how Cousins could offset costs of grill installs so all locations featured this differentiator, systematized the corporate pricing structure, and oversaw the implementation of a new point-of-sale across the brand in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cWesthoff brings 10 years of prior franchising experience to Cousins Subs having previously held the role of CFO for a large multi-unit franchisee of Applebee\u2019s and Pizza Hut,\u201d said Specht. \u201cThis, along with his time at Cousins, gives him the perspective needed to be a guiding force for our brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy previous role as CFO allowed me to build financial plans that incorporate all aspects of the business, which has equipped me with the skill set to integrate all functions into executable plans,\u201d said Westhoff. \u201cMore importantly, my time with Cousins has taught me the importance of communicating effectively with all members of our system so together we can meet the needs of our guests. As President, I will continue to build upon the foundation of trust I\u2019ve acquired within Cousins\u2019 system and with our franchise partners as they are integral to our success.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to Westhoff assuming the role of President, Cousins is adding to its leadership team to ensure that competencies are in place to execute the brand\u2019s vision from all sides of the business. Joining Westhoff in leading the brand are the Vice President of Development, Joe Ferguson, Vice President of Marketing, Justin McCoy, and new members J.J. Grube, Vice President of Finance, who formally held the role of Director of Finance and was promoted to head the brand\u2019s finance department, and Alan Lundeen, Senior Director of Operations and Talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a high-caliber team that will achieve great success for the brand. By adding two additional members, the team is balanced in their decision making,\u201d said Westhoff. \u201cGrube brings the team a wealth of financial knowledge, facts, and guiding principles so educated decisions can be made that are critical to the strategy. While Lundeen will carry on Cousins\u2019 tradition of operational excellence through a keen understanding of culture and the real issues and solutions experienced at the store-level. His skill sets are imperative for Cousins\u2019 recruitment and development of talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cousins is also enhancing other key areas of business. Recently, the brand sought to augment its IT and franchise sales functions\u2014both seen by Cousins as highly valuable in a time of growth. Bringing on a new Director of IT, Josh Thurmer, to continue strengthening Cousins\u2019 IT infrastructure and head up the management of all in-store technology from the Corporate Support Center allows franchise partners to focus on providing quality products and guest service. Focusing on its \u2018develop from within\u2019 philosophy, Cousins promoted J.J. Palmert from Franchise Sales Manager to Director of Franchise Sales. Throughout his six-year tenure with Cousins, Palmert has successfully renewed or transferred more than 50 franchise agreements in which he secured each brand partner\u2019s commitment to reinvest through the adoption of Cousins\u2019 remodeling program. These efforts have led to higher Average Unit Volumes throughout the system. Taking on this role, Palmert is engaged in the expansion of Cousins Subs into new Midwest markets through multi-unit franchise development. Additionally, he works with current franchisees to assist them in developing new, acquiring existing or selling locations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to lead Cousins\u2019 system into growth and prosperity,\u201d said Westhoff. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely beneficial to have a team of individuals who match our core values and are passionate about the future of the brand. We are in a prime position for growth with a strong team that is 100 percent focused on results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MILWAUKEE (Mar. 5, 2019) \u2013 Cousins Subs , President and CEO, Christine Specht appoints Chief Financial Officer, Jason Westhoff, to role of President and bolsters leadership team. Starting January 2019, Specht began transitioning from her dual role to narrow in on her responsibilities as CEO. This change comes following the brand\u2019s expansion into Chicagoland and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsroom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cousinsdev.trivera.ai\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}