Yard House Restaurants, USA, Now Offers Managers Equity Stake in Company
Three Long-Term Employees, Including a Former Line Cook, Are the First to Benefit from Limited Ownership Opportunities
Yard House Restaurants USA, LLC announced today that it has begun offering equity stake to key members of its management staff and senior level executives. The privately-owned company, founded in 1995 by restaurateur Steele Platt and headquartered in Irvine, California, currently operates six Yard House restaurants throughout Southern California, as well single units in the suburbs of Denver and Chicago.
Three long-term employees were the first to benefit from the new equity incentive program, including Craig Carlyle who joined Yard House in its infancy as the general manager of its flagship location in Long Beach, California. Carlyle now serves as the company's vice president of operations. Jeff Uttz, a former executive at CKE Restaurants, joined Yard House in late 2001 to become the company's first chief financial officer, a position he still holds today. And Rudy Buruca, who began his career with the company as a saute cook who worked his way through the ranks and participated in the launching of each Yard House location, is now the company's regional kitchen manager.
"We have reached a point in the company's growth where we feel it necessary to reward hard working and dedicated members of our team," says Platt, who serves as the company's chief executive officer. "These people have been an instrumental force in building a solid foundation, as well as the growth we are currently experiencing as we continue to expand across the nation."
Those eligible for the company's equity incentive program include regional and corporate managers, general managers, and executive kitchen managers at the store level. Future general managers selected to oversee Yard House's next four locations, which at this time include Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, will also be eligible.
Yard House is among only a handful of casual-restaurant chains to offer employees equity stake. Platt and his partners believe that such a plan is a powerful retention tool in a highly competitive business and will help to create a consistent product, as well as service, from one location to the next. In addition, such a plan is also appealing to industry veterans who may wish to join a company that provides an opportunity for limited ownership.
"Our company is expanding at a steady rate with an average of two to three restaurant openings per year," says partner Harald Herrmann, president and chief operating officer for Yard House Restaurants USA, LLC. "We needed seasoned, high-volume managers, both in front of the house and heart of the house, who don't think of themselves as just employees but rather owners. The best way to achieve that thought process is by awarding key managers, those who have really proven themselves, with a vested and deserved interest in the company."
Other benefits available to Yard House employees include performance-based promotions, profit participation, comprehensive training, a 50-hour/5-day work week, two consecutive days off, family health benefits, life insurance, paid vacations, and dining privileges.
About Yard House USA, LLC:
Yard House USA, LLC launched its first Yard House restaurant in 1996 along the Long Beach waterfront just south of Los Angeles. Created by restaurant veteran Steele Platt and partners Steve Reynolds, Harald Herrmann and Carlito Jocson, today there are six locations throughout Southern California, as well as single units in the suburbs of Denver and Chicago. Yard House is set to open later this year along historic Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga, just east of Los Angeles, and will open in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in the fall of 2005. Yard House has received rave reviews from both consumer and trade publications, and is the recipient of many dining accolades and awards.
Three long-term employees were the first to benefit from the new equity incentive program, including Craig Carlyle who joined Yard House in its infancy as the general manager of its flagship location in Long Beach, California. Carlyle now serves as the company's vice president of operations. Jeff Uttz, a former executive at CKE Restaurants, joined Yard House in late 2001 to become the company's first chief financial officer, a position he still holds today. And Rudy Buruca, who began his career with the company as a saute cook who worked his way through the ranks and participated in the launching of each Yard House location, is now the company's regional kitchen manager.
"We have reached a point in the company's growth where we feel it necessary to reward hard working and dedicated members of our team," says Platt, who serves as the company's chief executive officer. "These people have been an instrumental force in building a solid foundation, as well as the growth we are currently experiencing as we continue to expand across the nation."
Those eligible for the company's equity incentive program include regional and corporate managers, general managers, and executive kitchen managers at the store level. Future general managers selected to oversee Yard House's next four locations, which at this time include Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, will also be eligible.
Yard House is among only a handful of casual-restaurant chains to offer employees equity stake. Platt and his partners believe that such a plan is a powerful retention tool in a highly competitive business and will help to create a consistent product, as well as service, from one location to the next. In addition, such a plan is also appealing to industry veterans who may wish to join a company that provides an opportunity for limited ownership.
"Our company is expanding at a steady rate with an average of two to three restaurant openings per year," says partner Harald Herrmann, president and chief operating officer for Yard House Restaurants USA, LLC. "We needed seasoned, high-volume managers, both in front of the house and heart of the house, who don't think of themselves as just employees but rather owners. The best way to achieve that thought process is by awarding key managers, those who have really proven themselves, with a vested and deserved interest in the company."
Other benefits available to Yard House employees include performance-based promotions, profit participation, comprehensive training, a 50-hour/5-day work week, two consecutive days off, family health benefits, life insurance, paid vacations, and dining privileges.
About Yard House USA, LLC:
Yard House USA, LLC launched its first Yard House restaurant in 1996 along the Long Beach waterfront just south of Los Angeles. Created by restaurant veteran Steele Platt and partners Steve Reynolds, Harald Herrmann and Carlito Jocson, today there are six locations throughout Southern California, as well as single units in the suburbs of Denver and Chicago. Yard House is set to open later this year along historic Route 66 in Rancho Cucamonga, just east of Los Angeles, and will open in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in the fall of 2005. Yard House has received rave reviews from both consumer and trade publications, and is the recipient of many dining accolades and awards.
