Career
In 1961 Jack Laughery left his successful insurance practice to join the Sandy"s restaurant chain. Laughery was named executive vice president of operations of the new expanded Hardee"s Food Systems Incorporated. A year later he was appointed president and chief operating officer, and in 1975 he was named Chief Executive Officer. Laughery expanded the company"s presence from 750 restaurants to 3,300 restaurants in 42 states and nine countries, and when he stepped down as Chief Executive Officer in 1990, Hardee"s sales of $4.1 billion made it the third largest QSR hamburger chain in the world.
In 1993 he was made a Director of Papa John"s International in Louisville.
Mr. Laughery also served on the boards of directors of several investment corporations. Two scholarships were set up in Laughery"s name: The Jack Laughery Scholarship Fund through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in Chicago and The Helen and Jack Laughery Honorary Scholarship Endowment at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
The downfall of any company has rarely, if ever, been the result of a lack of financial resources..Downfall has occurred when there has been an inability to coordinate a group of motivated people and a reluctance to give them long enough tethers to innovate and take risks in the development of products and services. -- Jack Laughery, 19 October 1987.
