CONTACT:
Stephanie
L. Amberg
Vice President of Public Relations
813/282-1225
OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. Announces
Appointment of
Jeff Smith as President of Outback Steakhouse
Steve Erickson Named as Senior Vice President of
Operations for Outback Steakhouse
Tampa, Florida (April 12, 2007) – 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.
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.”
return to press room
|
