QSR Magazine: Restaurants React to Labor Secretary Nominee

As Donald Trump prepares to take office in January, he has started laying out the team who will make up the new Cabinet, and his pick for secretary of labor comes from the franchise restaurant industry. Andy Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants (parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s), has been tapped by Trump for labor secretary, and according to a recent article by QSR, restaurant executives are hopeful about having one of their own in the role.

“This is great news,” Kendall Richmond, chief financial officer of Toppers Pizza, told QSR. “Andy understands the restaurant business.” Puzder will still be subject to confirmation like all members of the Cabinet, but many restaurant executives are encouraged by his history of opposing government regulation. Read more here.

Peter Riggs, President of Pita Pit USA Inc., had similar feelings that he shared with QSR, “It’s pretty exciting to see one of our own elevated to where they will define policy,” Peter Riggs, President of Pita Pit USA Inc., told QSR. “To have someone so intensely familiar with the nuances of franchising as secretary of labor is good for the restaurant business.”

Michael Mabry, COO of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes weighed in on the nominee and shared with QSR, “Andy understands the entirety of the industry, from the hourly wage earners to the entry level managers to top management. He absolutely gets it.”