Panera Bread Appoints Blaine Hurst As President

(RTTNews) - Panera Bread Co. (PNRA) said that it has appointed Blaine Hurst as President effective Monday, December 12, 2016, following the resignation of Drew Madsen for personal reasons.

Hurst has been with Panera since 2010 and has held a number of senior leadership positions, most recently as Executive Vice President - Chief Transformation and Growth Officer. He has been the driving force behind Panera's biggest growth initiatives in the past few years, including delivery, catering and the evolution of Panera's digital capabilities. He will continue to report to Ron Shaich, Panera's chairman and CEO.

Hurst joined Panera in 2010 to work on the development of Panera 2.0. He was named Executive Vice President of Technology and Transformation in May 2013, and EVP - Chief Transformation and Growth Officer in October 2014.

Earlier in his career, Hurst was Vice Chairman and President at Papa John's International Inc.; President - Restaurant Technology Solutions at eMac Digital LLC, an enterprise backed by McDonald's, Accel Partners and KKR & Co.; and Vice President - Information Services at Boston Chicken.