Two Years In - The ACDBE Perspective

For its June 2022 Forum, the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association (ARRA) continued its “mini-series” looking at the state of the airport concessions industry two years into the pandemic. We welcomed two veteran ACDBE concessionaires – Bill Swift of Business Traveler Services and Greg Plummer of Concord Collective. They discussed the ACDBE perspective of the impacts of the pandemic, state of the recovery, and future for this important segment of the concessions industry.
 
A principal theme: our industry is not recovered. There remains debt from the past two years to work through, as well as a need to create tools to stabilize the industry and prepare for future disruptions.

​Here are three takeaways:
 

• ACBDEs and small businesses weathered the storm through a lot of tough collaboration: working with lenders through payoff agreements; carrying large balances; work with our landlords to put a payment plan in place so when things do recover, we could then work balances off. We're already looking at several years of recovering due to, essentially, taking on additional debt. Moreover, this Covid debt adds to what is already on your books and you're going to carry over time.

 

• As previous Forum guests have stated, recovery is more than a financial recovery. Recovery also means a position of stability; a position where concessionaires can grow their businesses from a platform that is survivable.
  
  We need to prepare for the future. There have been industry disruptions in the past; there will be industry disruptions in the future. In this case, preparation means modifying contracts today to give airports and concessionaires the right tools to respond in a speedy manner to conditions as they occur. The impacts of disruption are immediate; the remedies must be automatic and swift.

 

• The small business or ACDBE takes a disproportionate risk when you consider their participation in the business model. We must address the risk. We need to look at the model and say, are we there to service the public? And what is the fair amount to share so that it makes sense for all parties? Right now, the disproportionate risk is going to discourage people from coming into the business. ACDBEs and small business are vital part of this ecosystem. We need to figure out how to make it more beneficial or attractive for smaller companies.

 
These are just three of Bill and Greg’s observations. ARRA invites you to watch the whole conversation:

FORUM DESCRIPTION

Two years into the pandemic, passenger traffic is approaching 2019 pre-COVID levels and, by all accounts, Summer 2022 looks to be among the best travel seasons ever. But … there are many “storm clouds” just over the horizon: widespread labor shortages, fuel prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and, of course, high inflation. Our aviation ecosystem has come a long way since the depths of the pandemic, but there is still a long way to go to full recovery.
 
ARRA’s Forum series “Two Years In” has examined the impacts of the pandemic and the challenges of recovery in the ecosystem from the perspective of airports and large concessionaires. We have discussed topics such as broader economic headwinds, restoring full operations, debt and financial health, and, of course, inflation. We have touched on a “new normal” for our industry.
 
For our June Forum, ARRA adds the ACDBE perspective to our conversation. ACDBEs face the same – yet greater in scale – challenges as larger concessionaires. And ACDBEs must deal with the large hurdle of accessing capital as they work to survive and prosper through the recovery. We welcome two industry veterans, Bill Swift and Greg Plummer, to talk about these challenges, as well as a “new normal” for ACDBE concessionaires. No doubt, this will be a lively, informative conversation. We hope you can join us.
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William H. Swift
Owner
Business Traveler Services, Inc. and Swift Services, Inc.
 
Civil Servant, College Professor, Executive, Management Consultant, Concessionaire and Advertising Agent – Mr. Swift has been a significant contributor to the success of what long has been known as the center of black wealth, political power and culture – Atlanta. During one of the city’s most historic administrations, under Mayor Maynard H. Jackson, Mr. Swift served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and was later appointed as the Director of Procurement and Real Estate, where he implemented programs that led to record setting participation of women and minority-owned businesses, creating a generation of inclusion and business ownership.  
 
In 1994, he co-founded Business Traveler Services, Inc. (BTS), a minority-owned entertainment and business center development company.  The company has had a concessions presence in some of the country’s most traveled airports including LaGuardia, JFK, Cleveland International, Raleigh-Durham, Kansas City International, Savannah Hilton Head International and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
 
Mr. Swift’s Hartsfield-Jackson experience also includes serving as a Managing Partner of Airport Retail Management, LLC (ARM), that operated 14 locations including Café Intermezzo; newsstands; BlackBerry (Licensed/branded retailer); Apple retailer iTravel; B-iconic; Buckhead Market Place; Panda Veranda; and Savannah Candy Kitchen.  Mr. Swift, also in 1994, formed Swift Services, Inc. that has consulted or provided advertising agency services for Pepsi, XpresSpa, Savannah Candy Kitchen, Grey Goose, Empire Distributors, and Florida Space Coast.  Mr. Swift has received a number of awards including being recognized as the “Best Airport Business Services Company” by the World Airport Retail Association and the “Best New Retail Concept” – the BlackBerry store by Airport Revenue News (Now AXN).  
 
Mr. Swift received a Bachelor’s Degree (cum laude) in Accounting from Central State University and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business with a concentration in accounting and entrepreneurship.
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​Gregory Plummer
CEO
Enjoy Repeat, Inc., and Concord Collective
 
Greg Plummer is CEO and Managing Partner of Concord Collective and Enjoy Repeat, Inc.; is a seasoned Restaurant Manager, Entrepreneur and Community Advocate based in Los Angeles.
 
In 2016, Greg launched Enjoy Repeat, a full-service hospitality management, development and  branding firm, with the goal of creating exciting brands and events that are so enjoyed , that its patrons want to repeat the experiences often!  Greg founded Enjoy Repeat after 12 years in the airport concession industry. The name of the company, Enjoy Repeat, is an ode to Greg’s first experience of standing in the restaurant kitchen of “Enjoys”. As a child, Plummer understood that food is not only a necessity of life, but a conduit that connects people and bridges cultures! His father would let Greg and his twin brother come along to visits to their family friend’s restaurant “Enjoys” back in Detroit. It was only a small place, but the spirit of the hospitality industry was huge and left a lasting impression which ultimately led Greg to the thriving hospitality community as a career!  
 
In 2005, Mr. Plummer first entered the restaurant community at LAX after joining the management team at Concessions Management Services, Inc. dba CMS Hospitality (CMS) as an Assistant Manager. In a short span of time Greg worked his way up to Director of Operations and ultimately to Senior Vice President of Business Development & Strategic Alliances. As an executive at CMS, Greg lea the rebranding and reimaging of CMS, was an integral part of the team that led CMS to become the first ACDBE Certified Firm to be awarded 3 prime contracts at LAX, growing sales from $8mm to $52mm in annual revenues. Over the 12 years spent with CMS Hospitality, Greg learned how to effectively navigate the various processes of airport concessions, work collaboratively with both LAWA, Westfield, The city of Los Angeles, and their multitude of brand partners and vendors.  Greg has been a deep rooted member of the LAX community and served on the board of LAWA’s WOW Guest Experience initiative and has worked tirelessly to be on the forefront of the transformation that has been taken place at LAX for the last several years.  
 
Today, Greg serves as CEO and Managing Member of Concord Collective. Concord Collective is a Prime Contractor and Premier Restaurateur at LAX, operating exciting brands like Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Ace Cerveceria & Tacos, Betcha Burger & Bar as well as various others!  Greg is proud to lead a team of hospitality professionals; and focused on building a company that will be recognized as Best in Class! 
 
Outside of work, Greg serves on the Board of Directors for the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) Foundation. Greg also serves on the Board of the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association. Greg is a mentor for the Achievers program which focuses on preparing inner city young men for college and adulthood. Greg Plummer is a charter member of the LAX drinking club, an unofficial crew of LAX professionals that gather after work and celebrate and and/or grieve the daily happenings at LAX! 
 
Greg is a proud graduate of Morehouse College and an even Prouder Husband and Father to two wonderful daughters Lotus Simone and Phoebe Raine.