With Burger King set to become a publicly traded corporation, some wonder if Valerie Daniels-Carter, one of the chain’s largest minority franchisees and a Milwaukee success story, will have it her way.
While it’s uncertain what, if any, new opportunities the initial public offering might serve up for Daniels-Carter, she already knows that BK wants to replicate her pioneering methods of building franchises and reaching urban customers.
Daniels-Carter reigns over a $95 million fast-food empire, V&J Holding Cos., based in Milwaukee. It operates about 130 Burger King and Pizza Hut restaurants that employ 3,500 people, many of them from the inner cities of Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Virginia and Massachusetts.
Daniels-Carter says she will take advantage of the forced openness of public ownership to hold Burger King accountable for diversity at all levels of its corporation, including its board of directors. She is pushing to ensure that people of color are among those handling the financial and legal aspects of the IPO - from the investment bankers to the underwriters to the attorneys.
What’s more, she also wants to see expanded opportunities for women and minority vendors to do business with Burger King.Daniels-Carter’s accomplishments show just how far black women have come in this country and that it’s possible to reach your dreams in spite of obstacles. It’s good to see that she is helping people of color to follow the same path.
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