Stephanie Fischer on the Future of the Georgia Restaurant Industry

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:19] Lee Kantor here another episode of Association Leadership Radio and this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Stephanie Fischer with the Georgia Restaurant Association. Welcome, Stephanie.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:00:32] Thank you, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Can you share a little bit about Georgia Restaurant Association? How you serving folks?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:00:39] Sure. Thank you so much. Well, the Georgia Restaurant Association is the voice of Georgia restaurants and advocacy, education and awareness. And 2023, we represented approximately, $34.4 billion in sales. And with almost 23,000 locations here in the state of Georgia, we employ almost 5000 employees in the state, only second to agriculture. And 93% of our restaurants here in the state of Georgia have fewer than 50 employees, which makes up for a lot of small, small businesses here. If we talk about an industry as a whole, the National Restaurant Association just came out with some projected numbers. And in America, we are projected to hit $1 trillion in sales this year, which is pretty amazing. And just like Georgia, the restaurant industry in America is the second largest private sector employer in the US. And so, of course, when it comes to advocacy, our main goal is to advocate and educate at the local and state level for all restaurants in the state of Georgia. And we interact with government at every level. Any decisions they make that impacts Georgia restaurants. We will be monitoring if it adversely affects restaurants. We are going to work to stop that legislation. If it’s good policy, we’ll work to get it passed. So that’s pretty much what we do here.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:07] So your members are primarily restaurant owners or kind of the does that include like franchisors like because there’s a lot of franchisees in Georgia like the you know, Jimmy John’s the franchisor. Is that a member or is a Jimmy John’s kind of location a member or both?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:02:28] It’s a little bit of both. Right. So we have some very large national brands here and they are members. And then we have small independents that are members. And depending on if it’s a large franchise, depending on how that agreement is written, they may be members or they may sign up as members, um, for themselves.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:47] And then is our members also kind of the suppliers to the restaurant industry, or are those, have a separate way of, kind of working with you?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:02:55] We we call them Allied members. And so they’re here to support our members. So, yes, they are also members.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:02] Right. Because you mentioned that agriculture is a big part of Georgia. So I would imagine that you’re working with them in some level.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:03:09] We do, we do. We have a great relationship with Georgia Grown, which is part of the Department of Agriculture. And so it’s working with those local farmers and working with the chefs to, you know, to make sure that we we get those local products into our restaurants.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:26] Now, what is your background in association work?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:03:31] Well, um, honestly, most of my background is in the restaurant industry. Um, but I have been a part of the Georgia Restaurant Association since 2017. I joined the board 2022. I was chairman of the board. And when my predecessor, decided to retire after 13 years, um, I thought I would throw my hat in the ring. And here I am.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:56] So, as a leader of the association, kind of. What, is your vision?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:04:03] Yeah. We, you know, my immediate focus, um, this year, we’re kind of calling it the year of transition. Um, but I really want to focus on, um, our members and what kind of value we can bring to our members, you know, so, including offerings, you know, like networking opportunities, access to industry experts, um, exclusive discounts on products and services. Um, you know, our members are are the life and breath of our organization. So, you know, we are constantly exploring ways to help them succeed as a business owner and employers as employers. Um, and then looking to at, um, um, our culinary education, um, the Georgia Restaurant Association also has a foundation, um, and that foundation has what we call the Prostart program. And we’ve nearly tripled the growth over the past two years. Um, and it’s a two year program that’s in high schools around the state, but it’s a national program also, um, through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. So right now we have 44 schools participating in the, in the program. Um, and, um, we are, you know, really excited about growing that because that’s our future workforce.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:21] Now, how do you work with, kind of the universities you mentioned this type of education, um, at the, I guess, secondary school level. But are you working with, so much of the technology startup scenes also to, um, kind of leverage technology to help make these restaurants more, effective and also more efficient in terms of execution?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:05:47] I mean, technology is a is a big piece of, I think, our future and where that goes from a university perspective, that is something it’s kind of still new to me. And, um, we are definitely looking at making sure that we’re working with the universities not only to grow our hospitality programs, but also really from a high school perspective, like how can we get, you know, our kids coming out of the Prostart program, interested in the hospitality programs in our universities here in the state and how to keep them here?

Lee Kantor: [00:06:22] Yeah, I think that, um, and I’m glad you used the word hospitality, because I think that’s an important distinction, because the restaurant industry is the hospitality industry and the skills learned in the hospitality industry, I would think are transferable to, you know, pretty much every single, career path that this person would want to go in. So giving them hospitality experience young, I think really could shape how they, you know, deal with people, how they, you know, present themselves moving forward.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:06:52] Yeah. I, I have met since being in this role um it’s amazing. I, I’ve met a handful of people not in the industry any longer but have said that, oh my gosh, I was a server, you know, in college. And that really helped me with, you know, my people skills and, and talking to people. So yeah, there’s a there’s a lot of benefits.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:14] So now, um, and before the show, you mentioned that you, took on this role at the beginning of the year and, moving forward. And any advice for other kind of people that are new to the leadership role in an association on how to kind of get acclimated? I know that you worked, in the association prior to this, so it’s not brand new, but how do you kind of get your sea legs in terms of, okay, this is now my role. This is I’m going to have to put my stamp on this and to, um, you know, first listen to your constituents, but also to put your stamp on things moving forward. Any advice in that area?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:07:55] You know, for me, Lee, it was more so this year is about establishing relationships. Um, new to me on this side is the advocacy piece. So, you know, we just in the state of Georgia ended our legislative session. And so spending time down at the Gold Dome and meeting, um, our um, association, um, counterparts, but also spending time getting to know, you know, the legislators and understanding first so they know who I am. But to just just establishing those relationships. The other piece, you know, when we talk about kind of what I want to do this year is, you know, um, now that the, um, now that session is over, you know, getting out into the state, so, you know, traveling to the different parts of the state and meeting our members and meeting state local officials is really, really important. And then to, you know, just watch and learn and really understand how the association works. I’m not you know, my my plan is to make no major changes this year. I mean, I really even. You know, I’ve been a part of the association as a board member, but really, to understand the ins and outs, to make sure that any future decisions I make are right for the association and looking at growth and how we can grow the association.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:17] Now, what are, as you’re learning, what are some of the challenges that your members are expressing to you is, you know, you we’re hearing and seeing obviously like inflation with food and, and things like that. But I would imagine also staffing is also an issue. Um, what are some of the concerns that are presenting to you?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:09:39] Um, you know, you just mentioned both of them. Um, you know, the food cost and and labor costs have definitely, um, um, been affecting our restaurants. Um, not only in the state, but, you know, throughout the country. And, you know, I don’t know if, you know, a lot of people really understand that, you know, the typical small business restaurant runs on a 3 to 5% tax margin, um, and where food and labor costs are the two most significant line items, you know, for a restaurant. Um, before this interview, you know, I reached out to the National Restaurant Association, and, you know, they track, of course, the top challenges of restaurants as of March 2024 were recruiting and, um, looking at food and labor costs, you know, top out the top five. Um, of course, wholesale food prices are edging up again. Um, in March they were up 1.3%. And that comes on the heels of a 1.5% gain in February. So these creases, these increases, you know, follow a eight month, um, of basically no changes. So you know, we’re looking at some commodities going back up. Chicken is up 22% over last year.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:10:53] Pork is up 17% over last year. And beef is up 12% over last year. So again this, you know, really um, affects, you know, restaurants that have, you know, these commodities on their menu. And then um, when we look at labor cost, of course they continue to grow, but they are at a slower pace. Um, year to date through February, labor costs have risen about 5% this year. And, you know, they definitely haven’t grown as quickly as when we were coming out of the pandemic. Um, but, looking at to restaurants, you know, our restaurants are very labor intensive. Um, and if, if we look at it, um, an average restaurant needs an average of 12 employees to generate $1 million in sales, whereas maybe a grocery store, it only takes three employees, and maybe a hardware store, for instance, would take two employees, almost three employees to to generate $1 million in sales. So, you know, when it comes to when it comes to our restaurants, it’s it is a very labor intensive business. And, you know, you need staff to run those businesses to generate those sales.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:07] Now, what is the association’s role in terms of attracting maybe new chefs or a thriving food environment for entrepreneurs to open up restaurants?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:12:24] From an association. Um. You know, it’s it’s just making sure that, you know, we try to continue to make this state a great state to operate in. Um, we’re very fortunate to have a very small business, friendly state. So for chefs to come in or, you know, who are here, who want to open their, their restaurants. Um, I think we provide a very good ground for that. Um, and I would say that, you know, having Michelin here now, you know, Michelin came in last year, um, has really also, you know, helped, create a, a competitive food scene here in Atlanta throughout our chefs. Um, and it will be interesting to see, you know, what what comes next out of Michelin. But, you know, we do have a very, very lively, um, food scene here in Atlanta but also throughout the state. So we’re very fortunate now.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:25] Is that, um, and maybe I don’t understand how this all plays together, but like from a economic development standpoint, like Chamber of Commerce, things like that are trying to attract new things into the area. Is is that not a role of the association? Is the association more for folks that are already here and that you’re working with primarily lawmakers, just to make sure that the laws are going in the direction of your members? Or is it also to kind of just, um, increase the amount of restaurant activity in the state?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:13:59] Um, I would say for us, it’s more so working with our lawmakers to ensure that we keep this state, friendly for small businesses, like our, our local restaurateurs to, um, make sure that they are able to operate with without, um, you know, harmful, mandates that come down.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:22] So then that’s what they’re kind of leaning on you for, because I would imagine most restaurants that’s, you know, that’s important. But they got people to serve, you know, at the next, you know, lunch or dinner. So I would imagine.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:14:36] We work with other, you know, organizations. Um. Um, with regards to different legislation that might affect us all from a small business perspective. but we also get support from other associations where we need it. Um, so we all do work together when it comes to legislation that is, um, affecting, you know, businesses here in the state of Georgia. But we primarily advocate on, on the, on, for restaurants here in the state of Georgia. That is, that is our, our mission.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:08] And then do you work with the National Restaurant Association to, like, maybe learn best practices? So these, you know, this state here is doing this kind of innovative thing or.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:15:18] Yeah, most definitely. So we have a, um, all the CEOs throughout the country. Um, we also, you know, talk, on a monthly basis, sharing best practices, understanding what’s happening in other states. Um, and do we need to preemptive, you know, look at something here in the state of Georgia that maybe might be happening somewhere else. So, you know, um, the National Restaurant Association deals with, um, issues on a federal level. Um, and so, you know, they, we are in constant contact. So when something is coming up, do we need member support? Um, to, you know, send to, um, send to our legislators here in the state of Georgia. So, yeah, we we have a great relationship with the National Restaurant Association, a partnership with them, actually. Um, and we all work very, very closely to see what’s happening throughout the country.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:12] Now, are you bullish about the Georgia restaurant industry, you know, looking forward?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:16:19] I am. I mean, yeah, yes. Most definitely. It’s, um, I’m very excited to see what’s going to happen, you know, in the, the next couple of years, I think, you know, as technology advances, you know, will definitely play a significant role in shaping our industry. Um, you know, QR codes became so popular during the pandemic and they’re not going to go away. Third party delivery became very, very popular during the pandemic. They’re not going to go away. And, you know, looking to see how what else is out there that can, you know, help our our restaurateurs, you know, invest in technology that can, you know, help them run their business more, um, more efficiently and help with the guest experience. Um, so we’re we’re really excited to see where this takes us.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:15] Yeah, I think that and with the ongoing growth of Georgia, just as the state is, more and more people are moving here, um, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the restaurant, kind of community, because I think that Atlanta or Georgia is a food, you know, food, town Atlanta is I know for sure. And, and Savannah. So the more the better, I think.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:17:41] Yes. Most definitely. And and that’s one of my goals I, you know, I’m looking forward to, like I said, you know, going to Augusta, going to Columbus, you know, going down to Valdosta, to Macon, to, you know, meet our members there and and really get to know what’s going on in their, you know, their area. Um, because Atlanta is, you know, a big city. Um, but these, you know, these, these outlying cities throughout the state, it will be interesting to see what, what they’re dealing with and how can we help them?

Lee Kantor: [00:18:13] Right. And I would imagine that’s probably one of the biggest challenges is to make sure that it isn’t kind of an Atlanta centric association, even though that’s probably where a lot of the activity happens. But to really kind of spread the wealth throughout the state.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:18:26] Correct. No, that is that is my goal. I’m going to be hitting the road soon.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:31] Yeah. And that’s where the opportunities are. I mean, it’s amazing. The state does has have a lot of talented people spread throughout it. And it’s just a matter of kind of getting the word out about all the great work they’re doing.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:18:44] Very true. Most definitely. And like you said, you mentioned Savannah. I mean, Savannah is a great food town. Um, and we’re going to we’re going to spend some time there too.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:55] Right? And it’s one of those things that I’m sure in every town there’s a great restaurant that people may not be aware of that they would travel to if they were aware of it.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:19:06] Exactly. Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:08] Yeah. So. Well, congratulations on the momentum. And it must be exciting time for you to be able to serve the association in this manner. And, um, thank you for doing it. Because, you know, the Georgia needs more people like you that are willing to put in the work to help kind of rise the tide for everybody.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:19:30] Well, I’m definitely looking forward to it. This is, you know, um, this is a great time to be in the restaurant industry and to really understand that this is a career. Um, and I am I’m really excited to really try to get the word out that this is a this is a fabulous industry to be in. Um, and it’s not just, you know, owning a restaurant. there are so many different like we were talking about earlier, you know, these, these national brands that are here, you know, you can go into finance, you can go into business development, you can go into construction, you can go into HR. I mean, there’s so many facets of our business that people just don’t understand that this is a fabulous, fabulous industry to get into.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:14] Right. And I commend you for doing the work kind of at the for the younger people to just open their eyes that like you said, it isn’t just all going to be a waiter. Like there’s a lot of different career paths within this industry. And to just open your mind to just, to that as a career option.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:20:33] No, very, very true. And, you know, if I can say to all of our listeners out there, you know, I encourage you to go out and try a new restaurant in your neighborhood this summer. You know, it’s going to be patio weather and supporting businesses takes a community effort. And we are so grateful for the restaurant patrons that sustain our members year after year.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:55] And if somebody wants to connect with you and the association, what is the coordinates?

Stephanie Fischer: [00:21:01] yes. Our website is GA restaurants.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:05] Org good stuff. Well, thank you again for sharing your story. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Stephanie Fischer: [00:21:12] Great. Well, thank you very much, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:14] All right. This Lee Kantor. We’ll see y’all next time on the Association Leadership Radio.