Alumni Profile: Executive MBA Alum Mines UNC Kenan-Flagler Network

Sean Crane (EMBA ’03) exemplifies the power of the UNC network.

Crane, a CPA who got his BA in business, decided to pursue an Executive MBA at UNC Kenan-Flagler to advance his career at the fast-growing grocery chain The Fresh Market. Five years later, he has succeeded at his original goal—he was recently named a vice president—while bringing along several of his UNC Kenan-Flagler classmates with him.

“Much of my success depends on the professionals I hire,” Crane said. “Beyond the personal benefit of hiring my former classmates and other professionals, I enjoy watching them grow professionally and contribute to our business. I find networking considerably more effective than using Internet ads or recruiters.”

Crane’s employment at The Fresh Market began in 2000 as the grocery store’s controller. Two years later, he became director of real estate. Named vice president a year later, Crane assumed responsibility for construction, architecture and design and store maintenance of the rapidly growing chain.

“The most important thing about real estate is not ‘location, location, location,’ but ‘people, people, people,’” Crane said. “Finding the real estate professionals who can effectively negotiate multimillion dollar deals amid competing interests is important. If we find the right people, we will find the right location and negotiate the best deal.”

Critical to the successful completion of these projects is finding talented project managers, Crane added. “They must be able to communicate across marketing, operations, real estate and legal disciplines and be able to deal with architects, contractors, landlords, inspectors and city officials.”

To date, Crane has hired three of his classmates to fit those challenging job descriptions:

• Randy Kelley as a real estate manager in 2004, who was promoted to director of real estate in 2005.
• Paul Poole as a project manager in 2005 to help develop new store construction and maintenance functions.
• Stephen Smith as a real estate manager in late 2005.

Tina Spence (MBA ‘05) and Danny Watkins (MBA ‘04) were also recently hired as business strategy managers.

In addition, The Fresh Market’s vice president of information technology, Stuart Williams, just started the Weekend Executive MBA program in January 2006.

The Fresh Market opened its first store in 1982 in Greensboro, N.C., and currently operates 53 stores in 12 states. The company’s goal for its stores is to convey the atmosphere of an old-world European market. They set themselves apart from competing grocery store chains by focusing on customer service, high-quality foods and an intimate neighborhood market atmosphere.

Crane says that the company plans to open new stores at a compound annual growth rate of 20 percent. No doubt that he and his “cohorts from UNC,” as he calls them, will play a large role in that expansion.

“Uncertainty is a certainty in my profession, and effective networking is comforting as I know better what to expect from the people I hire,” Crane said.