Alex Ray
Jason Lyon
Diane Downing
Salvatore A. DeLorenzo
Erica Auciello Murphy
Roland von Gunten
Alan Barry
Cindy Bates
Maurice "Moe" Lafreniere

Alex Ray is the owner and founder of The Common Man Family of Restaurants, and is known just as much for his family-style restaurants across New Hampshire as he is for his tireless philanthropic work in communities across the state.

Born on April 6, 1945, Alex moved to North Conway at the age of 14, where he attended Kennett High School. During high school, he worked as a cook at "The Eatery" at Cranmore Mountain Ski Area.

In 1970, four years after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Alex opened Pineshore, a little summer restaurant on Squam Lake in Holderness, NH. He opened the first Common Man in Ashland, NH in November of 1971, and since then has built a thriving hospitality business throughout New Hampshire including 13 restaurants, The Common Man Inn & Spa and The Company Store, employing more than 800 people.

Click here to read "Our Story" about the growth of The Common Man family over the past 36 years.

Alex's mantra for The Common Man family has always been "Do Good," and he encourages all employees to get involved with their local communities, through hosting fund-raisers at each location and volunteering their own personal time. He allows employees a paid day off to contribute to a charity important to them, and supports employee efforts to raise funds for local organizations, sometimes making his own personal contribution.

Not one to sit still for long, Alex is already in the planning stages for a Common Man in Claremont, partnering with Meredith entrepreneur and long-time friend Rusty McLear. Alex is also renovating the Daniel Webster homestead in Franklin, NH, preserving the historic structures and converting them into a non-profit drug and alcohol rehabilitation center called Webster Place Center.

It's easy to see that the drive and creativity Alex had when he opened his first restaurant in 1971 has never diminished, and that he continues to inspire his staff and guests with his unending support of charities throughout New Hampshire.

Jason Lyon is the CEO of The Common Man family of restaurants.

Jason began his career with The Common Man as a dishwasher at the age of 14 at The Common Man in Ashland. Over the years, he has held numerous positions within The Common Man family, including prep cook, server, bartender, general manager, executive general manager and director of operations.

In 2000, Jason was promoted to CEO overseeing the daily operations of the Common Man Family. Continuing in the grass roots tradition of Common Man Founder Alex Ray, Jason balances his administrative role with taking a hands-on approach to be able to monitor the true heart beat of the company. On any given day or evening, you may find Jason where you are dining  - he might even be seating you or washing your dishes.

Jason says the most rewarding aspect of being CEO is being able to work within each restaurant, mentoring and coaching management teams and employees. He has a great passion for quality food and over-the-top hospitable service, and says that when he can ignite these passions within the Common Man team, he knows the company will continue to be successful.

Jason also plays a key role in ensuring all Common Man family members are invested in giving back to their local communities, spearheading community donations and charitable events at all locations.

A 1994 graduate of Plymouth State University (then Plymouth State College), he has a degree in business finance management with an economics minor. He graduated Summa Cum Laude and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

Jason is Food Managing Professional (FMP) certified, ServeSafe certified, TEAM certified and is a Plymouth State University business student mentor. Jason is also a past board member of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, is a volunteer for the Ashland Fabulous 4th Committee, and donates his time to numerous other community events.

Diane has been a part of the Common Man family since the 1970's, when the first Common Man restaurant was opened in Ashland. With the possible exception of owner and founder Alex Ray, no on knows more about The Common Man family, or has been more involved, than Alex's partner Diane.

She has worked at every level, filling in for servers on the floor, managing individual locations and developing the company's first wait staff training program. From the expansion of the original Common Man in Ashland to the construction of Airport Diner in Manchester, Diane has been involved in the development and building of all Common Man locations.

Diane developed the concept for The Common Man Company Store, and was its original buyer selecting merchandise and buying antiques for the converted Ashland Post Office building. She recently moved some of The Company Store's best sellers to an online store to make them available to guests near and far.

Her creative eye and flair for finding down-home Yankee decor is behind the distinct design of each Common Man location, and she never stops searching for those additional perfect pieces that make each Common Man location a home.

Her wine knowledge is behind the eclectic wine lists and the Common Man's own private label wine, found by Diane and Alex on a trip to Northern California.

Her influence on The Common Man's mantra of "doing good" has led to support of dozens of non-profit organizations over the years, including the American Cancer Society's Breast Cancer Research and the NH Humane Society. Diane also organizes the annual Winnipesaukee Wine Festival each summer, raising more than $50,000 to date for local charities.

Prior to joining The Common Man, Diane worked in management at The Lakewood Summer Theatre in Skowhegan, ME, The Manor on Winnipesaukee and at the Lakeview Restaurant in Wolfeboro.

Sal joined The Common Man in 2005, and has a long history of working in the hospitality industry. Starting at a fruit stand at the age of 14, Sal then worked at Papa Gino's during high school and college, and went in to management after graduating from Boston College with a degree in business.

In 1990, Sal went on to Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria, where he was quickly promoted to general manager, and then regional manager. During his time there, Sal assisted in growing the company from nine restaurants to a corporation of 90 locations.

Sal moved into fine dining in 1999 at The Naked Fish in Massachusetts, and spent five years opening new restaurants for the company and learning ethnic recipes from all over the world.

Sal oversees operations at all of The Common Man locations, as well as the family's other concepts, and enjoys being involved with the company's various charitable events.

In the past, he has been involved with many community organizations, including The Make A Wish Foundation, Home For Little Wanderers, and the Big Brothers Association. He spent a semester teaching English and Math to Cambodian Refugees and calls it a defining time in his life.

Erica joined the Common Man family in 2005 and leads all marketing, public relations, advertising, and media relations efforts for The Common Man. She also manages all charitable programs and contributions made by the family of 13 restaurants, The Common Man Inn & Spa and The Company Store.

Prior to joining The Common Man, Erica worked for eight years as director of media relations and account director at High Point Communications Group, Inc. in Bow, NH, developing and implementing public and media relations strategies for more than a dozen of the firm's major accounts in health care, retail, hospitality, finance and other sectors.

Before joining High Point, Erica worked for WMUR-TV, New Hampshire's largest television station, as a news producer and freelance reporter. She has also worked as a staff writer for Neighborhood Publications and as a reporter for WZID-FM.

Erica graduated cum laude from the University of New Hampshire in Durham in 1995 with a BA in Communications. She is also a graduate of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Leadership Manchester 2000 program, and is a member of the Leadership Manchester steering committee, organizing Media and Communications Day.

Erica also volunteers much of her time and public relations experience as a board member for The Greater Manchester Chapter of The American Red Cross, The Cinderella Project of New Hampshire and Noah's Ark Child Care Center in Manchester.

Born and raised in Switzerland, Roland has vast experience in the hospitality industry, both internationally, and here in the United States.

Roland completed a four-year European culinary arts apprenticeship and moved into cooking positions with Alpine Resorts Hotels in Switzerland before moving to Boston, MA and becoming the executive sous chef at Swiss Hotel Lafayette.

He went on to become the executive chef at the Colonial Inn in Concord, MA and the executive chef at the Marriott Corporation in Waltham, MA. After seven years with Marriott, Roland moved on to take the director of operations position at Whole Foods Market in Washington, D.C.

Alan joined the Common Man in 1996 as a line cook at The Common Man in Lincoln, and moved on to sous chef at The Common Man in Ashland. He became kitchen manager at The Common Man in Lincoln, but when the property was destroyed by an arsonist, he joined the staff at The Common Man in Concord as kitchen manager. He has also been the kitchen manager at Town Docks in Meredith.

Alan was promoted to executive kitchen manager in 2004, and oversees all kitchen managers in The Common Man family.

Alan graduated from the Tilton School and attended Northeastern University, but his true education was growing up in the kitchen of his father's restaurant, Neil's Restaurant in Franklin, N.H.

Cindy joined The Common Man in 1992 as part of the opening crew of The Tilt'n Diner in Tilton. She worked as a server and assistant manager, and was promoted to general manager of the diner in 2001.

As general manager of Tilt'n Diner, Cindy led the staff in numerous charitable endeavors, including Light a Bulb, Cash N Cans, WLNH Children's Christmas Auction, Toys for Tots, Salvation Army, T.N.S. Santa Fund, and numerous spaghetti suppers to raise money for many non-profit organizations.

In 2007, Cindy was promoted to the new position of director of training. Cindy oversees the training programs for the company's more than 800 employees and developed a new mentor program. She is responsible for keeping staff current with safe food service practices, and for working with each restaurant team to ensure service and training standards are met.

Cindy is a graduate of Colby Sawyer College.

Moe joined the family in 2000, and spends a good deal of time on special projects, including property acquisition, site development and technology infrastructure.

Prior to joining The Common Man family, Moe owned and operated textile manufacturing companies in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

He is a Trustee of Meredith Village Saving Bank, and past board chairman, board member and treasurer of First Star Tonight, a local non-profit which assists terminally-ill children. Moe is also a trustee of the Squam Lakes Science Center, a Rotarian, and serves on various committees in the lakes region.

He received his degree from New Hampshire College.