Departures of note

Chris Sorensen was an American entrepreneur and former firefighter who, with his younger brother Robin, co-founded the Firehouse Subs restaurant chain in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1994. Starting with less than $100 in their checking accounts, the brothers built the business into a fast-casual empire of more than 1,200 locations across the United States and abroad, which was acquired by Restaurant Brands International for $1 billion in 2021.

Before entering the restaurant industry, Sorensen was a professional guitarist who sat in with bands including Huey Lewis and the News, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foreigner, and Earth, Wind & Fire. He then followed his father Robert into firefighting, serving with the Brevard County Fire Department and the Jacksonville International Airport Fire and Rescue Department before spending ten years as an engineer and EMT with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.

Sorensen took creative ownership of Firehouse Subs restaurant interiors, outfitting each location with custom murals depicting local fire and police service, and served as the chain's unofficial archivist. In 2005, he and Robin created the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, which has awarded more than $118 million in grants to first-responder departments across the United States and Canada.