Chick-Fil-A Executive Speaks At Chamber Banquet

Invest in people.

That was the message from the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Toccoa-Stephens Count Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa.

The speaker was Craig Carter.

He works for Chick-Fil-A as the company’s Field Operations Management Consultant.

Carter said that Chick-Fil-A works to invest in people, but especially young people.

“That we teach them when they are 15, 16, and 17 years old to be generous and to share what they have, to be uncomplicated, do not make it harder than it is, to be fun,” said Carter. “If you are not having fun, you are not doing it right. Be innovative, try to stay fresh, and to always be enthusiastic.”

Carter said that is a philosophy that has worked well through the years for the Chick-Fil-A company.

He said at Chick-Fil-A, they strive to have a positive influence on everyone in the company, as well as their vendors and their customers.

According to Carter, being a steward of not just money, but people, was important to Chick-Fil-A Founder S. Truett Cathy.

Carter said Cathy strived to make a positive difference on the lives of others regularly.

“I heard him say it 100 times,” said Carter. “If you help other people get what they want, you will get what you want. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, it might not be 10 years from now, but eventually you will get what you want.”

He said that philosophy has shaped Chick-Fil-A, which is now a multi-billion dollar business.

However, Carter said Cathy was not just concerned with getting bigger.

“One of the things Truett always said is ‘we don’t want to be bigger, we want to get better,” said Carter. “I think that is one of the reasons we are bigger is that we get better.”

Carter said people are important and he challenged Toccoa and Stephens County to always remember that.