4
Quarter1
N
ever before in my 15 years
of serving all of you and this
amazing organization have I felt
and witnessed such a passionate renewal
of focus at the Delaware Restaurant
Association (DRA)! As we celebrate the
DRA’s 50
th
anniversary year, our work has
never been more intense, innovative and
relevant—to its members, to the state and
to our industry’s vibrant future.
The Delaware Restaurant Association
Education Foundation (DRAEF)
Education and training with an intense
passion for working with the state
on workforce, youth and leadership
development has driven our Board to
enthusiastically launch the Delaware
Restaurant
Association
Educational
Foundation (DRAEF) which is the DRA’s
501c-3 foundation. Made possible with
a financial grant from WSFS Bank, the
DRAEF will continue to focus on the
implementation of its successful ProStart
Program for high school students. Exciting
in many ways and now formally recognized
by the state as part of Governor Markell’s
Pathways to Prosperity initiative, a
partnership between schools, employers
and universities focusing on giving
students real world skills, education and
mentored work experience that will lead
to a professional certification and college
credits. The DRAEF will continue its
important workforce development and
training of our industry through its Servsafe
Certification program (now mandatory in
Delaware) and its new Emerging Leaders in
Hospitality Program in partnership with the
University of Delaware/HRIM.
Minimum Wage/Unionization
On the heels of last year’s assault on
the restaurant industry nationwide, the
battleground has come toDelaware. After the
legislature passed a minimum wage increase
last session, another bill was introduced to
raise the wage yet again to $10.10 an hour—
even before the first law was implemented.
The bill eventually died; however, a task
force was established—the Low Wage
and Service Worker Task Force. Only two
business representatives were allowed on the
task force out of its 15 members and not one
was allowed from the restaurant community.
The task force, chaired by Senator Robert
Marshall (who is the architect and sponsor
of minimum wage increase bills) was heavily
weighted by pro-union and union members.
Task force meetings were eye-opening,
watching protestors arrive by bus and
awarded free lunch to participate.
The DRA has been extremely active since
that first meeting. The establishment
of common sense information is now
available on
.
Spearheading a grassroots efforts against a
highly organized and deep-pocketed, union-
backed effort, the DRA organized a coalition
of business groups and polled 500 Delaware
voters on minimum wage. Support was
less than half for an increase if there was a
threat of job loss. This issue is not about a 50
cent increase. It is a philosophy that wages
increase naturally with sound economic
progress. Restaurants provide amazing
middle class jobs and opportunity for all.
No further increase should pass while the
state has not fully implemented the first law.
The goal of the Task Force is to see a $15
an hour wage and a higher tip wage for your
servers. The Task Force also wants to ban
what they feel is “involuntary part-timing”
and unionization is the goal. If ever there
was a time to get very actively involved in
this issue, it is now!
Carrie Leishman, President & CEO
Delaware Restaurant Association
we l c ome
{
2015 DRA BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Bobby Pancake, Buffalo Wild Wings/High 5, LLC
VICE-CHAIR
Steve Montgomery, The Starboard/Bethany Blues
TREASURER
Jeff Cook, 2 Fat Guys
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN
Matthew DiSabatino,
Striper Bites, Kindle, Half Full
PRESIDENT & CEO
Carrie Leishman
DIRECTORS
Javier Acuna, Hakuna Hospitality Group
Bob Ashby, Ashby Hospitality
Mashoor Awad, IHOP
Les Dukart, McDonalds/Dukart Management
Dennis Forbes, Cool Springs/Restaurant 55
Ryan German, Caffé Gelato
Mike Gershenfeld, Sysco Eastern Maryland
Gary Gunderson, Innovative Hospitality Solutions
Tom Hannum, Buckley’s Tavern
Scott Kammerer, SoDel Concepts
Bill Klemkowski, Jake’s Seafood House
Dr. Sheryl Kline, Univ of Delaware HRIM
Betsy LeRoy, Pizza By Elizabeths
Jean Lloyd, BDO USA LLP
Steve Lucey, Six Paupers/ Ulysses
Hank Rosenberg, Harrington Raceway
Paul Ruggerio, NKS Distributors
Xavier Teixido, Harry’s Hospitality
Steve Torpey, Stanley’s Tavern
DIRECTOR EMERITUS
Sydney Arzt
Kevin Davies
Paul Wise
DRA STAFF
Carrie Leishman, President & CEO
Krystal Peters, Director of Operations /
Education Director & ProStart
®
Coordinator
Karen Stauffer, Director of
Marketing & Membership
2015 DRAEF BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Meghan Gardner, Blue Moon
VICE CHAIR
Xavier Teixido, Harry’s Hospitality
TREASURER
Josh Grapski, Nage
SECRETARY
Betsy LeRoy, Pizza by Elizabeths
PRESIDENT & CEO
Carrie Leishman
DIRECTOR
Ed Hennessy, Delaware Techinical
Community College
EDUCATION COORDINATOR
Krystal Peters
