While the economic recession that has plagued the nation for the last two years has caused thousands of businesses to close their doors permanently, other businesses like the Verant Group have been able to turn those closures into opportunities. Since January 2009, Verant Group owners Eric Lingenfelder, Mark Cirillo and Joe Vaught have added three locations to their portfolio. The most recent is Irish pub Brewley’s Pint on Garnet Avenue, which opened in March. The group now owns seven establishments, including Sandbar Sports Grill in Mission Beach, Tavern at the Beach in Pacific Beach, Offshore Tavern and Grill in Bay Park, True North and West Coast Tavern — both in North Park — as well as a tavern in Arizona. Lingenfelder, a San Diego native, leads the team’s day-to-day operations at all the locations, and he said the downturn in the economy has provided opportunities for Verant. “We believe with the economy the way it has been over the past year, we look at that as a window of opportunity to find great locations that maybe were passed up or people weren’t able to sustain,” Lingenfelder said. Yet the advantage of being able to find better locations is tempered by the challenge of trying not to grow too fast. “We are very slow and calculated about our growth,” Lingenfelder said. “Our biggest challenge is just making sure that we are caught up on the back end before we move on to a new location, and so far we’ve been able to do that.” Lingenfelder also struggles with keeping the Verant Group’s facilities exciting and relevant, a challenge that is familiar to many business owners. “I always say, ‘They sell the same Bud Light up and down the block’… we have to create something special in order for them to want to drink that beer at our location,” Lingenfelder said. “You’ve got to create an energetic and fun atmosphere, and that’s where I give a lot of credit to our management team.” Lingenfelder is quick to praise the on-site managers at each of Verant’s locations, not only for their ability to enhance the customer experience, but also for their community involvement, which is strongly encouraged by the ownership team. “We’ve always had the philosophy that all relationships are give-and-take, so when we come into a community, we believe that its got to be a two-way street,” Lingenfelder said. “It’s not only about what we can provide from a food and beverage aspect, but also what we can do as a public service. Our managers attend community meetings, our staff members take part in community cleanups … we have made that a part of the way our management staff does things.” Verant Group restaurants have contributed more than $200,000 to local organizations in the last two years, and Lingenfelder is active in the community himself, sitting on the board of the Pacific Beach Improvement District and serving as executive vice president of Jeans for Justice, a local sexual-assault prevention organization. He is also a member of the Pacific Beach Hospitality Task Force and the North Park Business District. Lingenfelder said that he, Vaught and Cirillo have all “grown up” in the restaurant business and he can’t imagine doing anything else. “For me and my partners, this has been in our blood,” Lingenfelder said. “We are all excited about what we’ve done, so no regrets so far.”