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10 www.ohiorestaurant.org Summer Issue

the value members receive is based upon the volume of all participating members. To learn more, visit: http://associationdatabase.com/ aws/ORA/pt/sp/products_fuel

Restaurant Consultants, Inc.

The ORA recognizes that operating a business is a taxing and challenging career. There are times when restaurant operators have questions that require the knowledge and skills others are better prepared to answer than we are. It’s for this reason that the association formed a partnership with Restaurant Consultants, Inc. (RCI). The company’s president and founder, Robert Welcher, is extremely knowledgeable about the foodservice industry and can provide ORA members with targeted insight regarding the questions they may have.

In fact, RCI offers ORA members free online articles and forms, covering restaurant

operations, development and turnaround, human resources, menu engineering and design, restaurant broker services, service and salesmanship. Additionally, the company offers discounts on mid-level and premium consulting, business brokering and service training support. To learn more, visit: http:// associationdatabase.com/aws/ORA/pt/sp/ products_restconsultants.

Summit Energy

In an effort to provide more cost savings to our members and allow them to grow and sustain their businesses, the ORA recently partnered with Summit Energy, an energy management broker whose services can potentially provide members with thousands of dollars in energy savings annually.

Summit Energy, based in Louisville, Kentucky, works with businesses in states

where deregulated energy services allows them to negotiate better electricity rates on behalf of the ORA’s members. Participating members can be assured that they are receiving unbiased assistance from Summit Energy as the company is unaffliated with any energy provider. Summit Energy’s goal is to save ORA members money as an unbiased, independent advocate negotiating on your behalf with hundreds of energy suppliers in the U.S. alone. To learn more, visit: http:// associationdatabase.com/aws/ORA/pt/sp/ products_electrical.

If you are interested in learning more about Strategic Partnership opportunities, contact ORA Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Sarah McGovern at smcgovern@ ohiorestaurant.org or via telephone at (614) 246-0107.

When restaurant members pay their annual dues to the Ohio Restaurant Association (ORA), they receive dual membership in both the state restaurant association and the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

As a member of the NRA, you also gain additional benefts from those provided to you by the ORA. In fact, one of the most important benefts you receive is a voice at the national level. Any business owner will tell you that one of their leading concerns is how government’s decisions impact their operations. By being a part of the ORA, you get a voice at the state level, but you also gain it at the national level through NRA’s efforts on the Hill in D.C. as they lobby Congressional leaders and policy makers. Daily, representatives of the NRA remind those in Washington of the powerful economic force that the nation’s restaurants provide.

Additionally, as a NRA member, you beneft from the NRA’s commitment to lead America’s restaurant industry into a new era of prosperity, prominence and participation, enhancing the

quality of life for all members. The organization exists to help members – the cornerstone of their communities – build customer loyalty, rewarding careers and fnancial success.

Working closely with the ORA, the NRA is implementing the focusing on the following areas to help members grow and sustain their businesses over the next fve years:

Jobs and Careers

• Increase labor supply and tenure

• Improve management practices related to specifc employee satisfaction drivers

• Improve public perceptions of the restaurant industry relating to jobs and careers

Food and Healthy Living

• Increase food and alcohol safety/security in the restaurant industry

• Increase restaurant nutrition information, availability and consumer awareness

• Improve public perceptions of the restaurant industry relating to food and healthy living

Sustainability and Social Responsibility

• Improve water and energy usage and other sustainable practices in the restaurant industry

• Illustrate and leverage charitable activities by the restaurant industry

• Improve public perceptions of the restaurant industry relating to sustainable practices and social responsibility

Proftability and Entrepreneurship

• Increase restaurant industry proftability

• Improve the success rate for new and established restaurant operators

• Improve public perception of the restaurant industry relating to entrepreneurship and opportunity

To learn more about these programs and other benefts provided by the NRA, visit www. restaurant.org for more information.

What Exactly Does Your ORA

Restaurant Membership Provide You?

It’s not just a voice in Ohio – it’s a voice at the national level and access to great programs and educational benefts