Huddle House Promotes Longtime General Counsel to Chief Administrative Officer

By: Huddle House | 1,020 Shares 109 Reads

15-year Huddle House Veteran Claudia Levitas Expands and Strengthens Leadership Role

May 03, 2011 // Franchising.com // ATLANTA — Huddle House has announced the promotion of its longtime general counsel, Claudia Levitas, to the role of chief administrative officer. Levitas will retain oversight of the 46-year-old family diner chain's legal affairs and human resources department while taking on new responsibilities such as supervision of all corporate administration, employee benefits programs, the company's real estate portfolio and risk management evaluation.

"While balancing those responsibilities is a challenge in and of itself, I'm looking forward to doing all I can to help the company continue to grow and move forward," said Levitas. "That begins with making sure we have all the right programs in place for our franchisees and employees as well as ensuring all organizational and administrative matters are handled efficiently."

Prior to joining Huddle House in 1995, Levitas practiced law for five years in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in commercial litigation. She joined the chain to oversee franchise-related issues and legislative matters and saw her responsibilities gradually extend to human resources and the development of training materials for Huddle House's 19 corporate and 381 franchised restaurants.

"Claudia has a much broader and more impactful role than just being our senior counsel," said Ken Keymer, Huddle House's CEO. "She's a senior manager I rely on heavily, someone who's incredibly bright and works hard for this brand. She's a very important component to this company's success."

Levitas said an initiative she'll address in her new role is the formation of a recognition program for Huddle House team members making noteworthy contributions to their communities.

"We already have programs that recognize outstanding restaurant performance, but we want to go further and recognize those individuals who are touching lives of people in communities where they work," she said. "There are so many everyday heroes in our system who are changing people's lives, and they should be acknowledged."

ABOUT HUDDLE HOUSE

Huddle House, Inc., a full-service family restaurant chain, is well-known for serving "Any Meal. Any Time." in communities around the country. The Huddle House menu has a wide variety of comfort food items and features signature Big House breakfast and sandwich platters, as well as favorites such as country fried steak with green beans and marinated grilled chicken with sweet potato fries. The core values on which Huddle House was founded in 1964- serving quality food in a warm, friendly environment that brings the community together- remain intact today. Typically open 24-hours, Huddle House serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all day. In 2011, Huddle House will be implementing a new and fresh design with flexible seating so even larger groups can come and enjoy 'Our House'. The Atlanta-based 400-plus-unit franchise is located in 17 states, primarily in the Southeast, Mid-West and Southwest U.S. For more information, please call 1-800-418-9555 or visit www.huddlehouse.com.

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