OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. Announces Appointment of Jeff Smith as President of Outback Steakhouse
12 Abril 2007 - 8:03PM
PR Newswire (US)
Steve Erickson Named as Senior Vice President of Operations for
Outback Steakhouse TAMPA, Fla., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Paul Avery, chief operating officer of OSI Restaurant Partners,
Inc. (OSI), has announced the appointment of Jeff Smith as
president of the Outback Steakhouse brand. He also announced that
Steve Erickson has been promoted to senior vice president of
national operations for the brand. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060814/OSILOGO ) Jeff Smith
began his career with OSI in 1989, training at the original Outback
Steakhouse restaurant on Henderson Boulevard in Tampa, Florida. His
most current role has been vice president of national operations
for Bonefish Grill, a position he has held since 2004. Erickson
first joined Outback Steakhouse in 1990, and served as vice
president of national operations for Outback Steakhouse. "We are
very excited to have Jeff take the lead as president of our core
brand, Outback Steakhouse," said Avery. "He has an outstanding and
successful track record with OSI, and we anticipate that he and
Steve, as a team, will provide extraordinary leadership as we
continue to evolve the Outback brand." Smith and Avery have worked
together since 1989 when Avery was managing partner of an Outback
Steakhouse in Palm Harbor, Florida. In 1990 Smith, under the
direction of John Cooper (now president of Bonefish Grill), was
named managing partner of Outback's Altamonte Springs restaurant.
In 1997 he was promoted to operations director for Northern
Virginia, a position that he held for five years, and in 2002 was
promoted to regional vice president of operations for the southeast
region. Smith joined Bonefish Grill in March of 2004 as vice
president of national operations. "Jeff has been integral to our
success at Bonefish Grill," says John Cooper, president of Bonefish
Grill. "In his role as vice president of operations, he has done an
excellent job in building the infrastructure critical for a rapidly
expanding concept such as ours. Through Jeff's efforts, we have
built great strength within the ranks of our leadership team, and
we plan on announcing Jeff's successor in the near future."
Erickson has advanced quickly through the ranks of Outback
Steakhouse as well. After his initial responsibility as managing
partner in Clear Lake, Texas, he was promoted to operations
director in 1995, and to regional vice president of operations for
the western region in 2002. "Steve has been a tremendous asset to
our leadership team at OSI for many years," says Avery. "He has
played a particularly significant role over the past couple of
years as we have focused on the development of our recently
launched brand positioning and creative strategy for Outback
Steakhouse. Steve has provided tremendous insight and value to this
effort. His leadership skills and extensive experience in
operations have proven to be invaluable."
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060814/OSILOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: OSI Restaurant Partners,
Inc. CONTACT: Stephanie L. Amberg, Vice President of Public
Relations, OSI, +1-813-282-1225 Web site:
http://www.osirestaurantpartners.com/
Copyright