With the purchase of 368 Arby’s restaurants, the entire portfolio of seller U.S. Beef Corp., Flynn reaches $2.3 billion in annual sales. That makes the company the first privately held franchise company to crest the $2 billion mark.

One of Greg Flynn’s business interests includes restaurant holdings in 30 states.

Pan American Group LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Flynn Restaurant Group LP, has acquired 34 Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe locations in Kansas and Missouri from Wichita-based Original Bread Inc.

Over a 17-year career, Greg Flynn built the nation’s largest franchisee empire: Flynn Restaurant Group LP, a business that spans the country with three different brands — Applebee’s, Panera Bread and Taco Bell. With so many restaurant chains selling locations, franchisees have become increasingly powerful in the business of selling food to customers. And Flynn is foremost among them.

Flynn is the first franchisee to win the award in its history.

Greg Flynn, who used his real estate investment savvy to build the largest restaurant franchisee in the country over a 17-year career, on Monday was named Nation’s Restaurant News Operator of the Year.

The story of Greg Flynn, Founder and CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group, was featured in Forbes‘ article, “The Super Sizer: How Greg Flynn Became America’s Largest Restaurant Franchisee with $1.9B Revenues.”

Watch Greg Flynn, founder, chairman and CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group, accept the award for 2016 Restaurant Leader of the Year.

Greg Flynn, Founder and CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group, was named the 2016 Restaurant Leader of the Year by the editors of Restaurant Business.

This is only the second year the award has been presented. The 2015 recipient was Danny Meyer, CEO of Shake Shack.

The Bay Area’s Flynn Restaurant Group, the largest restaurant franchise group in the country, is moving beyond its Taco Bell and Applebee’s holdings and into the fast-casual sector with Panera Bread.

NRN presents The Power List 2015, its second annual list of the most powerful people in foodservice. This years list focuses on leaders who hold the power to change the industry landscape as we know it.