Warren M. Thompson is the President and Chairman of Thompson Hospitality Corporation, the largest minority owned food and facilities management services company in the country, with 4,000 associates and revenues of more than 500 million dollars in 2014. The Company now operates in 45 states and six foreign countries, providing a wide range of services.
Thompson Hospitality was founded in 1992, when Warren completed a leveraged buyout of 31 Bob’s Big Boy restaurants. He proceeded to convert the stores to Shoney’s restaurants and several other proprietary restaurant concepts. He expanded the company’s interests into the contract foodservice arena, and, in 1997, created Thompson Hospitality Services, LLC by forging a strategic partnership with Compass Group, the world’s largest foodservice company. Through this alliance, Thompson Hospitality currently serves more than 30 of the Fortune 100 companies, large colleges and universities and urban school districts, and major hospital centers. Additionally, Thompson Hospitality has developed a specialty niche in providing foodservice to many of the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (“HBCUs”).
Thompson Hospitality’s growth in revenue now places the company eighth in Food Management Magazine’s ranking of the “50 Largest Contract Companies.” Previously a recipient of Black Enterprise Magazine’s coveted “Company of the Year” award, Thompson Hospitality is today ranked 8th among Industrial/Service companies on Black Enterprise’s “BE 100s” list.
In addition to contract food service, Thompson Hospitality has continued its retail expansion through the years with the purchase of the Austin Grill restaurant chain in 2006, and the creation of the American Tap Room, brb (“Be Right Burger”), and Willie T’s Lobster Shack in 2008, 2011, and 2014, respectively. These Thompson-owned brands are not just successful restaurants “on the street”; they can also be found in many Compass and Thompson Hospitality contract food service accounts. As with foodservice, Thompson Hospitality has expanded its capabilities in the facilities management arena as well, providing services to both large corporations and several HBCUs.
On an individual level, Warren Thompson has been recognized throughout his career for his success in business and his contributions to the community. He has received many awards and honors, including the Humanitarian Award from the Congressional Black Caucus’ Annual Legislative Conference. He was recently recognized by Smart CEO Magazine as its “CEO of the Year.”
Warren has had the honor of serving on the Boards of Directors for several major corporations and universities, including the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors, Hilb Rogal Hobbs, and Pepsi-Cola’s African American Advisory Board. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Federal Realty Investment Trust, in addition to Compass Group.
Warren received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Managerial Economics from Hampden-Sydney College and holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.
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