United States Beef Corporation (US Beef), Arby’s largest franchisee, announced that it has acquired 10 Arby’s restaurants from the two Arby’s franchisees operating in Central Washington and Northern Idaho. Locations include restaurants in Tri-Cities, Yakima, and Moses Lake in Washington and Coeur d’ Alene and Hayden in Idaho. Those Arby’s franchisees are Richard Riva, president of Cascade Beef, Inc. and Riva Real Estate, LLC, and Deana Harris, president of 3 Rivers Roast Beef.

Riva was one of Arby’s pioneer franchisees, and Harris has been in the Arby’s system since 2000. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to expand our existing US Beef Arby’s footprint in Washington and Idaho with this group of seasoned restaurants. We’ve always had the deepest respect for Mr. Riva and Ms. Harris, and consider them to be two of the finest operators in the Arby’s system,” says John Davis, CEO of US Beef. “One of our growth strategies is to expand contiguously, so when this opportunity presented itself, we felt Washington was an ideal fit for expanding and aligning contiguous markets to our existing footprint, since we were already in Idaho. We have a proven track record of accelerating the growth of businesses that we acquire, and can leverage our technology and training strengths. Rip Riva and Deana Harris have best-in-class people in their organization, and we wish to welcome all our new team members and associates to the US Beef family.”

Rip Riva, president of Cascade Beef and manager of Riva Real Estate says, “Bob Davis and I were two of Arby’s pioneer franchisees of the brand. We grew up in this business together. So we couldn’t be happier to be entrusting our valued employees and loyal guests to US Beef, one of Arby’s most prestigious franchisee groups”. Deana Harris, president of 3 Rivers Roast Beef added, “Our operating philosophy and core values are similar in so many respects, and we’re pleased that US Beef is committed to growing the brand further in the years ahead. We believe this transaction provides a great opportunity for our team members to continue to grow and develop their careers.” Harris will remain with US Beef as an Area Director for the region.

With this acquisition, US Beef now operates in the contiguous Midwest and western states of Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. In 2015, US Beef also signed an aggressive development agreement with Arby’s to develop an additional 70 restaurants in its footprint by 2022.