Looking Back at the 2024 Mize Finance Meeting

The 2024 Mize Finance Meeting was truly an event to remember. We hosted McDonald’s owners from all over the country at the beautiful Arizona Biltmore Resort.  This was our 16th annual Finance Meeting and the highest attendance we’ve ever hosted, topping out at 216 McDonald’s owners, guests, and staff. We were also joined by approved lenders and trusted partners like Prism Financial Group to sponsor and participate in the event.

_{The Welcome Reception was held on the Spire Lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, a beautiful, palm tree lined oasis in the heart of the Biltmore property.}

The meeting always has a soft opening on Sunday where our relationship managers meet individually with clients and prospects for one-on-one meetings to discuss their individual financial and service needs. Then, Sunday evening we celebrate the opening of the event with a Welcome Reception. This year ZayZoon sponsored the Welcome Reception for our guests on the Spire Lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, a beautiful, palm tree lined oasis in the heart of the Biltmore property. Everyone enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres while visiting with old friends and making new ones. Our in-house music expert, Marc Swearengin, picked the Steve Ayotte Band, and they were a hit!

_{Martina Manley from ZayZoon took the stage and gave away a door prize – a pair of Apple AirPods Max headphones to the lucky winner, Michael Osborne.}

_{The first presentation was by Mize QSR Shareholder Carol Casale, titled “The Cost of Doing Nothing.” She covered the importance of paying attention to estate tax laws that are expected to expire in 2025}

Monday was the big day for the Mize Finance Meeting. We started the day off with breakfast sponsored by Bremer Bank, then dove right into informative sessions on topics such as:

• The Cost of Doing Nothing presented by Carol Casale of Mize CPAs – an in depth look at what can happen if you ignore the current estate tax laws that are set to expire in 2025.
• Investment Planning for McDonald’s Owners presented by Tim Shmidl of Prism Financial Group – a thoughtful and thorough presentation about wealth management and strategic financial planning tips.
• Economic Update by Chris Kuehl of Armada Corporate Intelligence – an up-to-date and entertaining overview of the state of the United States and world economy and how they are projected to affect the QSR market.
• Profitability and Hot Topics presented by a panel of Mize CPAs Accountants – this session was an hour packed full of labor, delivery, food, and back-office best practices.

_{The Arizona Biltmore is heavily influenced by the art and design of Frank Lloyd Wright. Throughout the property are 19 Solemn Sprites statues designed by the architect himself.}

After our sessions closed for the day, our guests were invited to take an optional history tour of the Arizona Biltmore property. Those that took part in the tour learned about the construction of the original resort, its hidden speakeasy during prohibition, the years the resort was a Hollywood hideaway, and the many presidents who have stayed at the Biltmore.

On Monday night, we gathered for a dinner sponsored by Prism Financial Group. We also celebrated the 25-year partnership between Mize CPAs and Prism Financial Group. To highlight this milestone, we sold “Tim Bucks” imitation $25 bills featuring Prism’s founder, Tim Shmidl. Each Tim Buck had a unique serial number on them. We sold the Tim Bucks for $25 apiece. Then, towards the end of the evening, we held a raffle drawing. The winner would get half the pot, the other half would go to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central and Northern Arizona. When the time came, the big winner was Maria Acosta, who astounded everyone with her generosity by donating her half of the winnings to RMHC. Maria’s gift made the total raised for RMHC $5,700!

As the evening progressed, the atmosphere reached a high note when Marc Swearengin, Mize Director of Business Development, made an unexpected appearance on stage alongside the band, Instant Classics. Marc took the lead and performed the ‘90s hit, “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne. The crowd cheered Marc on and sang along.

On Tuesday morning, we gathered again for more sessions and learning. Topics we covered on Tuesday included:

• Employment Law Update presented by Kerri Reisdorff of Ogletree Deakins – a Mize Finance Meeting favorite, Reisdorff covered the latest in employment law and how current issues are affecting McDonald’s owners.
• Next Generation Planning presented by Steve Baerson – a session packed with information and strategic planning helpful for anyone considering buying, selling, or gifting a McDonald’s business to their children.
• What’s New at Mize presented by Andrew Spikes of Mize CPAs – we have some big tech advancements coming in 2024 including our new app, Mize Connect. In this session, Andrew covered what we’re working on and what will be coming soon to our clients and their employees.
• Closing Remarks presented by Carol Casale – after all the sessions, conversations and consultations of the Mize Finance Meeting, Carol took the stage and shared some final insight on the current environment for McDonald’s owners. She shared words of encouragement and advice for the year ahead.

And with that, we closed our event for 2024. It was a wonderful experience, and we are so glad that our team was able to share it with you. The Mize team is now reviewing guest surveys and starting to plan our next meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. If you’re a McDonald’s owner and would like to attend, please save the date for February 9-11, 2025. We would love to host you at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. You don’t have to be a Mize client to join us! Just come and enjoy the beach, the food, socialize with fellow owners, and learn actionable information that you can take back home and use to improve your business practices right away.

See you in 2025 in Miami Beach!