James January-February 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 45
I
n the 1850s, there
were somewhere
between 30-60
million bison in
North America.
Some estimates
put the population high at 100 million. Thanks largely to an insatiable
fur trade, the train, readily available
rifles and official U.S. government
policy, by 1884 that population had
shrunk to just 325 of the animals.
Conservation efforts began in
the early 1900s with a critical partner
named President Teddy Roosevelt.
Several programs started around the
country with just a few dozen individuals and the National Park Service
also began managing the populations
in parks, notably in Yellowstone. More
than 100 years later, populations are
still a fraction of their historical numbers but somewhere 500,000-600,000
bison now roam— at various rates of
free range— across North America.
Many of these herds are privately owned with sizing ranging from
a few dozen to the largest private
owner, Ted Turner, who owns about
50,000 across a number of ranches.
What started and continues as a
conservation effort has also yielded
a side business that helps to fund
that ongoing conservation, bison as
livestock. As some economists have
known for decades, as it turns out,
if you build a demand for a product
it makes it a little easier to build a
supply. In the bison case, the surplus supply that is generated from
Turner’s livestock herds goes to the
restaurant, Ted’s Montana Grill.
With about 40 restaurants in 16
states, the Atlanta-based Ted’s Montana Grill has helped to boost both
bison populations but also bring an
awareness and new appreciation for
the United States’ official mammal
which was named in 2016.
The natural face for Ted’s Montana Grill is the eponymous “Ted”
but the idea was hatched by CEO
George McKerrow. McKerrow had
known Turner for a number of years
as the founder of LongHorn Steakhouse. McKerrow founded LongHorn
in 1981 on Peachtree Street and the
soon-to-be Atlanta restaurant giant
put McKerrow in the highest circles
in Atlanta— including with perhaps
the most prominent Atlanta resident
at the time, founder of CNN and
owner of the Atlanta Braves Ted
Turner. With Turner looking to boost
the bison population and finding a
way to keep his efforts sustainable,
McKerrow made the connection to a
for-profit venture that would become
Ted’s Montana Grill.
T H E B EG I NN I NG
McKerrow got his start with a
company called Victoria Station, a
railroad-themed restaurant chain that
saw a boomlet across the U.S. in the
1970s and 1980s. He came to Atlanta
in 1976 as the assistant manager at a
Victoria Station subsidiary-restaurant
called Quinn’s Mill. According to McKerrow, his only responsibilities at the
time were changing light bulbs and
keeping the parking lot clean. Within five months, he was the general
manager. And within two and a half
years, he was the Southeast regional
manager overseeing ten restaurants.
In 1981, he left the company
and that summer opened the first
LongHorn Steakhouse on Peachtree
Road. LongHorn took off quickly
and became a fixture in Atlanta.
The big-haired lady— a LongHorn
spokeswoman with an exaggerated
bouffant haircut— and their catchy
jingle were ubiquitous as a popular
advertising in the 1990s. That jingle
was so popular that at one point it
was the number one requested song
on the radio for two weeks running
and is in what is essentially the advertising Hall of Fame Archives.
“Ted (Turner) was an early
customer at LongHorn. But I didn’t
know him. Over the years, through
charitable work, primarily through
the March of Dimes, I got to know
his daughter Laura and her husband
Rutherford,” said McKerrow.
“When he got in the bison ranching business, he actually started his
own company to market and bring it
to market, called US Bison with his
son Teddy,” McKerrow explained.
“And I was fascinated by it, and tried
to introduce it at Rare Hospitality,
(the parent company of LongHorn).
They thought it wasn’t a good idea,
so we didn’t do it.”
McKerrow then began to do
some consulting with the Turners to
try and find ways to help get bison to
market. “The problem was there was
a four-year supply in the freezer by
then. So I went to Ted with a white
paper having the concept of Ted’s
Montana Grill of a gourmet burger
diner-esque type restaurant in the
back of my mind. And I put it down
on paper and presented it to Ted in
the spring of 2001” said McKerrow.
They shook hands on it out in
California during a Turner family
gathering. By July 1st of 2001, McKerrow had opened up an office and
started Ted’s Montana Grill— just
months after a concept scribbled out
on a piece of paper.
McKerrow’s ability as a restaurateur quickly shined as the establishment went from a blank piece of
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