In a letter obtained by the Alaska Landmine, addressed to the Senate Joint Finance State Affairs Committee, Anthem Coffee & Tea and Elements Frozen Yogurt co-owner Janie Reynolds disputes claims made by Department of Administration Commissioner-appointee Jonathan Quick about his ownership and role in her business. Quick was appointed to serve as Commissioner by Governor Michael J. Dunleavy in late November.
According to their website:
The Department of Administration provides centralized administrative services to state agencies in matters of finance, personnel, labor relations, leasing of space, central mail distribution, property management, risk management, procurement, retirement and benefits programs, information and telecommunication systems, and operation and maintenance of 18 state-owned buildings in Juneau, Anchorage, Nome, Palmer and Fairbanks.
According to Reynolds, Quick included fabrications in both his resume and his 1/22/2019 confirmation hearing testimony before a joint meeting of the Senate Finance and State Affairs Committees. On his resume, Quick lists Anthem Coffee & Tea and Elements Frozen Yogurt under “MULTI-LINE BUSINESS OWNER & INVESTOR | 2010 – 2017.”
His resume can be seen here: John Quick resume
Reynolds’ letter can be seen here: Senate Joint Finance State Affairs Committee AK
In her letter, Reynolds states that she and her husband are co-owners of the Washington business and always have been:
“I am Janie Reynolds, 50% owner of Anthem Coffee & Tea and Elements Frozen Yogurt. My husband, Larry Reynolds, owns the other 50%. There has never been anyone else except my husband and me on the ownership structure.”
This was confirmed by a search of the Washington State business license. Every license under that name shows only Janie and Larry Reynolds as owners.
A Spring 2012 Northwest University Alumni magazine states that Quick “co-owns and and is the COO of three businesses that have four locations: Anthem Coffee and Tea, Elements Frozen Yogurt, and Joeseppis on the Go!” The entry can be seen on page 30-31 by clicking here.
During his confirmation hearing, Quick responded to a question from Senator Scott Kawasaki (D – Fairbanks) about his ownership in the three businesses he lists in his resume under the Business Owner and Investor section. Reynolds included this in her letter about Quick’s response:
When he was asked how being the CEO of the above mentioned businesses will help him to guide the Department of Administration, John replied that “starting a business and owning a business is figuring out how to do it on the ground running. That experience lended itself to what it looks like to become a successful small business owner and entrepreneur”.
I would like to make it known that John Quick was hired in July 2011 to organize and structure our small family business. His degree in business and our understanding that he earned an MBA qualified him for this position. He was a W2 employee at our company. After many months of promises to organize and bring structure our company, we fired him in June 2012. John never had any percentage of ownership. He had hopes of being part of the ownership structure, and would verbalize it as his reality. Several times during his year with us, he would ask, almost insist, that I sign a contract that would put him into part-ownership. I declined each time.
His confirmation hearing can be seen here.
His resume also states that he “Helped recruit and secure investors and capital sources.” In the letter Reynolds responded to that claim by saying:
His resume goes on to say that he helped to recruit and secure investors and capital sources for Anthem Coffee and Elements Frozen Yogurt.
This is a false statement. No one invested in our company. All capital sources were applied for and secured by me.
Public testimony was not allowed at the hearing. Quick’s appointment was referred to the Senate Finance Committee and Senate State Affairs Committee by Senate President Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage). Because the House has yet to organize, he has not been assigned to any House committees for a confirmation hearing. After confirmation hearings, appointees must be approved by a majority of representatives and senators during a joint session. There are 60 members in the legislature.
Update
Jonathan Quick has provided an odd explanation for the irregularities in his claims he was a part owner in Anthem Coffee & Tea and Elements Frozen Yogurt. It can be seen in the following letter:
Comm John Quick Letter 1.24.19
Quick claims to have entered into a “verbal agreement” with the owners. He also describes the arrangement as an “equity-stake business venture.” Does this mean he put cash or sweat equity into the business, all on a hand shake deal? You would be hard pressed to find a good business person who would ever suggest doing that.
KTOO has reported on other inconsistencies with Quick’s resume. A January 24 story titled Dunleavy appointee accused of lying about his credentials includes the following passage:
Quick claims that he attended Wayland Baptist University in Texas for two years and received an MBA; the school’s registrar said he attended for about nine months and did not graduate.
Nice diploma mills he cites there. I guess they forgot to teach “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”.
and boom goes the dynamite
Some of us in the Kenai Peninsula Borough have been expecting this. Soon after Mayor Charlie Pierce brought Quick on as Chief of Staff, we looked at Quick’s business websites that quoted clients from non-existent businesses and made bogus claims about consultant work. Those sites all mysteriously disappeared. At KPB, he had Trump’s books on display in his office. I guess he learned that if you say something enough times, you make it true. How does this all reflect on Mayor Pierce?
Janie Reynolds had no problem allowing the towns newspaper to do a false article claiming that her son and Jonathan were co-owners of the Yogurt shop. The whole story with pictures of both Jonathan and the Reynolds son states and does a story about the local boys started the local business and both owned it. The Reynolds family also lied about their business and put Jonathan and The Reynolds son up on a pedestal in which The Reynolds family lied. All so she could get more locals coming to their store to support the local boys who made it big.… Read more »
Sounds perfectly suited for government if you ask me.
He would never make it in classified service. He isn’t actually qualified for anything and apparently isn’t willing to do the work to earn those needed skills! Why bother if you can just lie and be handed a Commissioner position without any checks?
Apparently the Raynolds didn’t mind calling him an owner when these businesses took off. There were several articles in town calling both Quick and the son, Bryan Reynolds the owners. I lived in this town when this was happening. Everyone was so excited. This was not the only article stating him as an owner. It was terrible when the Reynolds screwed over the Quicks. And it’s terrible that they have done it again. Bryan Raynolds currently states he is the owner of these businesses, not his parents on his blogs and facebook still. So which is it? He also claims… Read more »