Bob Schmied is the Operating Partner of Atomic Provisions, a small restaurant group located in and around Denver, Colorado. Fifteen years ago the chain's founder, Drew Shader, launched, "the nicest seedy bar in the not so best part of Denver," and grew it into a restaurant group that now features great dining venues such as the Denver Biscuit Company, Fat Sully's Pizza, the Atomic Cowboy Bar, and their newest concept, Frozen Gold Ice Cream.  Both Bob and Drew have been great supporters of StandWatch Academy and were actually featured in Unwritten, the documentary about our entrepreneurship program that was aired on West Virginia Public Broadcasting in 2019.

Like every restaurant chain in America, Atomic Provisions hasn't gone unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to the company's excellent management, they are weathering the storm better than most.  Their crisis management plan has allowed them to stay open, and even though they were forced to furlough all 240 of their part-time workers, Bob, Drew, or one of the other senior managers calls each employee every two weeks to make sure they're okay or need anything.  I would say that's uncommon.  So far, of the 240 furloughed workers, Bob expects all but four to be willing to return to work at Atomic once the restrictions are lifted. That says a lot about the positive culture that's been a hallmark of Atomic Provisions' management style.

Bob took some time to speak with our students about how great management can help small businesses work their way through major storms.