advisory board / ..

Advisory Board Member: Chef Duane MacNeill

Chef MacNeill left an executive position in the franchise industry after 20 years to return to school and pursue a culinary education. He worked as a cook’s apprentice for a year, then was approached to use his business skills as the national sales manager for a food service company with distribution rights for a high end culinary apparel line. He purchased the company and ultimately sold it back to the parent company. Today he is the Director of Sales for Chef Revival Inc.

Chef MacNeill’s franchise background is a valuable asset and is probably where he can best assist Liaison College. Liaison College uses a similar model to multi chain restaurants whereby consistency in every aspect of the business is the key to success. This requires a strong commitment to supervision, training and quality control at both the franchisee and student level.

Chef MacNeill’s family is very supportive, especially with his travel schedule. He appreciates their interest in what he does and they share in both his successes and failures. His family travels with him whenever the opportunity arises.

Balance between work and family is the million dollar question. Chef MacNeill often works from home and has customers on both the east and west coast - maintaining balance for him is an ongoing challenge. He enjoys cooking so there is always fun around meals. He handles stress by power walking with his wife and is currently training for a 21k marathon. Chef MacNeill includes music in his hobbies and he plays guitar.

During his franchising career he won a number of awards including distributor of the year. He also received the highest award for distributors in franchising, The Marion E. Wade Masters Award.

He is a member of The Silverado’s – a charity based group helping disenfranchised individuals. He is a good negotiator with strong people skills. He is committed to assisting those in need and to supporting those willing to help those in need.

He has chosen to live a lifestyle that allows the family to provide financial support to a number of individuals and institutions. Both his daughter and his wife have spent extended time in Nairobi and Malawi working with AIDs orphans.

The combination of franchising and culinary skills coupled with a sales and marketing background has provided Chef MacNeill with a unique combination of skills well suited for the food industry and his current position on the Liaison College Advisory Board.