Surviving the Pandemic - How Restaurants are adjusting for the new reality and what the future might hold

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Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Centre Club (NOTE NEW LOCATION)
123 S. Westshore Blvd., 8th Floor, Tampa, FL  33609
5:30 to 6:30 pm - Networking/Cocktails
6:30 to 8:00 - Presentation/Dinner

$35.00 - Young Professional Members
$60.00 – Members
$75.00 - Non Members

After the quarantine shutdown, find out how some of some of our major Tampa Bay area based restaurants pivoted to stay in business, how they handled the huge increase in takeout and delivery instead of in person dining and their thoughts on the future for the restaurant business.

	Annette Rodriguez Senior Vice President Bloomin Brands	Maryann Ferenc Owner Mise en Place, Inc.	Jeff Gigante Co-Founder  Forbici Modern Italian	Will Conroy President Backstreets Capital (Moderator)

Annette Rodriguez was named Senior Vice President, U.S. Development and Franchising in December 2019, after serving as Group Vice President for Design & Construction and U.S. Franchising. She leads domestic development efforts for Bloomin’ Brands, including real estate, design and construction, franchising, and facilities maintenance. Annette joined Bloomin’ Brands in 2014 as Vice President of Development and Real Estate, leading the domestic development growth for the Bloomin’ Brands concepts. She also oversaw the domestic real estate portfolio, representing more than 1,200 properties, and domestic Franchising operations. Prior to joining Bloomin’ Brands, Annette was Vice President of Development and Real Estate for Burger King Corporation. She served in various leadership roles in her 25 years with the company in Franchising, Development, Real Estate, Accounting, and Finance. Annette earned a master’s degree in Business with a focus on real estate from Nova University and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Miami.

Maryann Ferenc has spent her lifetime in the restaurant industry, beginning her career in her parents’ restaurant in Detroit as a bus girl. A passionate advocate for independent businesses, Maryann established Mise en Place in 1986, along with co-proprietor Chef Marty Blitz. Maryann received a degree in theater from Wayne State University, while managing a gourmet health food restaurant. In an effort to use her minor in theater management, she left the restaurant business and worked as an assistant to the director of Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. During her time there, Maryann worked in the food and beverage department and founded the hospitality division. Maryann helped introduced New American cuisine to Tampa Bay and was involved in the downtown renaissance when she moved Mise en Place to Kennedy Boulevard at Grand Central Avenue in 1992, occupying a space that dates back to the early 20th century. Mise en Place is now Tampa’s premier restaurant for Modern American cuisine, 32 years later. Mise en Place Hospitality group expanded recently with the addition of Cafe by Mise en Place located at Tampa International Airport, Montados at Sparkman Wharf and the soon to be open boutique hotel property, the Berkeley Beach Club in Pass-A-Grille.

Jeff Gigante Co-Founded Ciccio Restaurant Group in 1996 and has enjoyed growing their brands over the past 2 decades. Forbici Modern Italian marks Jeff’s first venture outside of the CRG umbrella and he’s enjoyed assembling an all star team of Industry vets to help bring this concept to fruition. He’s happy to get back to his roots of Full Service Hospitality and is looking forward to building his brands with passion and love.

Will Conroy is a prominent attorney and investor from St. Petersburg, Florida who has been intimately involved in numerous high-profile projects and business success stories throughout the Southeast United States. At family-owned Backstreets Capital, Will combines his passion for helping businesses succeed and creating impactful projects with his number-one priority: Family.

As an equity partner at one of Tampa Bay’s largest and most distinguished law firms, Johnson Pope, Will has decades of experience handling a broad range of complex commercial real estate and corporate issues for clients including developers, private equity funds, family-owned businesses and more.

As an experienced corporate investor, Will has a noteworthy portfolio of real estate projects – having worked on everything from single-parcel developments to mixed-use projects and land-use changes – as well as operating businesses including a trust company, a bank, a production contractor, hoteliers and numerous private equity firms. He has owned and managed Landguard Title Services for the past 10 years and he serves as outside General Counsel to numerous family offices throughout Florida.

Of all his accomplishments, Will is most proud of his family – his wife Stacy and their three children.

Will holds a B.S. from Yale University, a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School, and completed a certificate in Business and Public Policy from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.