Captain D's owners named Franchise Operators of the Year

The husband-and-wife operators of four Captain D's restaurants in northeast Georgia have received this year's Development Award from the company and were also named Franchise Operators of the Year, chosen from 527 franchise owners across the country.

Jim and Val McClure of Dahlonega were honored at the recent Captain D's convention. The couple operates Captain D's in Toccoa, Dahlonega, Cornelia and Cleveland.

After owning a pig farm in North Georgia for many years the McClures realized that the area they live in was changing a lot and land values were going up so they made a career change, and opened their first Captain D's in Dahlonega in 2004. Since their first location was a major success, they went on to open three additional Captain D's in Toccoa, Cleveland, and Cornelia.

In order to stay involved in the Captain D's community, Jim McClure has been a member of the company's President's Advisory Council since 2006 and has been involved in the Captain D's Marketing Council. The McClures are planning to continue to further expand throughout the area, adding a few new locations in 2013, although no details were available.

Their Captain D's locations are involved with the northeast Georgia community. They support local colleges and public school systems through athletic team tournament sponsorship, elementary and high school night at their restaurants, and food and fundraising donations to local churches and civic organizations, donating over 5,000 free kids meals to their local elementary schools each year.

Jim McClure is a member of the Lumpkin County Board of Education.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2012/12/256199