CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, LAZY DOG RESTAURANTS
DAY JOB: Oversees 36-restaurant chain with $213.3 million in sales last year. Company serves American-inspired food in a casual restaurant setting.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Ran Sponsor the Frontline program after receiving a number of guest inquiries about how they could help support healthcare workers. Company set up an option online for consumers to donate money for meals, with the ability of where in their communities they wanted to send the donation.
NOTABLE: Originally had to furlough majority of staff before making the decision to reopen restaurants for takeout and delivery. Company also moved fast to begin offering meal packs starting off with essential goods hard to find at grocery stores at the start of shelter-in-place orders; got more creative with time. A Mother’s Day meal kit and DIY Pop-Tarts were some of the more notable rollouts.
QUOTABLE: “It’s been such an interesting time. Thank goodness we’ve spent the last 17 years of our business building a really strong culture that’s focused on our people. So I cannot thank our people who are currently working so hard and helping us survive and our furloughed teammates for all their support. It’s really been an incredible experience and I don’t look forward to ever doing this again,” Simms told the Business Journal in May.
FAST FACTS: Restaurant vet who clocked time at a number of eateries while studying at Loyola High School and later Cornell University. Worked at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro after graduating from Cornell School of Hotel Administration. Began working at Mimi’s Cafe, founded by his father Tom Simms and grandfather Arthur J. Simms. Opened first Lazy Dog in 2003 with his father in Westminster.
