Three years after they collected more than 2,100 letters encouraging Chick-fil-A to build a restaurant in Andalusia, a group of Covington County Youth Leadership graduates was on hand Tuesday when the Andalusia City Council approved a development agreement with the company to locate here.
Site prep has already begun at the popular restaurant chain's Andalusia site, located at the intersection of Hillcrest Drive and the Western Bypass. On Tuesday, the council finalized the deal by agreeing to rebate 2 percent of local sales taxes to the corporation for five years.
The 2022-23 youth leadership students began their project after a session on local government held in the Andalusia City Hall in which they heard a program on economic development. One of the questions they asked that day was, “Can we get a Chick-Fil-A?”
At the time, city officials had met with Chick-Fil-A site selectors, but had been consistently told Andalusia didn’t have the traffic numbers they wanted.
The group set out to help to address Chick Fil-A on their own. They put together a campaign and collected more than 2,100 letters encouraging the company to locate a store here.
The letters ranged from young elementary students who wanted access to peach milkshakes, to middle school students who advised Chick-Fil-A “Y’all would be MILLIONAIRES” if you came here,” to older students who wrote about job opportunities and date nights.
Ten of the leadership class members were in city hall Tuesday night, and Briley Douglas served as their spokesperson, encouraging council members to vote for the project.
Mayor Earl Johnson thanked the students, most of whom just finished their sophomore years of college, for their help and support.
"You never know what might help with economic development," the mayor said, "but we believe your work was a big help."
Chick-Fil-A plans to hire 50 to 70 full-time and part-time employees when it opens this fall.