About Corporate Dining, Inc.

Corporate Dining, Inc.’s project managers are all former Dining Service operators. We have operated at all levels from utility, back-of-the-house, up and through unit and regional management. Having worked “in the trenches” provides the skills to easily communicate with your staff and verify site conditions, operating statements, and subsidy.

Leaders are learners and teachers. We actively seek leadership roles in our industry as well as involvement in the development of new management methods, tools, and practices. A few of the Dining Service industry leadership positions (current or past) held by Corporate Dining, Inc. professionals are:

• 2008 SFM Leadership Award
• 2007 SFM Spirit Award
• President (two), Executive Committee, and/or Board Members (three) of the Society for Foodservice Management
• Chairperson, the SFM National Benchmarking Committee
• Chairman, the International Association of Conference Centers
• Foodservice Consulting Society International Professional
• CHA (Certified Hotel Administrator) Designation from The American Hotel & Motel Association

Our People

THOMAS D. NEWCOMB
President, Corporate Dining, Inc.

Tom has spent his entire professional career in the hospitality industry. After graduating from Denison University, he joined the Stouffer's Food Corporation and worked his way from an hourly employee to corporate regional management.

As the founder of Corporate Dining, Inc. and Campus Dining, Inc., Tom focuses on committing to projects where the team relationship will provide long-term strategic benefits for each client. This represents over eighty projects per year.

Pioneering the confidential data sharing of corporate Dining Service liaisons through the nationally recognized FoodMark® program, Tom has brought together corporations such as  Reed Elsevier, Procter & Gamble, Capital One, TRW, Coca-Cola, Halliburton, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Motorola, Nationwide Insurance, Reed Elsevier, Sprint, TIAA-CREF, Bank of America, Ford Motor Company, and many more.

Tom speaks nationally and internationally on the Process of Benchmarking at events such as the Annual Conference of the Food Service Consultants Society, International Facilities Managers Society World Workplace, SFM Annual Conference, NACAS, NACUFS, and Best Practice and FoodMark® Workshops.

Tom is a member of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), NACUFS, NACAS, NACUBO, and The Society for Foodservice Management (SFM). He is a past member of the Board of Directors for the SFM.

E-mail directly at: tomnewcomb@corporatedining.com

JOE SEBESTYEN
Project Manager

Joe Sebestyen has over 20 years of experience with conference center planning, development and operations.

He joined Marriott in 1978, after graduating from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, Illinois with a Bachelor's Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He worked for Marriott with some of the Fortune 500's most prestigious corporations (IBM, GTE, GE, First National Bank of Chicago and the Harvard Business School). Joe worked closely with IBM, Georgetown University and USPS, from the consulting phase through the turnkey startup of each organization's conference centers.

Joe leads a team of instructors at the Cornell University Hotel School's Professional Development Program in the course "Understanding Conference Centers." Joe is an Adjunct Professor at Southern Illinois University and the Oklahoma State University Hotel and Restaurant Schools. He delivered the commencement speech to the SIU 1998 graduating class and was presented the Alumni Achievement Award.

Joe is a past President of the International Association of Conference Centers, N.A. - a global organization with over 300 membership properties.

He has been a project manager for Corporate Dining, Inc. in conference centers and corporate dining for six (6) years. His current client group includes NetApp, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Halliburton, American Century Investments, Embarq, Coca Cola, Sprint, and Capital One.

E-mail directly at: jsebestyen@corporatedining.com

WARD BYRNE
Project Manager

Ward brings strong financial acumen, an operational background, and experience in sales and marketing to Corporate Dining, Inc. Following graduation from Fairfield University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, Ward’s career developed in Hospitality Management. He has held the following positions: Cook Manager, Unit Manager, General Manager, District Manager, Regional Operations Manager, Sales Executive, Account Executive, and National Account Manager.

Having spent his entire career in dining services, Ward has been active in the following industry sectors since the mid-1970s: Nursing Homes; Kosher; Colleges & Universities; School Lunch, K-12; Business & Industry; Conference Centers; and Corporate Services.

Ward has been part of Corporate Dining, Inc. since early 2002. Just prior to joining the company, he was instrumental in the legwork that set up and managed the NYC Restaurant Revitalization Program, funded by the Salvation Army to assist restaurants whose businesses were pretty much decimated by the events of September 11, 2001.  This program was written about in many publications, including Crain’s New York Business, Entrée Magazine, Grid Magazine of Real Estate Business and the Norwalk Hour.

“This program was about devising a procedure, putting it in place, and then managing the process.  It was new, different, challenging, and difficult at times, but it was really great working with people who have unlimited dedication and a tireless effort – the owners, contractors, volunteers, vendors, suppliers, associations, and NYC agencies and departments. It was incredible.  To be a part of that effort was a privilege.”

Ward’s current client group includes Pitney Bowes, MetLife, HBO, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Scholastic, The New York Times, Morgan Stanley, People’s Bank, and Merrill Lynch.

Ward is a past member of the Society for Foodservice Management and is currently active in his neighborhood and community.  He is Board-certified as a high school basketball referee in Connecticut and assists the Fairfield Recreation Department with their youth soccer and basketball programs.  Ward also serves on the Board of Directors for Wakeman’s Memorial Association, a Boys and Girls Club of America. Ward and his wife, Fran, live in Southport, CT.

E-mail directly at: wbyrne@corporatedining.com

BARBARA CLEMENS
Office Director/Administrator FoodWrite

Barbara has been with Corporate Dining, Inc. for over ten years. Prior to that, she worked as a legal secretary in both private law and insurance litigation, was the Administrative Assistant to the Controller at the Sheraton Corporation in Dallas, Texas and a legal secretary in the Government and Business Affairs Department of Dresser Industries Corporate Headquarters in Dallas. At Dresser, Barbara was responsible for assembling and compiling data concerning export trade licenses, S.I.C. Codes, boycotts, anti-trust and environmental matters, and mergers and acquisitions.

At Honda Manufacturing International in Marysville, Ohio, Barbara worked in the Purchasing Department, then transferred to Information Systems where she was directly involved with project management, the test / purchase and/or implementation of new hardware and software; technical support for a large user base; teaching software classes; and assisting other departments in developing their budgets for IT equipment. She coordinated with three plants in the Ohio area to write and implement Operations Standards and Procedures for the PC Section.

E-mail directly at: bclemens@corporatedining.com