Patrick Yearout’s entry into the world of restaurants began in 1992 when he and a friend took over as owners and operators of a franchised sandwich shop. After seven years of working there, building up the business, and discovering that he most enjoyed the training and development aspects of hospitality, Yearout sold his ownership stake in June 1999 and accepted a Training Manager position at Ivar’s Restaurants. He was promoted to Ivar’s Director of Training in late 2007 and added recruiting to his responsibilities in 2008. In 2018, he was promoted to Director of Innovation to help the implement new ideas and new technologies into the company restaurants and support center.
Yearout has been an active participant since 2002 in the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) and served as President of the organization from 2014-2015. In addition, he has served on the Certification Governing Committee for the National Restaurant Association for the past 13 years and on the Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department Food Advisory Board for the past 8 years.