May 17, 2009
Contact: Mike Donohue (202) 331-5902, Annika Stensson (202) 973-3677

(Chicago) Florida State University today presented National Restaurant Association Chairman of the Board Michael Kaufman the 2009 Cecil B. Day Ethics Award at the National Restaurant Association’s spring board meeting in Chicago. Kaufman is co-president of Enovo Restaurant Ventures LLC. The award honors well-recognized ethical leaders in the hospitality industry, and the $10,000 award will benefit the Association’s career-building ProStart program.

“I am humbled to receive the Cecil B. Day Ethics Award. While I did not have the privilege of meeting Mr. Day, his legacy of integrity is a lesson for all of us. There are many deserving leaders in our industry; I am truly honored to have been nominated and selected,” said Kaufman. “And it is thrilling that the award will benefit our ProStart career-building program and invest in our future workforce and industry leaders of tomorrow.”

“Michael was selected for his stellar record and commitment to an ethical approach in how he conducts all areas of his life - business, community, family, and faith,” said Dr. Robert A. Brymer, Cecil B. Day Professor of Lodging Management at Florida State University. “He is a national leader, admired and respected for his principles and values-based leadership. Just like Truett Cathy and Dick Rivera before him, Michael Kaufman is a role model for good behavior in hospitality leaders - one that others can emulate and learn from.”

The Cecil B. Day Ethics Award was created by Cecil B. Day’s family and Florida State University and is awarded to hospitality industry leaders who emulate the qualities of integrity, family and faith as exhibited in the lifestyle of the late Cecil B. Day. Day was an outstanding example of an industry leader with uncompromising ethics. His approach to life served as a compass for his family and the guiding principles to lead his employees and serve his customers. Day was the founder of the Day’s Inn motel chain.

Past recipients of the Cecil B. Day Ethics Award have included Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A; and Richard Rivera, former president & CEO of Darden Restaurants and current president/CEO and chairman of the board of Real Mex Restaurants, Inc.

Nationwide, 78,000 students in 47 states, territories and districts are served by ProStart, a two-year curriculum supported by the National Restaurant Association and state restaurant associations. The ProStart program blends classroom learning with mentored work experience to teach high school students the management and culinary skills needed for a career in the restaurant and foodservice industry.

The career-building program is managed nationally by National Restaurant Association Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Restaurant Association. For more information on the ProStart program and National ProStart Invitational, visit prostart.restaurant.org.

The National Restaurant Association spring board meeting is held in conjunction with the Association’s annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show. NRA Show 2009 is the premier trade show for restaurant and hospitality industry professionals, and is held May 16-19 at McCormick Place in Chicago.