Buffalo Wings & Rings Multi-Unit Ownership Group Grows Success from High School Roots

For more than a decade, Terry Powell has owned and operated the Greensburg Buffalo Wings & Rings location. Opening in November 2007, Powell was one of the very first franchisees to join the company after the new ownership group bought Buffalo Wings & Rings and franchised the concept a little over 13 years ago. Last summer, Powell decided that he was getting ready to retire and decided to turn to fellow Buffalo Wings & Rings franchisees in Greendale.

He didn’t have to turn far.

Powell lives down the street from Randy Maxwell, one of the members of the franchise ownership group that owns and operates the Greendale restaurant. Not only that, but four of the five members of that group and Powell’s sons all attended school at East Central High School – located roughly a half hour east of Greensburg and a half hour northwest of Greendale.

“The funny thing is that, me, the one disconnected person who didn’t attend East Central High School brought them all together,” laughed Frances Zwick, a member of the ownership group who started as an assistant manager at the group’s Greendale LaRosa’s franchise and bought into the Greendale Buffalo Wings & Rings. "I met Terry at my first Buffalo Wings & Rings franchise meeting. He and his son, Mark, were nice enough to invite me over and introduce me to a bunch of people including the corporate team.”

Zwick and her husband, Jeff, along with Maxwell, Chip Perfect and Tim Doll make up the ownership group that now owns both the Greendale and Greensburg Buffalo Wings & Rings locations. The group also owns that LaRosa’s and a has plans to open a Jimmy John’s in Greendale. They are also looking at bringing another Buffalo Wings & Rings location to the area in the coming year and has a deal to bring two more restaurants in the years to come. When Terry Powell approached them about taking on his restaurant in Greensburg, he wanted to give his son, Mark – who Zwick had met during that first franchisee meeting – an opportunity too.

"Terry reached out and said that he was interested in retiring and that Mark was interested in continuing to grow his career - but didn't want to just take on the Greensburg location on his own,” said Zwick. “As we got into further discussions, we decided to offer Mark an ownership percentage.”

As part of the transition, Mark Powell will join the group as a part owner of the Greensburg location and serve as an Area Manager to oversee all of their restaurants.

“It's ironic but really cool how it all played out, and the East Central High School connection we all have,” said Mark Powell. “I went to college in Indianapolis and once I graduated, dad and I kind of met in the middle and opened this store in Greensburg. Who would think that years later, I’d be partnering up with fellow East Central grads. Randy's a little older than me, but he and Jeff Zwick were part of the football team that went to the state championship in 1994 when I was in junior high, so I knew their names and looked up to them. Tim and I played basketball together in junior high. Now, Randy is a coach for the football team and his son is the quarterback on the team that just won state last year. It's just ironic that it turned out this way.”

In this new chapter, Mark is hoping to carry on his father’s legacy.

“He's my hero. I've always had a tremendous level of respect for him. I don’t have a background in business, so he was my business education. He taught me how to run a business and how to work in the community. I want to continue the success my dad created in Greensburg.”

Among the initiatives Mark plans to continue are a highly successful anti-bullying campaign and program that Terry Powell spearheaded and has helped spread throughout the community.

“I'm excited. It's the next logical step. We're going to continue to bring on employees and will be able to do more as one combined unit. I'm looking forward to the challenge,” said Mark Powell.