PRAIRIE DU SAC, WIS. – Culver Franchising System LLC announced Enrique “Rick” Silva will take over as chief executive officer of the chain, effective March 29. Silva will lead the system of 792 restaurants, 496 owner-operators, 31,000 team members and the Culver's Franchise Support Team.

Silva joins Culver’s from Checkers & Rally's Restaurants Inc. where he served as CEO for 13 years. While at Checkers & Rally’s, Silva developed a “family-serving-family” culture among its franchisees, support teams and restaurant teams. He increased the value of the enterprise from $180 million to $525 million; improved unit-level operating margins by more than 300 basis points; and built a world-class franchise sales strategy and unit growth process. Prior to his work at Checkers & Rally’s, Silva honed his category knowledge and skills serving in leadership positions at Burger King Corporate.

“As we searched for Culver's next leader, we were looking for several key characteristics – a true culture and values fit, the ability to support and expand the successful growth of our current and future franchisees and a drive to genuinely deliver on our Culver's Mission: We genuinely care, so every guest who chooses Culver's leaves happy,” said co-founder Craig Culver. “We are confident that Rick can do all three and are excited to see what he brings to further accelerate Culver's.”

Culver's previous CEO, Joe Koss, retired at the end of 2020 after successfully supporting and leading the organization for 23 years.