Whataburger Inc. has hired Janelle Sykes as its new chief financial officer, the company said Monday.
The San Antonio-based burger brand also said it has promoted Sylvester “Sly” Johnson to chief data and analytics officer. He most recently served as Whataburger’s chief accounting officer.
Sykes, left, succeeds former CFO Ed Nelson, who was promoted to president of the brand July 1 after the family-owned Whataburger sold a majority interest to BDT Capital Partners of Chicago.
Sykes most recently served as CFO of San Antonio-based C.H. Guenther & Son Inc., a food products company, where she oversaw all aspects of accounting, tax, treasury and internal audit and helped with the due diligence, financing and acquisitions.
Nelson said in a statement that “Janelle has deep knowledge and experience around a wide range of business areas – not just finance – that will help the brand reach new heights.”
To further strengthen its leadership team, Whataburger also recently promoted Johnson, left, to oversee the strategic development for Whataburger’s data analysis and reporting across the enterprise.
“Sly’s ability to analyze and synthesize data and explain it in a way that people can understand is incredible,” Nelson said. “In this new role, he will be critical to helping Whataburger unlock the value of our data and put it to use as we continue to serve our loyal customers and attract new ones.”
Whataburger, founded in 1950, has more than 830 locations in 10 states and systemwide sales of more than $2 billion a year.
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