Company: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Denver, CO
Company Description: Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in 1993 and currently operates more than 1,225 restaurants.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Executive of the Year - Hospitality & Leisure

Nomination Title: Steve Ells and Montgomery Moran, Chipotle Co-CEOs

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2011 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Working together, Ells and Moran each bring a unique perspective to the business to achieve their goals.

Ells - Food with Integrity and Sustainable Growth

"For more than a decade, we have been working to improve the nation's food supply by finding more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients we use in our restaurants," said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle." says Ells. "There have been many opportunities over the years to take that all away and introduce highly processed foods, but we’ve done just the opposite."

Chipotle's commitment to Food With Integrity has led the company to serve more naturally raised meat and local produce than any other restaurant company in the country -- about 100 million pounds in all for 2011. In addition, 100% of Chipotle's dairy is made with milk from cows that are not treated with the synthetic hormone rBGH and an increasing percentage of its dairy now comes from cows that are raised outdoors on pastures.

Moran - Restaurateurs and People Culture

At Chipotle, Moran has dedicated himself to fostering a company culture that recognizes and rewards top performers and prepares them for future leadership roles. This innovative approach has resulted in a more stable workforce, consistently well-run restaurants, and record profits for Chipotle.

Moran was the visionary and creator of Chipotle’s Restaurateur program. The Restaurateur program identifies and promotes the best people from within and creates mentors for up and coming managers and employees. In August 2011, Chipotle celebrated its 200Th Restaurateur. 60 percent of Chipotle units are overseen by restaurateurs or someone who has been through the program" said Ells. "Since Monty brought a similar emphasis to our people culture, we have significantly improved the quality of our operations and the restaurant experience we provide, and created a second key element to drive the success of Chipotle."" said Moran. "The managers who become Restaurateurs are the people who know and love our company and what we stand for.

"During 2011, we remained focused on our mission to change the way the world thinks about and eats fast food, while continuing to strengthen our people culture and our unit economic model. Our success is rooted in serving great tasting food and it has been since day one. Our sourcing of food made from the finest ingredients, which is raised with respect for the animals, the environment, and the farmers is at the heart of that effort,” said Steve Ells,

“Our accomplishments this year were truly amazing. Empowered cultures create excellent teams. These excellent teams are exciting, productive and powerful. They attract great employees and develop them to be at their very best, and they become the future leaders within our organization,” commented Monty Moran.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Creates 'Chipotle Cultivate Foundation'
http://ir.chipotle.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=194775&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1600466&highlight=Food%20With%20Integrity

Chipotle Names 200th Restaurateur http://ir.chipotle.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=194775&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1550462&highlight=

Moran Bio http://people.forbes.com/profile/montgomery-f-monty-moran/19166

"Food With Integrity is not something that ever ends,"
http://ir.chipotle.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=194775&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1534356&highlight=Food%20With%20Integrity

Chipotle was recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative companies in the last year. http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012/chipotle

Chipotle Growth Plan http://nrn.com/article/chipotle-focuses-multi-tier-growth-plan#ixzz1ubUdAbdu

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:

Mr. Moran was appointed to the Co-CEO position on January 1, 2009, after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer since March 2005. Mr. Moran previously served as chief executive officer of the Denver law firm Messner & Reeves, LLC, and as general counsel of Chipotle.

Steve Ells founded Chipotle in 1993. He is co-CEO and Chairman of the Board, and has served as a director since 1996. Prior to launching Chipotle, Mr. Ells worked for two years at Stars restaurant in San Francisco. He is a member of the board of directors of The Land Institute.