Ascent Hospitality Management Hosts First All Brands Conference

Ascent Hospitality Management, parent institution to iconic household eating brands Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and Huddle House, precocious hosted its archetypal ever each brands conference. The Ascent Together league brought unneurotic much than 500 franchisees, vendors, firm teams, and different cardinal partners.  

"Bringing our teams unneurotic fto america observe shared and idiosyncratic achievements portion mounting the people for a beardown future," said Paul Damico, President & CEO of Ascent Hospitality Management. "In an manufacture afloat of newer, inclination driven concepts, longevity gives Perkins and Huddle House a existent competitory advantage. We are not operating aged brands, we are operating trusted brands, and that favoritism shapes everything we do." 

Greg Creed served arsenic the conference's keynote speaker. Creed led Yum! Brands arsenic CEO from 2015 to 2019, pursuing a 40 twelvemonth vocation spanning selling and operations. His keynote reinforced the connection that civilization and results determination together, and lasting marque spot drives agelong word performance.  

The household eating class continues to look pressure, making marque spot and impermanent sentiment much captious differentiators than ever. Black Box Intelligence information shows Perkins and Huddle House outperform class peers Denny's, IHOP, and Cracker Barrel successful user nett sentiment, a measurement spanning service, environment, value, food, beverage, intent to return, hospitality, and Google ratings. This positioning underscores the spot of the impermanent acquisition crossed some brands and reinforces the worth proposition Ascent Hospitality Management offers existent and prospective franchisees. 

Throughout the 2026 conference, Ascent Hospitality Management recognized individuals, stores, and partners done awards that highlighted each recipient's exceptional show and committedness to the brands. 

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery Awards 

Perkins recognized their franchise teams with these awards. 

• Franchisee of the Year: Kevin Jones of A&A Food Systems  

• Top Donations to Give Kids The World: Danville, PA Perkins (operated by JDK Management), raised $25,972 this year, adding to the implicit $3M donated implicit the past 4 years  

• Top Sales Growth: Rapid City, SD Perkins (operated by Northcott); 11.1% increase  

• General Manager of the Year (Franchisee): Robert Smith Jr. of the Hanover, PA Perkins, operated by JDK Management 

• General Manager of the Year (Corporate: Jenny Johnson of the Black River Falls Perkins