Greg Flynn is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group and Flynn Properties. With approximately 2,600 Applebee’s, Taco Bells, Paneras, Arby's, Pizza Huts and Wendy’s restaurants generating $4.5 billion in sales and employing 75,000 people in 44 states and 2 countries, Flynn Restaurant Group is the largest franchise operator in the world. Flynn Properties invests in commercial real estate and has owned and managed more than 3 million square feet since its founding in 1994; it also owns 121 hotels including the luxury resorts Esperanza and Chileno Bay, both located in Los Cabos, Mexico, the Carneros Resort and Solage, both located in the Napa Valley, the Hotel Madeline in Telluride, and the Huntington Hotel in San Francisco.
Greg has been recognized as one of the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEOs by the San Francisco Business Times, as Restaurant Leader of the Year by Restaurant Business Magazine, as Operator of the Year by Nation's Restaurant News, as Dealmaker of the Year by the Franchise Times, and as an Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young. He has been named Applebee’s Franchisee of the Year and Operator of the Year four times each, and was named Arby’s Franchisee of the Year for 2021.
Greg has an AB Magna Cum Laude from Brown University, an MA from Yale University, an MBA from the Stanford GSB, and an honorary doctorate from the Culinary Institute of America. He serves on the boards of the Exploratorium and the International Franchise Association. He also serves on the Brown University College Advisory Council, the Applebee’s Franchise Business Council, the Panera Franchise Advisory Council, the Strategic Advisory Group of Goldman Sachs’ West Street Capital Partners VII, the Executive Advisory Board of Cove Hill Partners, L.P., and as a Yale GSAS Advisor. He is a past chairman of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization and a past Member of the Brown University President’s Leadership Council.
Lorin Cortina serves as EVP and CFO of Flynn Restaurant Group and Flynn Properties. He joined Flynn Holdings in 2001 to oversee capital markets, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, financial planning and accounting, and restaurant development activities. Prior to joining FRG, Lorin was a VP, Investments for Starwood Financial, Inc. and VP, Acquisitions and AVP, Capital Markets at TriNet Corporate Realty Trust, Inc. Lorin also worked as a consultant with PWC and Deloitte & Touche. Lorin has held senior management positions involved in corporate finance, capital markets and M&A activities, and has successfully led the investment and related capital raise in transactions totaling over several billion dollars in value. Lorin received a B.A. in Business/Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Brad serves as Chief Operating Officer for Flynn Restaurant Group and has worked with Greg Flynn for seventeen years and with AAG since its founding in 1998. As COO of FRG, he is responsible for operations of all Applebee’s, Taco Bell, and Panera units. Direct reports include all Vice Presidents of Operations, Training and Human Resources. Prior to joining Apple American, Brad served as VP, U.S. Operations, for Vancouver-based Spectra Group of Restaurants and VP, Operations, for Keg Restaurants.
Brad serves on the Applebee’s Operations Council. He holds a B.S.B.A. in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of Denver and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington.
As Chief Improvement Officer, Ron is focused on driving incremental value in the business by realizing operational improvement opportunities across Flynn’s more than 2,400 restaurants. He is also responsible for overseeing the organization’s Arby’s, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s businesses and leads Flynn’s support center based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Prior to joining Flynn, Ron worked for Teachers’ Private Capital where he helped establish Teachers' approach to value creation planning and portfolio management. He also spent more than a decade in management consulting most recently as a partner with Oliver Wyman.
Ron graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a BA in Applied Mathematics and Ancient Literature from the University of Michigan.
Mark serves as President for Bell American Group overseeing more than 280 Taco Bells in 8 states. In this role, he is responsible for guiding the Team on their journey to being PREMIER. Mark began his career with Mobil Oil Corporation in multi-unit operations for convenience stores. He later joined forces with The RTM Restaurant Group and was Director of Operations for what was then Arby’s largest franchisee. In 2001, Mark began an 18 year career with Pilot Travel Centers. During his tenure, he was instrumental in scaling the company from 135 units to over 650 centers operating in 42 states and Canada. At Pilot, Mark held a variety of leadership positions including Human Resources and Training and ultimately served as Senior Vice President of Operations for the chain’s Travel Centers, as well as the food within those centers, having responsibility for over 400 QSR restaurants, and over 250 units of a Proprietary food concept called PJ Fresh. He joined Flynn in February 2019 to oversee the continued expansion of Bell American.
Mark received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Millersville University in Lancaster, PA. He is married to Amy and together they have three children.
Sarat serves as Senior Vice President of Operations for Bell American and oversees the operations of 270+ restaurants across 8 states. Sarat began his career with the Pillsbury Company in Marketing and later joined PepsiCo/YUM! Brands as a Manager of New Concepts charged with growing the restaurant portfolio via non-traditional channels. As National License Manager, Sarat led a team that grew the Taco Bell Express concept from a base of 100 locations to over 2,000 locations within a 5 year span. After a 10 year career with PepsiCo/YUM! that encompassed leadership roles in both Development and Operations, Sarat moved to the franchise side of the business when he joined Southern Bells in 2003 leading the Operations team that managed the portfolio of 76 Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut Express locations in IN, IL, and KY. He joined Flynn Restaurant Group when FRG acquired Southern Bells, and has overseen the expansion of Bell American from 76 units in 2013 to over 270 today.
Sarat received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is married with two children.
Billy serves as President, Operations Support & Integration for Flynn, overseeing the Support Center Operations of the company. Partnering with Department Heads and Operations Leadership, Billy’s responsibility is to ensure Flynn is providing its restaurant operators with the support they require to succeed, to realize economies of scale associated with being the largest franchisee in the world, and to diligence and prepare for future growth.
Prior to joining Flynn, Billy served as Chief Revenue Officer for US Acute Care Solutions, where he was responsible for all revenue cycle, strategy, and business analytics operations. USACS provides emergency and hospitalist care to 9M+ patients annually at more than 500+ clinician programs across 28 states, and was aligned with capital partner Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and currently Apollo Global Management.
Prior to USACS, Billy served as an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, with a focus on corporate strategy, front-line operations, and strategic transformation.
Billy graduated with a B.A. Cum Laude from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Betsy joined Flynn Restaurant Group in 2011 and serves as its Chief People Officer. At Flynn, Betsy partners with Brand Leadership across all businesses to lead the People Strategy inclusive of Attracting, Developing, and Retaining top talent. Betsy also has oversight for the HR support center team which includes the shared service functions of Benefits, Compliance, HR Technology, Talent Acquisition, Diversity and Inclusion, and Learning and Development.
Prior to joining FRG, Betsy was Vice President of Human Resources for The Palm Restaurants for 9 years. Prior to The Palm Betsy provided HR leadership in the areas of Employee Relations, Talent Management, and Compensation and Benefits to large and small organizations across multiple industries. Betsy received a B.A. in Psychology from Towson University and an M.S. in Human Resource Management from Johns Hopkins University.
As Marketing Partner, Diann oversees marketing and public relations for all FRG brands with a concentration in Applebee’s Grill and Bar and Panera Bread Bakery and Café.
Prior to joining Flynn in 2006, Diann was an Applebee’s franchisee for ten years and a Burger King franchisee for twenty years serving on many national committees including Marketing and Franchise Relations/Development.
Diann graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in English Literature and History and went on to San Jose State University to get her Master's in Communications.
Kasey joined the team in 2017 and serves as Sr. Vice President of Procurement providing oversight for our procurement, licensing, and facility management functions that support all 2,400+ Flynn locations. Kasey’s team is responsible for improving financial performance, streamlining operations, and maintaining compliance across the business while working in close partnership with each of our operators, franchisors, and supply chain cooperatives.
Prior to joining Flynn Restaurant Group, Kasey spent 10 years, most recently Director of Global Procurement, with Bloomin’ Brands based in Tampa, FL where she was responsible for optimizing the company’s approach to Indirect spend management and ultimately positioned the Global Procurement team to facilitate the organization’s long-term growth strategy.
Kasey graduated summa cum laude from Berkeley College in New York with an applied sciences degree in International Business.
As Vice President, General Counsel, Jaci oversees legal matters at Flynn Restaurant Group alongside a high-performing, diverse team that she built from the ground up. Drawing upon more than a decade of experience litigating and negotiating high-stakes commercial matters, Jaci leverages her strengths as an effective communicator and cross-functional collaborator to craft practical solutions that achieve her clients' business objectives. Jaci prides herself on her approachable style to counseling and leadership, seeing the big picture, and being able to anticipate and navigate potential obstacles to growth. In 2021, Jaci was named one of San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business and honored with Corporate Counsel’s Women, Influence & Power in Law Award for Leadership Through Crisis: Retail & Consumer Goods.
Prior to joining Flynn Restaurant Group in 2018, Jaci was a partner in the Intellectual Property practice of global law firm Jones Day.
Dan Rieger currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Development for Flynn Restaurant Group. At Flynn, Dan is part of the Leadership Team and oversees the entire portfolio of restaurant assets, including the development of new restaurants. He has a proven history of influencing the strategic direction of companies at the senior executive and Board of Directors level and then successfully leading companies to meet those strategic goals.
Prior to joining FRG, Dan spent eight years with H&R Block, with three and a half of those years as the Vice President and Managing Director of the International division at H&R Block. He also had the opportunity to serve as both the Vice President of Field of Operations and as the Vice President of Real Estate. Before his roles with H&R Block, Dan had an 11-year career with DineEquity in a variety of leadership roles.
Dan sits on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the Downtown Council of Kansas City, a private, nonprofit membership organization representing Kansas City’s best businesses, property owners, nonprofit organizations, and anyone else invested in Downtown’s success.
He also is on the governing board of Make-A-Wish for their Missouri and Kansas chapter.
Dan received his B.A. in Business Administration and his B.A. in Psychology from William Jewell College in Liberty, MO, where he was a scholar athlete and is currently in the business school hall of fame.
As VP of Business Insights and Value Creation, Ashley oversees analytics across the organization’s 6 brands and Support Center departments. She leads marketing and pricing insights to help drive profitable sales and aids in the development and implementation of value creation initiatives across the business.
Prior to joining Flynn, Ashley worked for four years at McKinsey & Company specializing in operational transformation, procurement, and spend analytics across several sectors including electric power natural gas, retail, and quick-service restaurants.
Ashley completed her postdoctoral studies in Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital in association with Harvard Medical School, her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from The Ohio State University, and graduated cum laude with degrees in Biochemistry and Zoology from Colorado State University.
Bell American is built on a substantially differentiated business model. Each geographic region is led by a Market Leader who operates his or her market with great local autonomy while receiving support from the central organization.
Tina Locklear – North Carolina
Lois Leopard – South Carolina
Debra Western – Great Lakes 1
Trey Crim – Great Lakes 2
Jon Aiello – Indiana 1
Scott Pletzke – Indiana 2
Chris Counts – Missouri 1
Missy Shriver – Missouri 2
Earl Jacobson – Missouri 3
Our Department Heads work together with our senior operating team to support the growth of Bell American.
Betsy Mercado, Chief People Officer
JP Wiedemer, Senior Vice President of Finance and Accounting
Diann Banaszek, Marketing Partner
Kasey Mania, Vice President of Procurement
Jacqueline Lee, General Counsel
Ashley Fenn, Vice President of Business Insights and Value Creation
Dan Rieger, Senior Vice President of Real Estate