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DENVER - Ed Novak, owner of the Broker restaurants, based here, woke up in a cold sweat one night after returning home from a trip.
He had every owner's nightmare: As he entered the Broker restaurant in downtown Denver, his reliable general manager greeted him, handed him the keys and announced he was leaving to take a better-paying job elsewhere.
Awakened to his dependence on key personnel, Novak called his accountant after the sun finally rose. They worked out a strategy to sell each Broker manager a 25percent stake in the restaurant they run, for $1.
It was an easy sell.
While several major restaurant chains now offer ownership options to their top managers, Novak developed his plan five years ago. Thinking ahead, planning ahead and trying to give people, customers or employees what they want has helped Novak run a successful restaurant company for nearly 30 years. He recently was inducted into the Colorado Restaurant Association's Hall of Fame.
"He treats his employees right, and he treats his customers right," said longtime friend Dick Ayers, a restaurant real-estate broker. "If you don't treat your...