Business of the Week: Local Chick-Fil-A Honored with Award of Excellence

The Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce held its banquet this past Saturday, and the guest of honor was Chick-Fil-A of Lower Nazareth Township.

The owners of the local restaurant were presented with the chamber’s Award of Excellence by Tina Smith, president of the local chamber, and also received certificates of appreciation from the Nazareth Borough Council, State Reps. Joe Emrick and Marcia Hahn, and Gary Burke, on behalf of state Sens. Pat Browne and Lisa Boscola.

In her speech, Smith talked about Chick-Fil-A’s philanthropic outlook and its aid in opening the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, which serves individuals residing in the Nazareth and Bath areas.

“We wanted to open a soup kitchen, so I met with [owners] Luke and Mandy, and I said we needed money. As gracious as they are, they gave it to us,” Smith said.

Husband-and-wife team Luke and Mandy Cook accepted their award graciously.

“I want to thank our Lord first and foremost,” said Luke, following with a quote from Romans 12:13. “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need, and show hospitality.”

The Cooks also included a question-and-answer game in their acceptance speech that gave weight to the reasons they were given the award. Some of their 2010 statistics were:

• The local Chick-Fil-A brought in $2.1 million over the past year.
• Over 17,000 chicken sandwiches were given away (almost half as many as the 37,000 sold)
• The Cooks donated $202,000 worth of food over the year.

Chick-Fil-A is heavily involved with the local chamber and the community. The restaurant works with several nonprofit organizations, including, but not limited to, , The Dream Kids and various school athletic organizations.

David Wilson, a manager at the Chick-Fil-A, discussed the merits of working for such an altruistic company.

“As a whole, [Chick-Fil-A] is focused on helping people, and each restaurant is focused on what we can do for the community," Wilson said.

Chick-Fil-A held its grand opening on Nov. 19, 2009, and has since doled out delicious chicken sandwiches by the truckload. The restaurant has attracted a strong local following, and it is not uncommon to see the Chick-Fil-A mascot, a sign-wearing cow, out on Dryland Way, urging people to “eat mor chikin.”

The restaurant is owned and operated by Luke and Mandy, who are originally from Louisiana and South Carolina, respectively. By 2007, both Cooks were heavily involved in marketing and business aspects of the Chick-Fil-A franchise. When the opportunity came for them to own their own piece of the $1.25 billion empire, they went for it; in 2009, they moved to Pennsylvania and opened the current Chick-Fil-A location on Easton-Nazareth Highway (Route 248).

In his acceptance speech, Luke included a quote from Chick-Fil-A founder and owner S. Truett Cathy, one that relates to their business outlook: “Hire trustworthy people, and then trust them to do their jobs.”

The Chick-Fil-A chain, which began in 1967, is more than 1,500 locations strong throughout 40 states. The company’s owner and chairman is credited with the invention of the quick-service food industry's first chicken sandwich.

According to Harvard business strategist and author Frederick F. Reichheld, Chick-Fil-A is a miracle company in the business world. The entire franchise continues to be privately owned, having never traded a single stock -- a near impossibility for a billion-dollar company. Moreover, the restaurant is known for its generosity in opening foster-care homes, foundations for children and various scholarship programs.

The local Chick-Fil-A is open Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and is closed Sundays.  The restaurant has an indoor play-place for children and hosts events for various organizations, schools and churches throughout the year.