Mid South Franchisee Association Kicks Off Year in New Orleans

The Mid South Franchisee Association (MSFA) kicked off 2022 with a meeting in New Orleans that had a little bit of everything – from business updates and a lively trade show to a viewing party for the NCAA Division I football national championship game and a Big Easy-style soiree and reception.

Three dozen franchisees and guests from the MSFA, Ohio River Coalition and Florida Caribbean Franchisee Association joined about 60 vendors for the meeting, held Jan. 9-11 at the Marriott New Orleans. The meeting featured presentations from several vendors, including Xenial, Workstream, rapid!, Comcast Business, Armor Security, Atmosphere TV and UPshow.

MSFA President Kevin Newell led the event for MSFA, the first of two planned for the association in 2022. Featured on the first day were presentations from National Franchisee Association (NFA) Chair Dan Fitzpatrick, who provided franchisee updates and a report from the Marketing Advisory Committee, Benjamin Vargas of Veterans of

Foreign Wars, who spoke about the Unmet Needs Program, and NFA CEO Christy Williams, who provided an update on Elevanta.

Members of the Burger King Corp. leadership team, including Tom Curtis, president, U.S. and Canada, and Katerina Glyptis, vice president of franchise operations, North America, also attended and spoke on the meeting’s first day.

Attendees watched the national championship game on Jan. 10 at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux near the Caesars Superdome and the next day enjoyed a New Orleans brunch at Tujague’s in the French Quarter.

The second day of the meeting also featured an operations update and RSI presentation from RSI CEO Joel Neikirk and a Government Relations Council address from Dominic Flis. Franchisee-only roundtable discussions closed out the meeting.

MSFA will meet again in 2022 in Snowmass, Colorado, in a joint event with members of Great Western Franchisee Association on July 10-12. n

Jenrich retires from Keurig Dr Pepper

Dear BURGER KING® Partners,

I am all at once pleased and saddened to announce that after 15 years of dedicated service to the RBI Team, and 24 years of service to the Keurig Dr Pepper Fountain Foodservice Banner, national account executive Jeffrey Jenrich retired from Keurig Dr Pepper on Feb. 4.

Jeffrey began his noteworthy tenure in the soft drink industry when he joined the 7UP Bottling Co. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1985. He also held various positions with Bottlers and Snapple before we acquired the brand. He joined the Dr Pepper 7UP Co. with the fountain food-service division in 1998. These roles helped shape Jeffrey’s broad experience and knowledge of the industry.

In 2007 Jeffrey became a member of the BURGER KING® team, and from the beginning, he helped shape the strategic direction and framework for our team going forward. His contributions have been immeasurable to me and the RBI team over these years and to his franchisees and Burger King Corp. partners. Jeffrey always said, “BURGER KING franchisees are more like family than any other account I ever called on.”

I want to thank Jeffrey for the intelligence, focus and leadership he provided daily and his many years of service. I feel very fortunate to have been able to work alongside him and call him my friend.

Please join me in thanking Jeffrey for his contributions and to the many fond and fun memories.

Sincerely,

Kelton Graham

Vice President, Restaurant Brands International Keurig Dr Pepper