LEADERSHIP TEAM

Greg Flynn

Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer

Greg Flynn is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group and Flynn Properties. With approximately 2,400 Applebee’s, Taco Bells, Paneras, Arby's, Pizza Huts and Wendy’s restaurants generating $3.6 billion in sales and employing 73,000 people in 44 states, Flynn Restaurant Group is the largest franchise operator in the United States. Flynn Properties invests in commercial real estate and has owned and managed more than 3 million square feet since its founding in 1994; it also owns 30 hotels including, in partnership, the luxury resorts Esperanza, located in Los Cabos, Mexico, the Carneros Resort and Solage, both located in the Napa Valley, and the Madeline Hotel in Telluride.

Greg has been recognized as one of the Bay Area’s Most Admired CEO’s by the San Francisco Business Times. He has three times been named Franchisee of the Year and four times named Operator of the Year by Applebee’s Services Inc. He was honored as Restaurant Leader of the Year by Restaurant Business Magazine and Operator of the Year by Nation's Restaurant News. He has also been recognized as Dealmaker of the Year by the Franchise Times and an Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young.

Greg has an AB Magna Cum Laude from Brown University, an MA from Yale University, and an MBA from the Stanford GSB. He serves on the boards of the Exploratorium and the International Franchise Association. He also serves on the Brown University President’s Leadership Council, the Applebee’s Franchise Business Council, the Panera Franchise Advisory Council, the Strategic Advisory Group of Goldman Sachs’ West Street Capital Partners VII, the Executive Advisory Board of Cove Hill Partners, L.P., and as a Yale GSAS Advisor. He is a past chairman of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization.
Lorin Cortina

Chief Financial Officer
Lorin Cortina serves as EVP and CFO of Flynn Restaurant Group and Flynn Properties. He joined Flynn Holdings in 2001 to oversee capital markets, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, financial planning and accounting, and restaurant development activities. Prior to joining FRG, Lorin was a VP, Investments for Starwood Financial, Inc. and VP, Acquisitions and AVP, Capital Markets at TriNet Corporate Realty Trust, Inc. Lorin also worked as a consultant with PWC and Deloitte & Touche. Lorin has held senior management positions involved in corporate finance, capital markets and M&A activities, and has successfully led the investment and related capital raise in transactions totaling over several billion dollars in value. Lorin received a B.A. in Business/Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Brad Pettinger

Chief Operating Officer
Brad serves as Chief Operating Officer for Flynn Restaurant Group and has worked with Greg Flynn for seventeen years and with AAG since its founding in 1998. As COO of FRG, he is responsible for operations of all Applebee’s, Taco Bell, and Panera units. Direct reports include all Vice Presidents of Operations, Training and Human Resources. Prior to joining Apple American, Brad served as VP, U.S. Operations, for Vancouver-based Spectra Group of Restaurants and VP, Operations, for Keg Restaurants.

Brad serves on the Applebee’s Operations Council. He holds a B.S.B.A. in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of Denver and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington.
Ron Bellamy

Chief Improvement Officer
As Chief Improvement Officer, Ron is focused on driving incremental value in the business by realizing operational improvement opportunities across Flynn’s more than 2,400 restaurants. He is also responsible for overseeing the organization’s Arby’s, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s businesses and leads Flynn’s support center based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Prior to joining Flynn, Ron worked for Teachers’ Private Capital where he helped establish Teachers' approach to value creation planning and portfolio management. He also spent more than a decade in management consulting most recently as a partner with Oliver Wyman.

Ron graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a BA in Applied Mathematics and Ancient Literature from the University of Michigan.
Adam Van Horn

Senior Vice President Of Operations, Hut American Group

Adam serves as Senior Vice President for Hut American Group overseeing more than 300 Pizza Huts in 7 states. In this role, Adam is responsible for leading his team to excellence in execution while on the quest to be the Premier Pizza Hut Operator.

Adam began his multi-unit career in 2002 with Ovation Brands, the largest operator of Buffet restaurants in the US. Adam then spent 3 years working for Dine Brands the parent company of Applebee’s and IHOP. While at Dine Brands, Adam worked in Franchise Support and then lead strategic projects launching some of the biggest innovations and changes in the history of the Applebee’s business.

Adam then joined Del Taco out of Lake Forest, CA where he led Operations Support & Training for both company-owned and franchised restaurants. During his tenure with Del Taco, Adam led meaningful change across the business with the launch of a new E-learning platform, a new Elevated Hospitality & Service program, and developed enhanced New Restaurant Opening processes and procedures that enabled double-digit restaurant growth. While at Del Taco Adam also led his team through the development, testing, and launch of several key initiatives designed to reduce operational complexity.

Adam then joined NPC International where we led the East Central Division, consisting of 300 plus Pizza Hut stores and spanning over 6 states. In January of 2020, Adam took on the role of Interim COO leading the Operations Team through the restructuring and sale process. Adam joined Flynn Restaurant Group in March of 2021 as part of the purchase of NPC International.

Adam lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife Charity and their three children.
Doug Duty

Vice President Of Operations, Hut American Group

Doug is the VP of Operations for Hut American Group’s Mid Central division, leading the team members and field leaders of approximately 300 Pizza Hut restaurants.

His career began as an Air Force officer, spending eleven years managing satellite and aircraft development contracts, before moving on to Deloitte Consulting, primarily leading merger integrations in the manufacturing sector. Doug’s first franchise model experience was with H&R Block where, as VP of Franchise Operations, he led the field support efforts for 4,000 H&R Block franchise offices. Doug subsequently joined Dine Brands Global, heading up large scale field projects as well as the overhaul of the development pipeline processes for both Applebee’s and IHOP.

Doug is a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force Academy and holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and the University of Strasbourg, France.
Aaron Kirkman

Vice President Of Operations, HUT American Group

Aaron started with Flynn Restaurant Group in 2014 as Director of Operations for Apple American Group in the Nevada and New Mexico markets. In 2018 Aaron was promoted to Market President, and in 2019 Aaron became Vice President of Operations for Apple American Group, having oversight of markets in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Indiana, Georgia and Alabama. Aaron joined Hut American Group in June of 2021 as Divisional Vice President of Operations.

Prior to joining Flynn Restaurant Group, Aaron spent more than 20 years in the restaurant industry, holding various leadership positions in companies such as; Ruby Tuesday, The Cheesecake Factory and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Most recently before joining Flynn, Aaron worked as Regional Director of Operations for The Palm Restaurant Group, and then Director of Operations for Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, where he managed regional territories throughout the United States and Tokyo, Japan.

Market Leaders

Hut American is built on a substantially differentiated business model. Each geographic region is led by a Market Leader who operates his or her market with great local autonomy while receiving support from the central organization.

James Douglass – Virginia Central

Dan Schafer – East Coast

Eric Contizano – Georgia

Fred Boone – Nashville

Michael Hallman – Ozark / Iowa

James Warren – Little Rock

Kelly Kramer – Dakotas

Adam Mitchell – Midwest

Manuka Abeykoon – Mobile

Christopher Lindsly – Northwest

Richard Wykes – Rocky Mountain

Joseph Icolano – Birmingham

Beth Gaia – Memphis

Randy Harris – South Florida

Bonita Nichols – St. Louis

Stoney Jones – Tallahassee / Carolinas

Department Heads

Our Department Heads work together with our senior operating team to support the growth of Hut American.

Betsy Mercado, Senior Vice President of Human Resources

Diann Banaszek, Marketing Partner

Pat Eulberg, Vice President of Real Estate

Ron Igarashi, Vice President of Finance

Kasey Mania, Vice President of Procurement

Jacqueline Lee, General Counsel

JP Wiedemer, Senior Vice President of Finance and Accounting

Charles Jarrett, Senior Vice President of Information Technology