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Winter 2014 Issue
Happy New Year, everyone! Turning the
page on the calendar motivates many
of us to take a fresh look at ourselves,
our businesses, our life challenges and
so much more. While I am not a person
who revels in New Year’s resolutions, I do
believe that if we subscribe to continuous
improvement, we can better manage our
personal and professional lives.
This issue of à la Carte focuses on
sustainability, which dovetails nicely with
the notion of continuous improvement.
Included in these pages you will find a
variety of great ideas to help you think
differently about how to incorporate eco-
friendly changes to your business. They
don’t need to be viewed as financial black
holes, but rather as investments that,
over time, will pay themselves back to
you in a multitude of ways.
You may have already incorporated some
changes into your establishment—water
conservation, reducing paper waste,
recycling fryer oil, or using alternatives
to incandescent lighting. Your ORA/NRA
membership provides you with significant
sustainability resources. NRA has
developeda robustwebportal, aptlynamed
“Conserve,” that is chock full of great
tips. Conserve can be accessed at http://
conserve.restaurant.org/Bright-Ideas.
Feel free to sign up (remember, as a
member it is one of the benefits we’re
happy to provide to you) and start yourself
on the journey to sustainability.
Strategic Plan
Your ORA Board and staff have been
working on a strategic plan to move us
forward over the next three years. This
is no easy task as our industry is so
diverse; however, this is one of the traits
of the industry that my team and I find so
appealing as we work to meet your needs
and expectations.
Our plan is focused on:
• Growing membership;
• Improving on successes in our advocacy work,
primarily through growth of our PAC and other
initiatives; and
• Finding ways for our Education Foundation/
ProStart
®
workforce development program
to become financially sustainable on a
permanent basis.
As we think about how to make all of this
happen, we must reflect on the nature of
the industry we serve and realize that to
remain cutting edge, we must become
even more engaged with our generational
audiences. For example, Millennials are
not just our guests but our employees,
managers and emerging owners. They
view the world much differently than
those of us in the “Boomer” generation.
For example, we value mentoring; they
value networking. We value traditional
associations and the manner in which
value is delivered; they value their phones
and digital devices because everything
they need can be accessed through
this technology. We value face-to-face
conversation and they prefer social media.
Why am I calling attention to these
differences? Because I want you to know
that we understand that in order to be
successful on your behalf, we need to
keep up with the times and continue to
remain relevant with all generations of
foodservice professionals we serve.
This is just some of the heavy lifting we
will be focused on throughout the year. I
welcome your comments and encourage
you to contact me if you have thoughts or
suggestions on how we can better serve
you. Good luck in 2015 and remember,
we are here for you!
By Geoff Hetrick,
President and CEO,
Ohio Restaurant Association
Sustainability: A Path to Increased Profits
Protecting Your Bottom Line
Inside This Issue
Index of Advertisers
Sustainability
8-15
