After Major Workforce Cut, Hospitality Group Hires a General Counsel
"Maria is a strategic thinker with an extensive legal background and will be a vital asset to our entire organization," CEO Emanuel Hilario said in the press release. "We are confident that her insights will be invaluable as we continue to drive growth and build long-term shareholder value."
June 25, 2020 at 03:42 PM
3 minute read
Kona Grill restaurant in Phoenix. Photo: JJava Designs/Shutterstock.com
The ONE Group Hospitality Inc., the Denver-based company that owns STK Steakhouse and Kona Grill, announced this week the hiring of Maria Woods as its general counsel.
In addition to leading the company's legal department, Woods will also serve as the corporate secretary. Linda Siluk, the company's chief administrative officer, previously held the role of corporate secretary. Siluk has resigned to pursue other career opportunities, according to the press release.
"I look forward to applying my extensive legal experience in the food and beverage industry, and to provide strategic counsel to the company to continue to drive growth and build long-term shareholder value," Woods said in a statement to Corporate Counsel.
Woods began her role as general counsel earlier this month. It is not clear who most recently served as the company's general counsel. Sonia Low, currently the general counsel, vice president and corporate secretary at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, last served as The ONE Group's top lawyer in February 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In March, the company announced that it reduced its workforce from 4,000 employees to less than 100 because of the new coronavirus, according to a report in FSR Magazine. During the company's annual review, CEO Emanuel Hilario said the pandemic has been the most challenging time he has ever experienced, according to a transcript of the call with investors.
"We have been forced to make very difficult and tough decisions that impact the team members we care so much about and of course our guests. The rapidly evolving Coronavirus pandemic has required a precedent action," Hilario said.
A spokesperson for the company told Corporate Counsel that since the last earnings call, the company has brought back over 2,000 employees and has re-opened all of its restaurant locations.
Woods most recently served as the general counsel of Lucky's Market in Boulder, Colorado. She has spent most of her career in-house. Before her role at Lucky's Market, she served as the general counsel at National CineMedia. She has also held in-house roles at Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Sun Microsystems, Requisite Technology and NetLibrary. After graduating from the University of Denver Sturm College Of Law in 1994, she worked as an associate at Holme, Roberts & Owen.
"Maria is a strategic thinker with an extensive legal background and will be a vital asset to our entire organization," Hilario said in the press release. "We are confident that her insights will be invaluable as we continue to drive growth and build long-term shareholder value."
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