Eatontown, N.J.—June 4, 2002— New World Restaurant Group, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: NWCI ) today announced that Max Craig, until recently Chief Financial Officer for the Taco Bell Corporation unit of PepsiCo, Inc./Tricon Global Restaurants, has joined the company as CFO.
The company also announced that it has promoted Paul J. B. Murphy III, Executive V.P. of its Einstein/Noah business unit, to Chief Operating Officer for the entire New World Restaurant Group. New World additionally named Richard R. Lovely, a former Pepsico/KFC Corp. and First USA human resources executive, as Chief Personnel Officer, a newly created position.
“We are very excited about the appointments of these foodservice industry professionals,” said Anthony Wedo, New World Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “These underscore how New World is building both a world class executive team and a strong operating platform.”
As CFO, Mr. Craig, 48, is responsible for the company’s finance, accounting, strategic planning, compliance, treasury, risk management and information technology functions. The Laguna Hills, CA resident is a veteran of the foodservice industry, with more than 22 years experience in finance, information systems, strategic planning, real estate development, franchising and acquisitions at the approximately 7,000-unit Taco Bell and its parent company. He joined Pepsico Food Systems’ finance department in 1980 and rose through the ranks to become Senior Director, Finance. In 1987, he moved to the Taco Bell unit as V.P., Business Planning, and subsequently held V.P. positions in the areas of development and acquisitions/divestitures before being appointed CFO in 1997. He began his career in 1977 in the finance department of Ford Motor Company. Mr. Craig holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southwestern College in Winfield, KS, and an MBA in finance from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.
Mr. Murphy, 47, in his newly created corporate level position of COO, assumes responsibility for day- to-day operations of all 761 company-owned, franchised and licensed stores across New World’s six brands. He joined Einstein/Noah in December 1997 as Senior V.P., Operations, was promoted to Executive V.P. in March 1998 and continued in that position following New World’s acquisition of the assets of Einstein/Noah in June 2001. His prior experience in the quick casual restaurant arena includes serving as COO with an Einstein/Noah area developer, and as director of operations for R&A Foods, LLC, a Boston Chicken area developer. Murphy also spent 11 years in operations with S&A Restaurants, the owner and operator of Steak & Ale and Bennigans Restaurants. The Evergreen, CO resident holds a BA degree from Washington and Lee University.
“Paul’s appointment represents a consolidation of operational responsibility for all six brands,” said Mr. Wedo. “We strongly believe that this will help facilitate the growth of our Manhattan Bagel, Chesapeake Bagel and New World Coffee brands into the quick casual segment.” Mr. Murphy will be taking over responsibility for those brands from New World Coffee/Manhattan Bagel President and COO William Rianhard, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
Mr. Lovely, 43, as New World’s Chief Personnel Officer, is responsible for the human resource function, including organizational development and compensation and benefits, across the company’s six brands. He joins the company with over 18 years of human resources and administrative management experience primarily in the foodservice and financial services industries. His background includes nearly seven years at PepsiCo’s KFC Corporation, where he rose through the ranks from Employee Relations Manager to become Division Human Resource Director. In the latter position, he headed HR for KFC’s Southeast Division, which had over 1,200 restaurants in 15 states. Mr. Lovely most recently spent eight years at First USA/Bank One, where he served as Senior V.P., Human Resources for business units in the U.S. and United Kingdom that employed as many as 20,000 people. The Kennett Square, PA resident began his career in 1984 as a labor relations representative at Ford Motor Company. Mr. Lovely holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.
