Hoyos Named 2010 NJRA Chairman of the Board

Restaurant Expert Rose from Busboy to Restaurant Owner to Lead Business Group’s Efforts On Key Issues Affecting Industry

The New Jersey Restaurant Association (NJRA) announced that Jamie Hoyos, General Manager, Manhattan Steak House, Oakhurst, N.J., has been named 2010 chairman of the board and association. Hoyos previously served as vice chairman. “My goal is to actively fight for the increase of business meal tax deductibility in Congress in order to create jobs and increase our economy in New Jersey,” said Hoyos.

The restaurant and hospitality industry both creates jobs and leads to economic development in New Jersey, notes Hoyos. “We look forward to working with the new Christie administration and the legislature to focus on the restaurant and hospitality industry --- the state’s largest private sector employer with over 300,000 employees. Restaurants account for nearly one-third of the state’s tourism industry and its workers serve as ambassadors of tourism for our State.”

“We are thrilled to have Jamie as our new chairman,” said Deborah Dowdell, NJRA president. “A person with his hard-working experience from the ground up brings a unique aspect to issues of importance to the restaurant industry in the State of New Jersey.”

Originally from Bogota, Columbia, Hoyos received a BA in 1985 from the Columbia School of Tourism and Hotel Administration. He moved to the United States in 1988 to learn English at Monmouth College in New Jersey. With his first job in the U.S. in the warehouse and deli departments of Rex’s Jeans, he trained others and developed innovative methods in the food business. Seven years later, Hoyos had his first restaurant job at the Appleton Inn as a busboy and dishwasher. At Café Royal in Wall Township, he had the opportunity to become a captain and eventually assistant manager. Hoyos became a restaurant consultant before becoming a partner and owner of the Manhattan Steak House in Oakhurst.

“Jamie’s career is a true testament to the career ladder in the restaurant industry that can eventually lead to management and ownership,” said Dowdell.

Hoyos received the Gold Plate Award in 2006 from the New Jersey Restaurant Association. Word spread in his native Columbia and he was featured on television broadcasts and the cover of two Columbian magazines. In 2007, he was named the Businessman of the Year from the Columbian Consulate in Miami.

Hoyos will work actively to implement important networking functions for the NJRA to encourage restaurant employees of all levels to take an active role in issues affecting the industry. He plans to meet with restaurant owners and staffs to encourage participation in the NJRA and hopes that his “personal touch” will increase awareness of such issues as business meal deductibility.

The NJRA represents owners and operators of full-service restaurants, catering facilities, taverns & pubs, brew pubs, diner restaurants, hotel restaurants, coffee shops, limited & quick service restaurants, institutional feeders, delis, pizzerias, country clubs, culinary students and schools. Today, the New Jersey restaurant and hospitality industry includes 23,000 eating and drinking establishments with over 300,000 employees making restaurant and hospitality the largest private sector employer in New Jersey. Visit www.njra.org.