Greg Pastore’s professional career is bringing him closer and closer to his native New Haven. The former vice president, general counsel and secretary for Friendly Ice Cream Corp. in Wilbraham, Mass., is the new senior vice president, general counsel for Oakleaf, a provider of waste and recycling services in East Hartford.
His corporate legal career has been devoted to the restaurant business. After seven years in private practice after graduation from the University of Notre Dame School of Law, Pastore, 44, realized it wasn’t the right environment for him. He had worked with companies on their decision-making processes and enjoyed it. “I realized I would get a lot more of that by working for companies than being in a law firm,” he said.
First stop was the Bertucci’s restaurant chain. One of the benefits of being top legal counsel to a restaurant chain was the ability to simplify to his then young children (who are now 17, 13 and 6) what daddy did for a living.
“When I was working at a law firm, it was tough to explain what I did. At Bertucci’s I could tell them I made pizza. They got it right away,” he said.
The retail industry has an appeal, Pastore said, because it’s a concrete entity. “The issues are right in front of you. You don’t have to figure out what a widget does. It’s rewarding to make changes that are tangible. You can see results right away,” he said.
Pastore has been brought into Oakleaf at a time when the company seeks to go public. He helped organize the sale of Friendly in 2007 to Sun Capital Partners. He moved to Oakleaf because he didn’t want to be part of a privately held company.
“I enjoy working with boards of directors and stockholders,” said Pastore, who added that he prefers working for publicly held companies because they present a variety of challenges beyond the sole responsibility of resolving legal issues.
Originally, when Pastore sought his law degree, he thought it would be beneficial for either a career in business or politics. The latter runs in his family. His grandfather, John O. Pastore, was a governor and United States senator from Rhode Island.
“A long time ago, I decided I’m not a person with a political future,” said Pastore. “I enjoy what I’m doing.”
