Jackson Free Press

Grady Griffin is the director of education and training for the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association, but don't let that fancy title fool you. He was busing tables and mopping floors long before he was sporting a suit and tie.

"I am where I am now because I grew up in the restaurant business," Griffin, 38, says.

Griffin's first job was scraping tables at his family's restaurant, the now-closed Iron Horse Grill. After he graduated from St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Griffin attended Tulane University, Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi. Griffin paid his way through school by waiting tables and bartending.

In 1995, Griffin returned to Jackson to help the Mississippi Senate implement laptops as a necessary component of daily legislative life. When Griffin arrived at the Capitol, only seven legislators used laptops. Today, 177 legislators use them for daily Capitol business. That transition, however, wasn't easy.

"It was pretty difficult—push and pull; give and take," Griffin says.

Despite its difficulty, the job gave Griffin firsthand experience in the political process, and he realized he wanted to stay involved.

Following his time at the Capitol, Griffin spent several more years working in and managing various restaurants. Griffin soon decided that with two young boys at home, Will, 2, and Seth, 1, he needed to turn his hectic 60-70 hour work weeks into a 9-5 routine. Still, he wanted to remain in the restaurant industry.

To his good fortune, Griffin joined the MHRA in 2007. In this role, Griffin mentors and consults with restaurant operators experiencing difficult times. He also travels around the state to develop Mississippi's future workforce, visiting high school and college culinary programs. Griffin also gets to drop by the Capitol every now and then.

"MHRA has a grass-roots lobbying effort, and I am able to use past experiences to explain to the Legislature how their choices affect the ability or inability for restaurants to be successful," he says.

Griffin is an avid golfer and recently brought home the Shrimp Boot Trophy, an award given to the winners of the annual golf tournament hosted by the Alabama and Mississippi restaurant associations.

"It gets pretty competitive out there," he says with a grin.

Griffin's main concern is to keep local independent restaurant operators competitive with larger, corporate groups, and to explain to up-and-coming chefs that restaurants are the cornerstone of the nation's economy.

"It's not just about cooking," he says. "There are multiple career opportunities.

Previous Comments

ID

143708

Comment

It's been a while since I was personally acquainted with one of these featured persons. Grady's a really cool guy! Good choice for the feature.

Author

Queen601

Date

2009-02-18T14:16:23-06:00