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Church's Chicken honors franchisees for 60th anniversary

September 10, 2012

Church's Chicken recently held its bi-annual convention in Las Vegas with the largest attendance of domestic and international franchisees and suppliers in the brand's history. The company commemorated its 60th Anniversary with a retrospective of the Church's brand and special recognition of franchisees and team members who have been part of the Church's family for more than 30 years.

The longest serving restaurant team member for Church's, Arturo Gonzalez from San Antonio, was the convention's brand ambassador. Arturo just celebrated his 50th anniversary with Church's. He was hired by Bill Church Jr.

"It's heart-warming to meet so many of our family members who have been a part of our rich history," said Jim Hyatt, Church's CEO. "Many of them have brought their children and other family members into our business and that's even more heart-warming. And while Church's has seen many changes over the decades, what has always remained the same is that for 60 years and counting, we are still serving up the best darn chicken in the world."

Hyatt was awarded the Church's Independent Franchise Association (CIFA) Executive of the Year award. This marked the first time in the association's history a CEO was given the award.

"The decision to honor Jim Hyatt was easy and unanimous by our board," said Khaled Habash, president of CIFA and president of Falcon Holdings, one of the largest franchise companies in the system with 165 Church's Chicken restaurants. "Jim has re-shaped the culture and spirit of Church's Chicken by taking a brand that was divided, and uniting the corporation and franchisees since he joined the company almost a year ago. His leadership team is comprised of executives who are top in their field. The Church's/Texas Chicken franchise community is optimistic about the future under Jim's leadership."

Other honorees in the categories of Brand Achievement, Profit, Growth, Excellence and Teamwork included:

• David Newman, B.P. Newman Inc., Laredo, Texas;
• Sukwinder Singh, S&B Food Service LLC, Houston;
• Mike Ali, L. Buvette Inc., Duluth, Ga.;
• Steve Branco, SNSA Inc., Lenexa, Kan.;
• Mario Sanchez, Mario Sanchez & Sons, Mission, Texas;
• Janice Bowen, R.J. Bowen, Kerrville, Texas;
• Tom Gresham, Double Quick Inc., Indianola, Miss.;
• Alladin Premji, Premco U.S.A. Inc., Westlake Village, Calif.;
• Imtiaz Ali, Walters Rd. LLC., Houston;
• Tony Larrera, South American Restaurants Corp., San Juan, Puerto Rico;
• Terrence Campbell, Camex Limited, New Amsterdam, Guyana;
• Eduardo Kafati, Interpollo, San Pedro Sula, Honduras;
• Oleg Pukhov, European Active Corporation LLC, Moscow;
• Vincent Tan, Select Group Limited, Singapore;
• Lisa & Husni Muchtar, P.T. Cipta Selera Mumi, Jakarta, Indonesia;
• Abulrahman H. Al-Tami, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;
• Bill Lovette & Team, Pilgrim's Pride, Greeley, Colo.;
• Joe Grendys & Team, Koch Foods, Parkridge, Ill.

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