Jeff Flowers

Functional Area(s) of Focus

Education

Restaurants/Hospitality

Swensons Drive-In Restaurants is an award-winning drive-in restaurant chain which operates 21 Stands, 2 Food Trucks and a Ghost Kitchen throughout Ohio and Indiana.  Founded 90 years ago in Akron, OH, Swensons Drive-Ins serve fresh-grilled burgers, handspun milkshakes, and crispy sides right to your car by an energetic team of smiling Curb Servers who sprint to your car to serve you and back to the kitchen to place your order

2016

Private Equity

Yes - Serving as President and CEO since the transaction close in 2016

Jeff began with the company over 20 years ago during college as a Curb Server. He has since worked his way up through every level of management, culminating in the President and CEO position approximately one year before the company was sold. Jeff led the company through its first-ever private equity transaction and has tripled its size since the transaction closed

Jeff has demonstrated adaptability and leadership through three distinct organizational eras: pre-growth, growth, and the pandemic. He led the organization through its first new stand opening in 16 years, entering five new markets. This involved site selection, demographic analyses, ROI analysis, and detailed forecasting and budgeting.

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Jeff transformed an unscalable and outdated culture into one of inspiration, opportunity, transparency, and inclusion, resulting in a scalable business model leveraging people, processes, and culture. He re-envisioned the organization’s culture by defining a clear mission, vision, set of values, and commitment statements, solidifying the "Swensons way" of leadership – leading with integrity and delivering phenomenal guest experiences. He built a foundation for growth by creating and developing new departments and teams needed to support an emerging 80+ year-old brand, tripling the size of the company over six years.

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Jeff also drove the organization through new and necessary technological improvements to remain competitive within the QSR/Fast Casual marketplace, creating invaluable operational efficiencies while staying true to the brand’s essence. He developed a modern prototype stand design, resulting in improved brand visibility, shortened ROI on construction investments, operational efficiencies, and greater guest engagement

University of Akron, BS