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Truett Cathy (b. 1921)

Truett Cathy,

Truett Cathy

the founder and chairman of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, is a successful businessman and one of the country's most generous philanthropists, sharing his fortune primarily with disadvantaged children.

Born on March 14, 1921, in Atlanta, Samuel Truett Cathy developed a philosophy early in life, for which he credits his success, to work hard and place his trust in God. His father, an insurance salesman, was beaten financially and emotionally by the Great Depression, and as a result Cathy looked to his mother for emotional support. His mother also provided financial support for the family, renting a house and taking in boarders. Cathy helped the family by selling Coca-Cola, operating a paper route, and performing odd jobs.

After

Original Dwarf House

serving in the army Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill (so named because the restaurant had only ten stools and four tables) in the small Atlanta suburb of Hapeville in 1946. Some two decades later, in 1961, he developed the product that would make his fortune—the pressure-cooked chicken breast sandwich. In 1967, soon after creating the sandwich, Cathy opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant, in the Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta.

With only occasional setbacks the company has become one of the largest privately owned restaurant chains in the country and has posted annual sales increases for thirty-seven years. As of 2005 Chick-fil-A includes more than 1,200 restaurants in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Despite this success,

Truett Cathy with Foster Children

Cathy maintains that his company is focused on people rather than profits, and for that reason Chick-fil-A remains closed on Sundays, uses an innovative formula for developing managers and restaurants, and provides college scholarships to employees.

A Sunday school teacher of thirteen-year-old boys for more than fifty years, Cathy has taken in more than 150 foster children with his wife, Jeannette. In 1984 he established the WinShape Center Foundation and the WinShape Homes program, a series of fourteen foster homes (nine in Georgia, three in Tennessee, one in Alabama, and one in Brazil) created to provide a caring family environment for children whom Cathy describes as "victims of circumstances."

The

Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People

foundation also awards twenty to thirty students each year with scholarships to Berry College in Rome (jointly funded by the college), and through its Leadership Scholarship Program, Chick-fil-A has contributed more than $20 million in college aid to restaurant employees. WinShape Camps is another component of the foundation, providing two weeks of summer camp at Berry College for boys and girls.

Cathy has written about his business practices and personal philosophy in several books. His published titles include Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People (2002), The Generosity Factor (2002), Chick-fil-A, Inc. (1998), and It's Easier to Succeed Than to Fail (1989).

Chris Starrs, Athens

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