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MHRA director Mike Cashion speaks out on a few issues: tackling tort reform, smoking bans and pesky taxation issues.

Article Excerpt
As executive director of the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association (MHRA), Mike Cashion tackles issues in an industry that touches nearly every Mississippian on a daily basis.

It's also an industry fraught with challenges: stiff competition, personnel issues, various taxation and regulatory concerns, as well as the routine trials that business owners face anyway, such as escalating overhead costs, cash flow concerns and personnel issues.

Cashion, a 26-year industry veteran, understands the tribulations unique to the restaurant business. His experience spans multi-unit management With Wendy's and Pizza Hut, full-service expertise in the country-club environment and high-volume knowledge as food and beverage director for Ameristar Casino in Vicksburg.

Before being hired as association director in 1999, Cashion served on its board of directors for nearly a decade. During that time, he chaired several committees, earned the coveted Distinguished Service Award, and was elected association president.

Cashion has served on the board of directors of the National Restaurant Association and the International Society of Restaurant Association Executives. He is president-elect of the Mississippi Society of Association Executives and a board member of IMPAC, the political action committee of BIPEC, a political action committee of the business community.

The Mississippi Business Journal asked Cashion about the economic impact of the state's restaurant industry, the anticipated effects of tort reform on restaurateurs, workforce concerns, smoking bans, liability concerns, and taxation and regulatory issues.

Mississippi Business Journal: What is the economic impact of the state's restaurant industry?

Mike Cashion: Mississippi's restaurant industry employs over 70,000 and generates $2.1 billion annually in sales. State sales tax figures reflect a contribution of over $178 million from restaurants.

On a national level, sales average $1.2 billion per day. Nearly...

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