[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S535]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        RECOGNIZING CHICK-FIL-A

 Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I wish to honor in the Record of 
the Senate a great Georgia company, Chick-fil-A, Inc., and a great 
Georgian, its founder S. Truett Cathy.
  Last May, at age 88, Truett Cathy, founder and active CEO of Chick-
fil-A, celebrated 63 years in the restaurant business. In 1946, he 
opened his first restaurant, The Dwarf Grill, in Hapeville, GA. In 
December, Chick-fil-A, which Mr. Cathy founded in 1967, reached the $3 
billion mark in system-wide sales and posted its 42nd-consecutive 
annual sales increase since the company's inception.
  While our economy was facing difficult times, the Cathy family and 
president and COO, Dan T. Cathy, was prepared and committed to carrying 
on a family tradition. The Chick-fil-A model of slow and steady growth 
that has proven so successful in the past has paid off during these 
tough economic times.
  The chain maintained its pace for new restaurant openings by opening 
83 new restaurants across the country in 2009, creating approximately 
4,200 new jobs. In addition, Chick-fil-A continued its reinvestment in 
its existing restaurant infrastructure by remodeling or expanding 60 
restaurants across the chain. Despite the uncertain economy, Chick-fil-
A continues to be on track to honor the commitment Truett Cathy and his 
family made at the end of 2006 to eliminate all company debt by 2012.
  I am also proud to say that this Georgia-based company also continues 
its strong commitment to education. In August 2009, Truett Cathy 
awarded the 25,000th Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholarship since creating 
the program in 1973. To date, the leadership scholarship program has 
awarded more than $25 million in financial assistance to more than 
25,000 Chick-fil-A restaurant team members who have attended 2,300-plus 
educational institutions throughout the country. In 2009 alone, Chick-
fil-A awarded $1.4 million in scholarships to 1,425 Chick-fil-A team 
members across the country.
  Congratulations, Chick-fil-A, and best wishes to Truett Cathy and the 
entire Cathy family for their ongoing success in Georgia and throughout 
the country.

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