Hardee's franchise owner Boddie-Noell Enterprises has received the 2011 Wilber Hardee Founder's Award from Hardee's parent company CKE Restaurants.
The award is named after the founder of Hardee's and is given annually to a Hardee's franchise owner that best exemplifies the ideals of entrepreneurial spirit, vision, leadership, teamwork and community involvement.
Boddie-Noell, the largest Hardee's franchise owner in the United States with 335 locations, has been a Hardee's franchisee for 49 years, beginning with a single restaurant in 1962 started by brothers Mayo and Nick Boddie in Fayetteville, N.C.
"We're extremely proud of earning the Founder's award which carries a lot of meaning for our own restaurant teams and the Hardee's 'family' across the country," said Boddie-Noell CEO Bill Boddie. "It's special because the ideals were those established with the very first Hardee's by founder Wilber Hardee in our home state of North Carolina."
Boddie-Noell is among the top restaurant franchise companies in the nation and has taken a lead in Hardee's franchise issues. Bill Boddie helped establish and served as president of the Independent Hardee's Franchisee Association. The company also has occasionally partnered with Hardee's in the development of new menu items, most recently with the introduction of the popular Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders, which were developed in Boddie-Noell's test kitchens.
In addition, Boddie-Noell's Hardee's restaurants have been actively involved in a number of charitable efforts. For example, the company's 30-year partnership with Special Olympics Virginia is the longest corporate relationship in the organization's history and resulted in contributions of more than $1 million since it began.
