Joseph Wong

Joseph Wong

1973, Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, CSULB

Since founding J and A Food Services, Inc. in 1978, Joseph Wong has come to operate 38 restaurants with 2,400 employees, including Burger King, Applebee’s, Marie Callendar’s and Logan’s Roadhouses in California and Oregon. His company, AB Enterprises, running 11 Applebee’s Restaurants in California and Oregon, was ranked 87^th out of 200 top restaurant franchises by Restaurant Finance Monitor in 2005.

After graduation from CSULB, he went to work for Burger King corporate with the goal of buying a franchise, the first one popping up in Redding, Calif. All of his employees have the opportunity to earn scholarships to further their educations.

The Hong Kong-born businessman’s CSULB connection extends to his family as well, with his brother and sister both CSULB graduates with degrees in fine arts and a brother-in-law with a degree in engineering. His sister later returned to the university for a degree in accounting and currently works as a certified public accountant.

The collector of rare automobiles has served on boards of directors for the Camp Fire Girls, the Chamber of Commerce and the Northern California Franchise Association. In his career, he has been named Restaurateur of the Year in 2004, and received awards from the National Highest QSC Shopper Report for his Marie Callendar’s restaurants in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

When asked to sum up the value of his CSULB experience, Wong replied that he especially valued being able to finish his education working full-time in what he called “one of the best business schools in the state.”