Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> January 3, 2000

R. Ramin Kamfar – New World Coffee-manhattan Bagel Inc (nwci)

Kamfar, R. Ramin
R. Ramin Kamfar serves as Chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer of Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc. He has served as Chairman since August 2008, and also served as CEO and the CEO of the company’s former adviser from August 2008 to February 2013. Since October 2002, he has served as the Chairman and CEO of Bluerock, where he has overseen the acquisition and development of approximately 7,500 apartment units and over 2.5 million square feet of office space. In addition, Mr. Kamfar has served as Chairman and as a trustee of Total Income Plus Real Estate Fund, a closed-end interval fund organized by Bluerock, since 2012. Mr. Kamfar has 25 years of experience in various aspects of real estate, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investing, investment banking, and public and private finance. From 1988 to 1993, he worked as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers Inc., where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. In 1993, Mr. Kamfar left Lehman to focus on private equity transactions. From 1993 to 2002, he executed a growth/consolidation strategy to build a startup into a leading public company in the fast-casual market now known as Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BAGL). From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Kamfar also served as an active investor, adviser and member of the board of directors of Vsource, Inc., a technology company subsequently sold to Symphony House. Mr. Kamfar received an MBA degree with distinction in finance in 1988 from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. with distinction in finance in 1985 from the University of Maryland.     Profile
TWST: Begin with a brief overview of the company; the history, products

and services.

Mr. Kamfar: New World started in 1993 with one store, a coffee bar in

Manhattan. Over the course of the