One thing that sets United States Beef Corporation apart from other franchisees is the fact that the company owns most of its own restaurants and the land they are built on.

“Throughout the ups and downs of the business, having that land has always been a good asset base to get us through the bad times,” CEO Jeff Davis says. “But buying the bricks and mortar is the easy part; operating [the restaurants] is the tough part.”

To make that a little easier, U.S. Beef, the world’s largest Arby’s franchisee, recently completed an 8,000-square-foot operations and training center across from its headquarters in Tulsa. The center is equipped with distance learning capabilities to pipe training to managers and area directors in the company’s major markets throughout Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and parts of Illinois. In the future, U.S. Beef also hopes to partner with universities in the company’s home state of Oklahoma to help employees get their degrees.

Davis explains this new emphasis on ongoing education within his company.

“We all try to provide the best health care and those kind of benefits to our employees, but I feel continued education is also important,” he says. “When people are learning new things, they’re more excited about their jobs. That gives me bench strength for our continued growth.”

Davis says the company plans to add around 60 new Arby’s units in the next five years, with particular focus on its Kansas City and St. Louis markets. It also has five more units to go before completing a nine-unit development agreement with Taco Bueno, signed in 2005. Beyond that, Davis says, the strategy is to continue adding and remodeling Arby’s locations in the company’s established areas.

“We’re continuously penetrating our markets so we can afford radio and television advertising 12 months out of the year,” he says.