Hear from local leaders how they have achieved success in the restaurant industry and learn about valuable resources and techniques to help your restaurant thrive. In addition to their personal insights from their experiences in the restaurant industry, the panelists will share information about resources for restaurant owners from Tucson City of Gastronomy, Local First Arizona, Tucson Originals and more.

This panel will be moderated by Christin Marvin, a hospitality catalyst, coach, speaker, Podcaster and dynamic professional with a profound commitment to serving others in the hospitality industry. Drawing upon more than twenty years of expertise, Christin has cultivated a reputation as a leading authority in the hospitality industry. As the founder and CEO behind Solutions by Christin, she collaborates with organizations to accelerate leadership development internally so they can prevent burnout, increase retention, and operate thriving businesses. Christin is the host of the No Hesitations Podcast.

Featured on the panel are:

Janos Wilder, James Beard award-winning chef, restaurant owner, and board president for Tucson City of Gastronomy. Janos has developed over a half dozen restaurants of our own and been the opening consultant for many others. He currently operates Studio Janos in downtown Tucson offering private dinners, catering, cooking classes and consulting.

Gabe Gardner, Local First Arizona Director of Food Entrepreneurship. Gabe has been working in food since he was 13, washing dishes at his family’s restaurant. This life spent working with food enables him to help small food businesses celebrate the diversity of Arizona produce and flourish in the process. He manages all of Local First Arizona’s food initiatives across the state including the Good Food Bootcamp and Community Kitchen programs.

Sponsored by the University of Arizona FORGE, the Tucson City of Gastronomy (TCoG) presents this series once a month on the business of heritage foods. Drawing on a community-wide network of resources, TCoG-certified speakers and local entrepreneurs provide information on leveraging Tucson's global designation as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network to grow food-based businesses in Southern Arizona.

With questions about access or to request any disability-related accommodations in this event such as ASL interpreting, closed-captioning, wheelchair access, or electronic text, etc., please contact Carina Enriquez at carinae@arizona.edu.