Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy receives Blanchard Award at leadership forum

Dan Cathy, chairman and chief executive officer of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, has been honored with the 9th Annual Blanchard Award for Outstanding Stewardship and Ethics in Business.

The award came Monday night during the opening day of the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, a two-day event hosted by the Leadership Institute at Columbus State University. Billy Blanchard, director of JBA Capital LLC in Columbus, and son of the forum’s namesake, James H. Blanchard, gave the award to Cathy.

“Dan has preserved and enhanced one of the nation’s most powerful corporate cultures in his company, exemplified by the decision to remain closed on Sunday,” Billy Blanchard said.

Cathy, son of the late Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, has maintained the policy of always closing stores on Sundays so that employees can spend time with their families and attend places of worship if they wish. He also has shepherded the Atlanta-based company to steady growth nationwide.

The Blanchard Award for Outstanding Stewardship and Ethics in Business was launched in 2009. Past recipients include James H. Blanchard, B. Franklin Skinner, Ray C. Anderson, William B. Turner, Robert S. Jepson Jr., Thomas G. Cousins, Daniel P. Amos and Henry “Hank” M. Huckaby.

Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer was the keynote speaker for the forum Monday night.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy receives Blanchard Award at leadership forum."