The Authors of
Foodservice Equipment Reports
RANDY HANO
Publisher & President
Randy has been in the publishing industry for his entire career, starting out with newspapers and then moving over to magazines. Prior to Foodservice Equipment Reports, he served as publisher for Modern Luxury Chicago titles, president of Boston Magazine publications, publisher of Chicago Magazine and publisher at Time Out Chicago. Randy also has held several key positions at the Boston Herald, Chicago Sun Times and Imoneza, a startup micro payment platform. In these positions, Randy focused on a digital first strategy, recognizing early on that no one method for delivering content will work for all audiences.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Randy is married to his wife, Midge, and has two sons. While in Chicago, Randy was an active board member of several community organizations, among them the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, the Chicago Loop Alliance, the Illinois Eye Bank, the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, and the 2006 Advisory Council of the Chicago Art Project. Allison has moderated panels at multiple events, including the National Restaurant Association Show, Commercial Food Equipment Service Association’s regional meeting and MUFES. She has earned Foodservice Energy Efficiency Expert certification through Frontier Energy’s Food Service Technology Center and is a member of the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Randy is married to his wife, Midge, and has two sons. While in Chicago, Randy was an active board member of several community organizations, among them the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, the Chicago Loop Alliance, the Illinois Eye Bank, the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau, and the 2006 Advisory Council of the Chicago Art Project. Allison has moderated panels at multiple events, including the National Restaurant Association Show, Commercial Food Equipment Service Association’s regional meeting and MUFES. She has earned Foodservice Energy Efficiency Expert certification through Frontier Energy’s Food Service Technology Center and is a member of the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
ALLISON REZENDES
Managing Editor
Allison started out as a journalism intern at Foodservice Equipment Reports. Today, she serves as its chief content officer/editor-in-chief. She writes about foodservice equipment and design trends, equipment maintenance, industry events and more topics. Along with FER’s print and digital platforms, she oversees content production for its annual Multiunit Foodservice Equipment Symposium and its Digital Solutions Group.
Allison has moderated panels at multiple events, including the National Restaurant Association Show, Commercial Food Equipment Service Association’s regional meeting and MUFES. She has earned Foodservice Energy Efficiency Expert certification through Frontier Energy’s Food Service Technology Center and is a member of the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
LAUREN COUGHLIN
Managing Editor
An editorial leader at FER since 2021, Coughlin primarily covers restaurant equipment trends and innovations, as well as real-time industry news as it breaks. With a personal passion for protecting our resources and planet, sustainability marks one area of interest, leading to coverage of chains’ creative solutions and accomplishments. An award-winning journalist, Coughlin has been recognized for her breaking news reporting and feature writing. She worked her first job in the restaurant industry, where she gained practical knowledge of the back-of-house, respect for operational intricacies and more. She’s also a member of the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Outside of work, Coughlin enjoys running, reading, photography and spending time with her husband, two sons and the family’s former street dog, who hails from Oman. Send news tips to lcoughlin@fermag.com.
JANICE CHA
Senior Contributing Editor
Cha specializes in writing about commercial kitchen design. With 15+ years at FER magazine and more than 16 years as a freelance writer, Cha translates complex information into engaging and useful content for the foodservice industry. Her articles spotlight innovative restaurant concepts, renovations and equipment solutions, from hydroponic farm-to-table operations to high-end lounge kitchens at major airports. Cha holds the Certified Foodservice Energy Efficiency Expert (Fe3) credential, underscoring her commitment to kitchen sustainability and smart design. Beyond her editorial work, Cha
manages publicity for Chicago-area square dance organizations, and is a long-time volunteer with Skokie, Ill.-based Community Animal Rescue Effort.
KAREN M. ALLEY
Contributing Editor
As a writer for FER, Karen Alley regularly writes equipment deep-dives and the 5 Questions series. Alley’s start in the industry came as editor of the IGA Grocergram, where she not only was covering retail from a food perspective, but also had the opportunity to attend many FMI shows and got her first in-person glimpse at the world of commercial foodservice equipment. Since then she has enjoyed a freelance career filled with opportunities to learn and write about a wide variety of topics, from pet supplies to healthcare. But foodservice remains a favorite, especially when given the chance to share the stories of the people that make up this industry. Alley lives in the foothills of North Carolina, and when not at the computer she can often be found in the garden or catching up on the latest TV shows.
LISA ARNETT
Contributing Editor
Arnett is a Chicago-based writer specializing in food, beverage and lifestyle topics. She is a former staff editor for RedEye, Chicago Tribune's daily newspaper for young commuters. Before that, she worked as a web producer for Metromix.com, where she wrote about new restaurants, bars, hotels and retail in Chicago. Over the years, she has also contributed to Chicago Magazine, Crain's Chicago Business, HGTV.com, Tasting Table, Ink and Google Trips. Some of her all-time favorite assignments include interviewing Alice Waters about the Edible Schoolyard Project and Cynthia Rowley about a collab with a popular kefir brand. When Arnett's not writing, you can find her at the grocery store buying everything except the one thing she specifically came for.
CHRISTINE LAFAVE GRACE
Contributing Editor
A longtime B2B writer and editor, LaFave Grace covers restaurant industry trends and how changing economic conditions and consumer preferences factor into restaurant equipment decisions. With experience covering commercial and noncommercial foodservice as well as the retail food industry, LaFave Grace enjoys weaving economic data with stories shared from foodservice professionals to create compelling snapshots of an industry in constant motion. She has received regional awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for her work at publications from Reed Business Information, Crain Communications and Putman Media (now Endeavor Business Media).
Based in the Chicago suburbs, she enjoys running, reading and spending time outside with her husband and son.
manages publicity for Chicago-area square dance organizations, and is a long-time volunteer with Skokie, Ill.-based Community Animal Rescue Effort.
FER DIGITAL SOLUTIONS GROUP
FER Media created the Digital Solutions Group to leverage its unmatched expertise in the foodservice equipment space and develop digital strategies based on the specific goals and needs of its clients. The Digital Solutions Group then executes those strategies using custom content, digital marketing, social media and through the development of podcasts, webinars and videos, among many other tools. Linking these different forms of content to a strong and effective search and social media strategy has helped the group's clients to drive measurable traffic and sales back to their websites.
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