After careful consideration by the membership committee and the Board of Directors, I am very pleased to announce the selection of three (3) new members to the organization; the new members are: Tyrone Burroughs, First Choice Sales and Marketing; and Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer of Enjoy A | M Restaurant Group. Please see below for more details on these outstanding new members.
Tyrone Burroughs
First Choice Sales and Marketing
In 1983, Tyrone Burroughs was recruited by a group of investors from Meridian, MS, to save their Memphis company that was on the verge of a financial crisis and bankruptcy. While he was able to keep the business afloat, the business did eventually close. When the business closed, Tyrone took all the lessons learned and his personal savings of $5,000 and started First Choice Sales and Marketing Group, Inc. in the niche market of products focused on African American consumers. First Choice currently services manufacturers and retailers domestically and internationally; including, Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Sally Beauty, Kroger, Walgreens, and Target. The company grew its employee count across the entire portfolio between 2012-2020 from 45 to 167 (Pre Covid-19) through growth, startups, and acquisitions. Staff was reduced from 167 to 145 during the pandemic.
In addition, he has founded the Burroughs Capital Group a family office that holds and invests in privately held businesses and real estate assets with a focus on creating long-term value with business partners’ companies. More than developer and landlord, Mr. Burroughs is also an operator and mentor of businesses focusing on unique neighborhood place-making and hospitality: the sorts of places that make communities better places to live and work. Also, Mr. Burroughs focuses on supporting communities’ transformation by creating new businesses and jobs and mentoring business owners and operators.
Mr. Burroughs has been very active and engaged in the Memphis and broader community. In 2010, Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs founded The Burroughs Foundation to work alongside community leaders to develop and support local organizations. For the past eight years, they have contributed to many philanthropic programs that empower diverse communities, specifically to address the educational, health, and social needs of ethnically diverse neighborhoods. As a community and business leader, he is committed to taking the issues that impact them seriously and implement real change. Through his businesses and the foundation, he has made significant contributions to many philanthropic efforts, including the following: founding member of the Governor Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Shelby County Schools, ArtSpace, Hattiloo Theater, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Memphis, National Civil Rights Museum, Africa Bible Project, and Bridge Builders.
Burroughs currently serves as a member of the Benedict College Board of Trustees, Board of Directors at Guaranty Bank & Trust Company, Board of Directors Governor Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Chairman of The Burroughs Foundation Inc., Chairman of the Trustee Board of the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church, Memphis NAACP Branch Board of Directors, Global Beauty Alliance Board, and the Vision 2020 Retail Strategy Advisory Committee.
Burroughs holds an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, where he also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science. In 2017, the School of Business & Economics was renamed to the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Benedict College due to his unprecedented support. Also, he created the Tyrone A. Burroughs Endowment Fund to help students achieve their dreams to attend college and advance their post-high school studies. To date, 18 full four-year scholarships have been awarded and the first cohort graduated in May 2020.
Michael Hudman
Enjoy A | M Restaurant Group
A native of Memphis, TN, Michael began cooking as a child. His extended Italian family would gather for jovial Sunday suppers where everyone would help make homemade meatballs and ravioli. When Michael met Andy at Christian Brothers High School, they immediately connected over their similar ancestral backstories. After graduating from Auburn University, Michael attended Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, SC and the Italian Institute for Advanced Culinary Studies in Calabria, Italy. Both Michael’s and Andy’s first formative kitchen experience was working under Chef Jose Gutierrez at Chez Philippe in Memphis, TN.
In 2008, Michael and Andy opened Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, which led to their first James Beard Foundation nomination. The duo followed their debut with Hog & Hominy, a wood-burning neighborhood restaurant that was recognized by Bon Appetit, GQ and Southern Living as one of the top new restaurants in the country in 2013. That year Food and Wine also selected them as Best New Chefs in the country, their cookbook Collards & Carbonara: Southern Cooking, Italian Roots was published and they were recognized as semifinalists for Best Chef Southeast by The James Beard Foundation. Two years later, Porcellio’s Craft Butcher highlighted their love of traditional butcheries and heritage meats. The 2016 opening of Josephine Estelle in the Ace Hotel in New Orleans, LA, was their first foray into a hotel space. Catherine & Mary’s a nod to their Italian grandmothers opened in 2016 as well. Gray Canary, located in The Old Dominick Distillery in the South Main Arts District in downtown Memphis soon followed as their sixth concept.
For their seventh restaurant, Bishop, Andy and Michael dug into their French cooking foundation that began right of out culinary school. Housed in the historic Central Station Hotel, this latest concept continues as the third in their stable of downtown restaurant locations and continues to underscore the renowned chefs company culture of family and friends.
They started the Andrew Michael Foundation last year to help organize how the company can give back to our community. Ticer said. “For the charity, we wanted to do something locally to help provide kids in Memphis with nutritional meals. The Healthy Pantry program through the Mid-South Food Bank does that, and we’re so thrilled to use these dinners to help support it.”
Andy Ticer
Enjoy A | M Restaurant Group
Growing up in a large Italian family in Memphis, TN, Andy’s love affair with cooking and being in the kitchen started young. Once he met Michael at Christian Brothers High School where they were both students, he knew he had found his culinary soulmate. After graduating from University of Mississippi, Andy attended Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, SC and the Italian Institute for Advanced Culinary Studies in Calabria, Italy. His formative training as a chef, along with Michael, was the opportunity to work under master French chef Jose Gutierrez at lauded Chez Philippe in Memphis, TN.
In 2008, Andy and Michael opened Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, a love letter to their Italian roots and Memphis childhood, which garnered them their first James Beard Foundation nomination. Their second eatery, Hog & Hominy, was touted as one of the best new restaurants of 2013 by Bon Appetit, GQ and Southern Living. This was also the year they were named Best New Chefs by Food and Wine, their cookbook Collards & Carbonara: Southern Cooking, Italian Roots was published, and they received their second James Beard Foundation nomination for Best Chef Southeast.
In 2015, Porcellio’s Craft Butcher opened to showcase their take on old-school butcheries and heritage meats. The pair’s first hotel offering Josephine Estelle in the Ace Hotel in New Orleans opened in 2016. That year also saw the opening of Catherine and Mary’s, a downtown Memphis spot inspired and named for their Italian grandmothers. Gray Canary in the Old Dominick Distillery in the South Main Arts District in downtown Memphis was their sixth concept.
The celebrated chefs’ seventh restaurant, Bishop, is now opened in the historical Central Station Hotel. As their first departure from Italian cooking, this French restaurant takes them back to their culinary start, where they honed the thoughtful cooking style and familial company culture for which they are known.
They started the Andrew Michael Foundation last year to help organize how the company can give back to our community. Ticer said. “For the charity, we wanted to do something locally to help provide kids in Memphis with nutritional meals. The Healthy Pantry program through the Mid-South Food Bank does that, and we’re so thrilled to use these dinners to help support it.”
