It's All about Business

By John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC

As we begin the regional conference season, I am looking back at how we have built the American Culinary Federation into a thriving business. My board and I were all aware, when we were elected, that we needed to make some fundamental changes in the day-to-day operations. We were determined to change how we do business, and create a 21st-century business model so that the federation could grow and thrive.

In my first letter to you as your national president, I told you that I would investigate and review all operations to determine if they were working effectively to generate growth within our federation. When we began to create our business model, we divided our operations into separate entities.

First, we brought in a consultant to audit our certification model and make recommendations. Ferdinand Metz, CMC, AAC, HOF, proposed that we bring back the American Culinary Federation Education Institute (ACFEI) to enable us to strengthen our apprenticeship programs and training modules toward ACF certification levels. The certification consultant recommended that we reform the certification commission if we wished to apply for National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) certification.

The certification commission gave us a three-pronged approach to education: accreditation, certification and culinary training. We did this to ensure that the top associations in the United States practiced the same principles that we have put in place. There will be no conflict of interest in the future, because our three educational components are independent of one another.

The next division, events management, has taken over the day-to-day running of our regional conferences, plus the national convention. We have hired an outside consultant to assist the eventsmanagement department with food-andbeverage and trade-show management at the national convention. As I write, the events-management department has increased revenues over last year.

Another division is membership, and because of an aggressive retention program designed by the membership director, I am proud and happy to say that on the last day of January this year our membership was up 7% from the previous year. I believe there are two factors that contributed to this: more equitable dues and greater communication between the membership department and the membership.

In the finance department, there is continual monitoring of all financial activities, which makes us extremely cost-effective. Thanks to our national treasurer and chief financial officer, our revenues have grown, or investments have increased, and we are getting a bigger bang for the buck than we did in the past.

In communications and sales, our advertising revenues are up, our magazines are winning awards, and there is greater participation by the membership in those magazines.

We also have improved the offerings in our online store, which is allowing us to retain greater revenues from those sources.

All this is part of the board allowing our staff to do their jobs in an effective and timely manner. With the way our growth is happening, I am happy to say that we will probably outgrow existing facilities within the next two years. What does that mean? It means that growth, at last, is sustainable under the leadership of our executive director of operations, and I am confident that this will continue.

What is the secret? Quite simply, it is that this board does not micromanage the national office staff. We have designated board members to carry out specific duties so that we can get decisions made in a timely manner. Our vice presidents have been working hard in the regions to increase membership by working with the chapters to help them grow and sustain growth.

In other words, a business model that works for the American Culinary Federation is the business model we intend to use. So, quite simply, we have a great staff in place and we have a great board that is interested in only the growth of this organization, and is living up to this quote: "Putting our business principles above business personalities."

Let's keep up the good work and enjoy the success of our labors, and when the next board takes over, my board and I can honestly say that this board left the federation better than we found it.