P.F. Chang's using equity as motivation

Jennifer Wilson has been working 12- and 14-hour days getting the P.F.

Chang's China Bistro in Reno ready for today's opening.

She has more than professional dedication on the line.

The Scottsdale-based restaurant chain offered minority ownership interests to her as well as the restaurant's executive chef, Eric Guthrie.

The result is clear-cut.

"It gives me every reason to want to make that restaurant money," said Wilson, who will manage the restaurant with the title "operating partner." The results are clear-cut as well for P.F.

Chang's.

In an industry where turnover of managers and employees is common, P.F.

Chang's finds the sacrifice of a little equity to be a worthwhile investment.

"People like to relate, not only to the restaurant, but to the personalities they find there," said Rich Sullivan, who oversees the region as market partner for P.F.

Chang's.

Because the deals Wilson and Guthrie have call for them to stay at least five years with the new Reno restaurant, the company greater assurance that customers' experiences will be consistent.

Wilson declined to detail how large her ownership position is, saying, "It's big for me." For the 28-year-old Wilson, part ownership of a popular restaurant marks the next step in a career that began more than six years ago when she took a job as a hostess at a P.F.

Chang's restaurant in Las Vegas.

By her second day there, she'd decided that she was going to be an operating partner for the company.

She finished up a degree in restaurant management at UNLV and began moving through the ranks waitress, office manager, manager.

Wilson's break came last summer when she was picked to open the Reno location.

By December, she had moved here and was beginning to hire the 150 employees who will staff the 7,000-square-foot restaurant.

The dining room seats 188, and a patio seats another 38.