Glenn Davenport: longtime Morrison Management veteran may have retired, but he's hardly slowing down

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 20, 2006  by Elissa Elan

Tags: Davenport Co.

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Glenn Davenport is ready to enjoy the next phase of his life. After spending 33 years at the same company, the former chairman and chief executive of Morrison Management Specialists recently retired from his post to concentrate on growing two new ventures: a community bank he's helping to start and a software program he's helping develop that will be sold to on-site operators specializing in K-12 school accounts, health care foodservice and corporate dining.

At the helm of Atlanta-based Morrison since 1996, when the company first went public, as well as during its acquisition by Charlotte, N.C.-based Compass Group North America in 2001, Davenport steered the company as it grew from 1,500 workers to its current status of 15,000 workers at about 800 health care and senior-living accounts. The company's annual sales are approximately $1.2 billion.

Upon Davenport's retirement, Scott McClellan, the company's vice president of sales, assumed the posts of chairman and chief executive.

Why did you retire?

I just decided that after almost 33 years it was time to do something else.

How did you plan your exit?

I always wanted to make sure I had a succession plan and a strong management team in place first. I wanted to go off in a winning season--that was very important to me. And I'm not retiring from work; I'm just retiring from Morrison. I'll still be doing some consulting work for Compass and also for a company developing a new software program [for the foodservice industry]. The software company will sell the program to foodservice companies specializing in the K-12, health care and B&I markets.

How did you get involved in the health care foodservice field?

When I was 20 years old, I was in college, probably a sophomore, and not liking it at all. I had a friend who worked for Morrison, and I asked about a job. I accepted a management trainee position.

At the time, we were a division of Morrison Restaurants, which included the restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday, but the company eventually split and I took over Morrison Health Care. It's a simple story: one company, one career.

How has your experience with Morrison been?

It's been a very good thing. Morrison always had a very strong corporate culture, and Compass ]when it acquired the company in 2001] allowed us to keep that culture. We didn't have to lay off one employee to make our numbers, and we've continued to grow. In the five years since the acquisition, we doubled our sales to $1.2 billion.

How do you account for the company's success?

Mainly, it's our focus. For one thing, we didn't have to change our name. And we stayed a specialist in foodservice, and that specialty is heath care and senior dining. Plus, we used the purchasing power of Compass and leveraged that.

What are your greatest accomplishments professionally?

The opportunity we've created for so many employees. In 1996, when we went public, there were about 2,800 employees. Today we're at about 15,000 employees. We are creating financial opportunities for our employees. A great number of them made some money off of stock options they held when Compass bought us. I feel good that through all the changes the company kept its core values.

What have been the biggest challenges?

As you grow larger, maintaining that culture. You have to have a number of disciples preaching the culture and demonstrating what it is. People are more important than financial results.

Are you sorry to be leaving Morrison?

It was totally my decision. I definitely had mixed emotions during the last two months; it's something I did for 33 years, and my friends are there. But I'm excited now about the variety in my life, and I'm looking forward to it. Plus, I've got three grandkids now.

How do you think Morrison will do without you at the helm?

The company has about 800 accounts in the hospital and retirement segments in North America. Scott McClellan, he was our vice president of sales, has been in the foodservice industry for a number of years. I've known him personally for 10 years. He joined the company three years ago and described us as a compassionate culture. He liked that about us. That was the reason he took the job. So going forward, I think he'll continue that. He also has more strength in marketing than I had. I think he'll do a better job with that. But he's only been in for 60 days, so we'll see how he does.

How has health care foodservice changed over the years?

Any programs you develop either have to reduce cost or improve patient satisfaction. For example, for hospital patients, we offer two room service programs: one is called Catering For You and the other is Dining On Call. Catering For You is kind of high-touch, where someone goes into the patient's room multiple times a day bringing them whatever they want. The other program is high-tech, where the patient can pick up the phone and request whatever they want. We see for the foreseeable future that patients will request the ability to make certain choices, even if their diets are restricted.