Ms. Wagner: We are obviously living and working in unique times right now, with the consumer under significant buying pressure. But there are things that we're doing at Burger King Corp. to lay the foundation for future growth of the company. One long-term focus of the corporation is on the number of new restaurants that we are building around the globe, and the fact that we are significantly under-penetrated in many of the countries in which we have a presence. And so we are focused on continuing to grow the brand worldwide. Domestically, there is a big initiative to upgrade our current portfolio, and take it to a much more contemporary look and feel of the new Burger King¨ brand. Those are really two big initiatives that, even with some of the consumer pressures we are facing, we believe will help set the brand up for success over the long term.
TWST: Tell me about your background and those of some of the company's key leadership team members.
Ms. Wagner: I have a very solid corporate finance background. I have an MBA in finance. Very first year out of MBA school, I actually worked with Burger King Corporation 20 years ago doing accounting work. And then I left for 16 years and worked for Ryder System, Inc., a transportation and logistics company, in various corporate finance functions. I came back to BKC about four years ago, right before the company went public, to help with the IPO process and then to develop the investor relations practice here at the company. A year after that, John Chidsey, our Chairman and CEO, asked me to take over all of global communications and public relations in addition to the investor relations function. As for the key members of the executive team, many of them have very strong consumer brands backgrounds as well as franchising backgrounds. I believe our company is led by a very good complement of professionals who understand the uniqueness of franchising and who also really understand how to serve the consumer.
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