American Blue Ribbon recruits ex-Shoney’s, AIG exec

Restaurant holding company American Blue Ribbon Holdings has hired a veteran restaurant and insurance industry executive to be its first chief administrative officer and take on some of the duties of former CEO Hazem Ouf.

Greg Hayes came to American Blue Ribbon, the parent of O’Charley’s and four other brands, a few months after he left his position as senior vice president of finance at local auto insurer Direct General. He had been with the company, which was sold recently to a publicly traded New York carrier for $162 million, for more than three years.