Management

Smitty’s Management Team

The objective of Smitty's™ management is to continually add the greatest possible value to our guests and our franchisees. The company focus will continue to be on guest satisfaction, maximizing store profitability, as well as on increasing the value of the brand through sustainable growth.

Steven Fee

President

Steven has over four decades of experience in the hospitality industry including Family/Casual dining plus Quick Serve and Institutional Foodservice. Steven joined Smitty’s Canada in 2002 and has held various positions during his tenure including Special Projects Director, Corporate Business Development, Director of Operations and Senior Vice President. As President, Steven provides the day to day brand leadership towards the corporate Vision for Smitty’s Restaurants:

“To be the recognized leader in the Family Casual Food Service Segment.”

Eric Metzler

Chief Financial Officer

Eric achieved his Chartered Accountant designation in 2005 and has worked in public accounting and for a small retail business. Prior to becoming an accountant, he worked in IT support services and retail management as well as working front and back of house and management for a few restaurants. Eric joined Smitty’s in 2014 and is responsible for the accounting and finance functions of the company. As CFO Eric continues to support the Franchise family by improving internal reporting and analysis of both internal and external growth opportunities.

Lars Fredborg

Director of Operations

Lars has been in leadership roles in the hospitality and food service industry for over three decades with professional management experiences ranging from Quick Serve to Casual as well as Institutional Food Services and Pubs. As a former restaurant owner himself Lars has a terrific understanding of what it takes to be a successful restaurateur. With this solid base of experience Lars is focused on providing our brand and individual franchisees with the support to take advantage of individual and national growth opportunities.

Jeff Johnston

Director of Marketing

Jeff Johnston brings two decades of restaurant and hospitality experience to the Smitty’s team. Having worked with national and global brands, Jeff offers a fresh and innovate perspective to the position of Director of Marketing. In addition to working for large corporations, he has also been a multi-unit franchisee and has true understanding of the day-to-day challenges and operations of running a restaurant franchise.
Jeff holds an undergrad in Photography and an MBA in Finance.