Networking Event Features Executives from the Food Industry

All three speakers at the Business Network Symposium have some connection to food: the president and CEO of Old Meeting House Ice Cream, the vice president of marketing for Bonefish Grill, and the founder and CEO of La Bonita Olé, a privately held manufacturer of tortillas and wraps.

The event will take place on Wednesday, April 23, in the Vaughn Center Crescent Club on The University of Tampa campus. It will start with a continental breakfast at 7:15 a.m. and the program will run from 7:45 to 9 a.m. The event is sponsored by The University of Tampa Board of Fellows, the Bank of Florida, the Tampa Tribune and Sodexho Campus Services.

Matthew Hoffman has served as the owner, president and CEO of Old Meeting House Ice Cream for the past decade. Headquartered in Tampa and founded in 1947, Old Meeting House Ice Cream supplies all natural, premium ice cream and toppings for restaurants, ice cream shops, franchises, cafés, hotels and resorts. Hoffman has a master's degree in restaurant and hotel management from Cornell University, and more than 20 years experience as owner and managing partner of many local establishments. He is also an accomplished chef.

Richard Turer, who graduated from UT in 1983, became vice president of marketing for Bonefish Grill in 2007. Bonefish has 140 locations throughout the United States specializing in serving market fresh fish and is a member of the OSI family of restaurants, including Outback Steakhouse and Carraba’s. Prior to joining Bonefish, Turer was senior vice president of marketing for Checker’s Drive-in Restaurants, where he launched the brand’s award-winning “You Gotta Eat” campaign. He successfully negotiated numerous sports partnerships for the double drive-thru chain including NASCAR.

Tammy Young is the founder, president and CEO of La Bonita Olé Inc., headquartered in Tampa and founded in 1992. The company has retail/grocery distribution in 28 states and is the fastest growing retail tortilla manufacturer in the United States. Most recently the company was awarded Tortilla Manufacturer of the Year by Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery Magazine and voted as one of the Top 100 Best Food Products for Women by Women’s Health magazine. The products are marketed under the brand Tam-x-ico’s and Wrap-itz. The company recently opened a 40,000-square-foot corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility on East Columbus Drive in Tampa.

The Board of Fellows holds this networking event three times a year to give well-known, new or changing businesses in the Tampa Bay area the opportunity to share their accomplishments and plans with the business community.

Those interested should R.S.V.P. by Monday, April 21, to (813) 253-6220 or e-mail coneil@ut.edu.