Ali Saifi, Subway Development Corporation of SC

As President and CEO of Subway Development Corporation of South Carolina, Ali Saifi has opened 356 Subway restaurants that employ more than 4,000 people across the Palmetto State. A native of Iran, Ali came to the United States in September 1973 to attend Center College in Danville, Kentucky. He graduated with a business degree, married North Carolina native Nancy Perkins, and worked for a short while in advertising. In 1980, Ali joined Subway, a little known fast-food chain with 54 locations worldwide. Today, there are more than 30,000 Subway restaurants in 90 countries. Ali and Nancy opened their first Subway franchise in Clemson, South Carolina in June 1981. Today, the Clemson store near Clemson University is among the top producing Subway restaurants in the state. In this video, viewers go in Ali's office in the Medhi building on Mills Avenue in Greenville where Ali talks about his longtime desire to be a restaurant developer rather than a restaurant owner. He also talks about a special Subway among the state's 356 stores, the one located in the Goodwill store on Haywood Road in Greenville, SC. Subway employees at that location all have applied to Goodwill for assistance, seeking a second chance. Also in this video, Ali talks about touring with Subway spokesman Jared Fogle.