News

Culver's promotes CFO to fill top spot

November 29, 2016

Culver's has a new man in the top office after announcing today that it has promoted its chief financial officer, Joseph Koss, as its president and chief executive officer, beginning the first of next year. He replaces former CEO Phil Keiser,who died on Oct. 15.

"Joe has been an outstanding leader in his nearly 20 years here at Culver's," Culver's co-founder, board chair and interim CEO Craig Culver, said in a news release. "In addition to his role as CFO and as a member of our senior leadership team, he commands a broad breadth of experience and knowledge in all aspects of the organization including strategic planning, operations, training, marketing, supply chain, human resources, development/design and menu management. The board of directors has full confidence in Mr. Koss as he leads our organization along with a strong and tenured senior leadership team."

Koss has been with the company since 1997, when he joined the organization as controller. In his CFO role, Koss oversaw Culver's financial planning, accounting and control functions, but he has also led the information systems and business analysis teams. 

"I'm honored to be given this opportunity. We've all felt a tremendous loss with the passing of Phil Keiser. But I know Culver's will continue to stay strong with the road map Phil left us that contain our core values and guiding principles," said Koss in a news release. "I look forward to working with our CFSI team, franchisees, their team members and suppliers as we move forward."

Koss has managed the company's financial operations over a period of vast growth from just 53 sites in 1997 to a total of nearly 600 today. Likewise, system-wide sales have increased from $58 million to over $1.2 billion over that same period.

Likewise, the chief operating officer's role at Culver's will also be assumed by a familiar face. Current Senior Vice President Jeff Bonner steps into the role in the new year as well. Bonner has more than 35 years of restaurant experience, and joined the organization 17 years ago as franchise business consultant. He has also held positions as operations director, operations vice president and senior vice president, where he oversees operations, training and design services.