Mr. Hoffner graduated from the Krannert Management School at Purdue University in 1970 with a B.S. Industrial Management degree. He began his career with Procter & Gamble in operations management, and subsequently managed the largest bar soap manufacturing operation in the company. After obtaining his MBA from Xavier University in 1974, Mr. Hoffner joined the corporate staff of Federated Department Stores where he installed budgeting and expense management programs in many of Federated’s retail divisions throughout the country. Following his assignment at FDS Gold Circle Stores division, where he managed a number of financial operations, Mr. Hoffner moved to California in 1981 and held his first CFO position as Vice President of Administration for Pic-A-Dilly Stores, a 250-store specialty retail division of Lucky Stores, Inc.
During his career, which was primarily spent in retailing, Mr. Hoffner held senior financial and administrative leadership positions in companies which ranged in size from start-ups to $3+ billion. He has been responsible for directing the following functional areas: Accounting, Finance, Treasury, Planning/Analysis, MIS, Human Resources, Risk Management, Legal, Investor Relations, Distribution/Logistics, Strategic Planning, and Real Estate Development.
Mr. Hoffner retired in 2005 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASD: JACK), a $2.5 billion restaurant chain headquartered in San Diego. Mr. Hoffner was a key architect of Jack in the Box’s strategic plan which was implemented in 2003, and which has taken JACK’s stock price from $17 to its 2/1 peak split price of $99. In 2013, he retired as a director and Audit Committee Chair of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. (NASD: PLKI), a 2000+ store chain of chicken quick-serve restaurants. During his seven-year tenure there, he was instrumental in crafting a new strategic plan to re-position the company, and Popeye’s stock price recently hit an all-time high of $66. Throughout his career, Mr. Hoffner has accumulated significant experience in LBO’s, acquisitions, hostile takeovers, startups, downsizings, and high growth operations, as well as large-scale financings in both private and public companies. He has developed strong relationships throughout the public accounting, legal, banking, investment, and Wall Street communities.
Regarding civic activities, Mr. Hoffner has taught Business Ethics at Georgia College and served as Chair of its College of Business Advisory Board. He recently retired as a director of St. Mary’s Good Samaritan hospital, and was instrumental in raising funds to build a new $45mm facility, which was named Best Small Hospital in Georgia by the GHA. Previously, Mr. Hoffner has served as a director of the Krannert Management School Advisory Board and the Interfraternity Conference of North America, as well as the Junior Achievement Boards of both Los Angeles and San Diego, where he also served as Chairman. In 2014, he was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Krannert School, and he has been honored as an Old Master by Purdue University and as a Sagamore of the Wabash by the Governor of Indiana. He is married to his wife of 45 years, Jean, also a Purdue grad, and they have two sons: John, a graduate of USC Law School, who is a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ tax practice in Los Angeles, and Robert, who is Director of Financial Planning and Analysis for a San Diego subsidiary of Novartis, and who has a BS in Accounting from Purdue and an MBA from San Diego State.
John and his wife reside in Sun City Shadow Hills.
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