He became president and CEO of Wendy's in 2016 after joining the organization in 2013. Prior to that, he held leadership positions with the Kellogg Company and Ford Motor Company. Penegor is a member of the Eli Broad College of Business Advisory Board. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting in 1987 and an MBA in Finance in 1989, both from MSU.

“Growing up in the Upper Peninsula, I was focused on attending a Big Ten School,” says Penegor on the MSU Today podcast. “I looked at other schools but really knew that Michigan State was the school for me. I just felt comfortable there and I wasn't proven wrong. I loved being there my four years; I loved it so much I stayed there for graduate school.”

Penegor talks about what it means to him to be a Spartan. And he talks about how important it is for alumni to give back to their alma mater. Penegor and his wife named The Todd and Jill Penegor Large Team Room on the ground floor of the Broad College’s new Edward J. Minskoff Pavilion.

“I think about how much opportunity my alma mater has created for me. The school gave back a lot more than knowledge. The relationships, the connections, the comradery, and the pride, I thought it was important with the success that I've been able to have in my career to make sure that we give back.”

Penegor’s advice for the graduates?

“This year we spent a lot of time at Wendy’s trying to figure out how we'll lead a little differently and lead in a more remote work environment. Some of the messages will be some of the messages that I've shared with my employees at the company this year with the field team that I've tried to connect to differently and with our franchise community. And what you're going to really see is communication is key. People want to still be connected in this virtual world.

“You need to really be adaptable and flexible. We've all faced many curve balls during the year and you've had to manage through those, and you need to really be nimble to check and adjust to anything that's thrown your way. So you really have to find ways to master adversity a little bit differently. And one of the mantras I've had throughout this year is control what you can control and influence where you can. And if you can't influence or control it, don't worry about it. Just prepare for it. Have the contingency plans in place and as things come your way, build your plans to successfully manage through it.

“And it's not easy to do that. It's easy to say it, but we're all learning to work a little bit differently. And for the students who are coming out of school this year, whether they're undergrad or the graduate students that I get to talk with, they've had this opportunity to learn to work in this environment. So they've already got a lot of those skill sets that they can bring to new organizations to not just survive, but to thrive moving forward.”

And what about challenges and opportunities ahead for Wendy’s and the restaurant industry?

“We’ve been blessed. We're in the quick serve restaurant category so we've had the ability to manage a drive-through. We were deemed an essential service early on to help take some of the pressures off the grocery store. So when you think about why QSR plays such a great spot in today's world like speed, convenience, affordability, we play in those spots. The drive-through certainly helps. We can deliver food fast and in an efficient environment. At Wendy's we can differentiate on the quality of the food being fresh and never frozen beef and fresh cut vegetables, all at an affordable price. And when you think about the journey we're on to really compliment all of that, we launched breakfast earlier this year. A little challenging with the morning day part completely disrupted, but our breakfast is doing quite well behind our quality messaging.

“The digital journey that we're on is about how do you make a more frictionless experience at the restaurant? How do you turn your parking lots into transaction centers? Whether that's mobile ordering, mobile grab-and-go, curbside delivery, or a loyalty program to connect the business on loyalty and frequency. Then for us it's how do we continue to provide more access to the brand? Unfortunately, a lot of restaurant brands are shutting down and we have opportunities to continue to grow. Whether that's in North America with unique and different formats complemented by technology, or growing our business outside of the US, those are all things the team's working on with a lot of opportunity going forward. And our higher purpose is to create joy and opportunity through our food, family, and community. And we're working hard to bring that to life every day.”

And what about for higher education?

“Learning is changing, right? How do we connect and communicate as things change? How do we work in this hybrid world that we'll all be working in in the future when it's a little bit virtual and it's a little bit in person? And when you have that environment, how do you teach, how do you communicate, how do you connect to make sure that everybody feels included, whether you're there in person or whether you're there by video? You have to make sure that it is a seamless discussion.

“Everybody's going to look for a little more flexibility and look to connect a little bit differently, and we're going to have to learn how to teach in that environment. We're going to have to learn how to create working experiences in that environment and really ensure that our students have the skill set to communicate and break through in that hybrid environment.”

MSU Today airs every Sunday morning at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and however you stream at home. Follow and subscribe at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.