EntreCon update: Two things we can all agree on - candy and fries


  • October 2, 2015
  • /   Mike Ensley
  • /   entrecon

CandyRific's Rob Auerbach will be speaking at EntreCon.

We’re just about a month away from EntreCon now, and for today’s update, I wanted to introduce you to two more speakers who will bring their knowledge and insight to attendees.

If there’s one thing I think we can all agree on, it’s candy.

Candy is good.

For EntreCon speaker Rob Auerbach, combining that love for candy with pop culture has meant big business.

Auerbach is a founder and CEO of CandyRific, one of the leading novelty confectionary companies in the world.

CandyRific has been named to the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000 lists of fastest growing companies in the United States consecutively for the last 7 years.

The company’s candy license partners include such well-known properties including M&M’S®, Skittles®, Star Wars™, Disney™, Warner Bros., Universal, DreamWorks™, and many others.

Chances are, if you have a child, you’ve bought something that CandyRific has produced. Or if you’re a sci-fi or superhero fan like me, you may have bought it for yourself.

Before CandyRific, Auerbach was a toy designer. In 1986, he founded K&A Design Group. K&A designed products for most of the major toy companies including Hasbro, Mattell, Kenner, Galloob, Cap Candy, Crayola, Oddz-On, Candy Planet, Tootsietoy and others.

Auerbach also founded Lucky Numbers in 1996, which manufactures and distributes a line of hand held games, with licenses for Wheel of Fortune, Boggle, Twister and Yahtzee. Lucky Numbers successfully sells both domestically and internationally.

Auerbach will bring his story of turning his passion for toys and candy into a successful business to EntreCon. It’s something you won’t want to miss.

I may have misspoken earlier when I said there was only one thing we could all agree on. Our second speaker spotlight also works with something that is universally loved: McDonald’s french fries.

Susan O’Connor knows all about those famous fries, as well as cheeseburgers, apple pies and shakes.

{{business_name}}Susan O’Connor

Susan O’Connor

O’Connor, of Gulf Breeze, is the president of O’Connor Management Group which oversees seven local McDonald’s Franchises that she and her husband John own in the Great Southern Region.

We know that entrepreneurs are the driving force of the local economy and job creation, two important measures we keep track of in the Studer Community Institute’s Pensacola Metro Dashboard.

O’Connor graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting and began her career as a Certified Public Accountant. For the last 29 years, she has been a business owner as a franchisee with McDonald’s.

Within the McDonald’s corporation, she has served on many boards, including:

  • Operator National Advertising Board (OPNAD)
  • McDonald’s Administrative Council
  • Great Southern Regional Leadership Board

And currently serves as:

  • Chair of the National Operator Insurance Team (NOIT)
  • Board Member, MOOIC
  • Board of Trustees, University of West Florida
  • Board Member, Gulf Coast Community Bank
  • Board Member, Every Child a Reader in Escambia County
  • Board Member, Florida Small Business Development Center

She also remains actively involved in the day-to-day operators of the business.

Joining fellow McDonald’s owner Peter Nowak, she will bring a wealth of knowledge to attendees about not only building a food service business, but also about her experiences as a franchisee.

Tickets for EntreCon, Nov. 5 & 6 in downtown Pensacola at the historic Rex Theatre, are available now at entreconpensacola.com.

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