Truett Cathy and Chick-fil-A - a Marriage Success, too.... 6/24/06

[Smartmarriages]

- CHICK-FIL-A OFFERS MARITAL ADVICE ON THE SIDE
- TRUETT CATHY A MARRIAGE SUCCESS, TOO


Presenting the 2006 Smart Marriages Impact Award to Truett Cathy, founder of
Chick-fil-A, and his Winshape Foundation was one of the most exciting
moments of the Smart Marriages conference - also, perhaps, one of our most
historic.  As I said when I presented the award, we've tried for 10 years to
get corporate leaders to see the obvious good sense of supporting their
employees' marriages - good for productivity, moral, and for the bottom line
And, for the patriots and humanitarians among these CEOs, also good for the
country and for kids. However, we should have realized that 'it takes one to
lead one' and that it would take someone like Truett Cathy to realize, all
on his own, that marriage was important and to do something about it.  We
would probably have continued to bash our heads on the corporate doors for
another decade, but we are mow optimistic that Mr Cathy's example will lead
the way for other corporations to follow - and that this will be a moment of
change with far reaching effects.  The award certainly received far-reaching
coverage - USA TODAY, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Good Morning
America, Fox News, CBN, CBS, radio and papers all across the nation thought,
like us, that this was big news.  You can see the award ceremony - both
Truett and Jeanette Cathy were in Atlanta to accept - on the DVD of the
Saturday keynote.  It also features the Harville Hendrix/Helen LaKelly Hunt
keynote "Couplehood: The Path to Spirituality".  Order session #756-008 at
800-241-7785 or at:
- diane   

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CHICK-FIL-A OFFERS MARITAL ADVICE ON THE SIDE
USA TODAY 
6/21/2006 
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY

With a 57-year marriage as a model, the founder of Chick-fil-A wants to help
the marital unions of his workers, too.

S. Truett Cathy, 85, has implemented all sorts of marriage-friendly policies
and programs for the 600 employees at his 39-year-old company's
Atlanta-based headquarters, as well as for the 900 franchise operators who
run its 1,250 fast-food restaurants across the country. Offerings range from
seminars and marriage retreats to lunchtime sessions and counseling from
on-call psychologists.

And now Chick-fil-A's marriage and family-strengthening policies have earned
Cathy an award, to be presented Saturday at the national Smart Marriages
Conference in Atlanta, which begins today.

"You can't expect people to do well in their business if they've got
problems at home," Cathy says. He says Chick-fil-A spends millions a year on
programs to help couples enrich their relationships.

Though most human resource departments offer employee assistance programs
for workers having trouble at home, Cathy's company is among a very few
nationwide dipping further into the private home lives of their workers.

"They're operating on the assumption that an employee's well-being will
correlate with a higher success rate in their marriage," says Matt Daniels
of the Alliance for Marriage, based in Merrifield, Va. "That's a very
reasonable assumption. It's not 100% empirically verifiable, but it's
reasonable."

Scott Stanley, co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at
the University of Denver, says studies he and colleagues conducted a decade
ago suggest that levels of conflict at home are related to productivity and
absenteeism at work.

Tim Gardner is founder of a consulting firm based in Westfield, Ind., that
offers programs encouraging companies to get more involved in the private
lives of their employees.

"Everybody in a managerial position knows the effects of a marriage falling
apart," he says. But for programs to become widespread, "it's going to take
some innovative, front-line companies and hearing back from people that
we're not offending our gay and lesbian couples, not offending our singles
and those living together."

Gregg Throgmartin heard Gardner's presentation as part of a premarital
education program at his church before his own April wedding.

"I was scribbling notes frantically, saying it was what our employees and
managers need," he says.

Throgmartin is vice president of sales for Indianapolis-based appliance and
electronics company HHGregg, with 69 stores in eight states and about 3,500
employees.

The company's marriage effort started with store managers and will expand
company-wide, he says.

The initial program was a mandatory retreat.

It wasn't limited to married employees and spouses, but about 80% of the
presentation was marriage-related, Throgmartin says.

To read the article on web, with photo:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-06-21-chick-fil-a_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA


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- TRUETT CATHY A MARRIAGE SUCCESS, TOO
By BO EMERSON and Helena Oliviero
Sunday, June 25, 2006
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy has become the media darling of the biggest
marriage conference of the year, being held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis
this weekend.

³Good Morning America,² ³ABC World News Tonight² and Fox News have sent
camera crews to the Hampton home of Cathy to interview the restaurateur
about his pro-marriage and work philosophy.

³He gets a lot of awards,² said Chick-fil-A spokesman Mark Baldwin. ³We¹re
surprised this one has generated so much attention.²

Today, Cathy will be honored with the 2006 Smart Marriages Award, marking
the first time a corporate leader has received the honor.

³Happy homes mean more productive employees,² a cheerful Cathy told Buzz as
he geared up for back-to-back media interviews.

Cathy¹s efforts to bolster marriage include the $14 million conversion of
Berry College farmhouses into a marriage retreat center. He also invites
employees¹ spouses to attend annual meetings in Florida, where he has
marriage advisers on hand. And Lunch and Learn seminars at the corporate
headquarters often focus on marriage-boosting tips.

³If there are problems at home, you can¹t put your best foot forward at
work,² he said.

Cathy, 85, first met his wife, Jeannette, at age 8. He had a crush on the
girl two doors down who looked ³just like Shirley Temple.²

They parted ways, and more than 10 years later they crossed paths and got
married.

To read the full article on line with photos:
http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/peachb
uzz/entries/2006/06/25/truett_cathy_a.html

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10th Annual Smart Marriages Conference, Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel,
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