Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2012 | Page 34

MVP 2012 raises or bonuses, but I made them one guarantee: I would never lay them off and would make part of my deals with Boston Market and McDonald’s the requirement that they be hired at the same salary. Over the process of three years, not one was laid off. I saw that as a moral obligation.” In 1993, Doherty was able to acquire the franchise rights for Applebee’s in New Jersey and has never looked back. Today he has 61 Applebee’s, 30 Panera Breads, two Chevys Fresh Mex, and two concepts he developed with his three children—all of whom work at Doherty Enterprises. In 2007, he assigned his middle child, Shannon Portell, the task of developing a great Irish pub. That concept, Shannon Rose Irish Pubs, is now doing well in three locations. In April, his youngest daughter, Kerry, led the opening of Spuntino Wine Bar & Itali [