Hardee’s Honors Boddie-Noell with Founder’s Award

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (May 26, 2011) – 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 awarded annually to the single Hardee’s franchise owner that best exemplifies and embodies the ideals of entrepreneurial spirit, vision, leadership, teamwork and community involvement. 

The Founder’s award is a beacon among the awards given to franchisees at the annual CKE Franchise Conference. The award was presented to Boddie-Noell executives in attendance at the conference held this year in Las Vegas.  

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 Chief Executive Officer 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.” 

“It is an honor once again to recognize our franchisees’ hard work and dedication,” said Michael Murphy, President and Chief Legal Officer of CKE Restaurants, Inc. “The ongoing success of Hardee’s is in great measure the result of their individual efforts and their unified commitment to providing guests with the best food, service and dining experience in the industry. It is a genuine pleasure to be able to award Boddie-Noell our Founder’s Award as they truly demonstrate the principles and ideals on which this brand was founded. We hope that they inspire and motivate all of our owners and operators, and keep blazing trails toward even greater achievements in the future.” 

Through the entrepreneurial spirit of the Boddies, second-generation family ownership and employee commitment, Boddie-Noell is among the top restaurant franchise companies in the nation. The company 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 has on occasion partnered with Hardee’s in the development of new menu items, most recently the introduction of the popular Hand-Breaded Chicken TendersTM 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 and philanthropic endeavors. 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. Other long-term charitable beneficiaries include UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Boy Scouts of America.   

About Hardee’s

Celebrating over 50 years in the quick-service industry, Hardee’s Food Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of CKE Restaurants, Inc. of Carpinteria, Calif. As of the end of fiscal 2011, CKE, through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,159 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and 18 countries, including 1,249 Carl’s Jr. Restaurants and 1,899 Hardee’s restaurants. For more information, or to find a Hardee’s near you, go to www.hardees.com. Hardee’s social media sites include www.facebook.com/hardees, www.twitter.com/hardees and www.youtube.com/hardees

About Boddie-Noell Enterprises

Boddie-Noell Enterprises (BNE) is a diversified family-owned business engaged primarily in restaurants and land development. A Hardee’s franchise operator for 49 years, BNE is the largest Hardee’s franchisee in the United States with 335 restaurants across four states (North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky and South Carolina).The company-owned restaurant brands include Texas Steakhouse & Saloon and Café Carolina and Bakery. BNE also operates franchise Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurants as well as the historic Rose Hill Conference Center. The company has major land-development projects completed or under way along the North Carolina coast and in Virginia. BNE employs more than 12,000 people and is headquartered in Rocky Mount, N.C. For more information about the company, visit www.bneinc.com.