Rick Silva Joins Culver's as CEO

Culver Franchising System, LLC appointed of Enrique “Rick” Silva as its new CEO. Beginning March 29, Silva will lead the system of 792 restaurants, 496 owner-operators, 31,000 team members and the Culver’s Franchise Support Team.

Silva previously led the transformation of Checkers & Rally’s Restaurants, Inc. in his 13 years as CEO. While at the organization, he created a “family-serving-family” culture among its franchisees, support teams and restaurant teams; grew the enterprise value from $180 million to $525 million; improved unit-level operating margins by more than 300 basis points; and built a world-class franchise sales strategy and unit growth process. For the 13 years prior to Checkers & Rally’s, Silva’s category knowledge was further enhanced by leadership positions at Burger King Corporate.

“As we searched for Culver’s next leader, we were looking for several key characteristics – a true culture and values fit, the ability to support and expand the successful growth of our current and future franchisees and a drive to genuinely deliver on our Culver’s Mission: We genuinely care, so every guest who chooses Culver’s leaves happy,” said co-founder Craig Culver. “We are confident that Rick can do all three and are excited to see what he brings to further accelerate Culver’s.”

Culver’s previous CEO was Joe Koss, who retired at the end of 2020 after successfully supporting and leading this growing organization for 23 years.