McDonald’s honors its top restaurant managers today with the 2009 Ray Kroc Award, an annual performance-based recognition of the top-performing McDonald’s restaurant managers in the country. Established in 1999, the Ray Kroc Award was created in memory of McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, to acknowledge hardworking restaurant managers who deliver superior results in selected areas of performance, operational excellence, reinforcing McDonald’s commitment to people, and building the business.

“Today is about celebrating our best managers—the ones who bring to life Ray’s vision of restaurant excellence each and every day,” says Jan Fields, president of McDonald’s USA. “For the 26 million customers who visit our restaurants daily, these managers make the experience great. There is no one more important to our success than our restaurant managers and crew.”

Ray Kroc built the McDonald’s business on the belief that greatness can only be achieved through the dedication and support of a company’s people. The award was named after him based on his commitment to people and recognizing their contributions to the organization he helped establish.

McDonald’s owner/operators and regional staff nominate restaurant managers for the Ray Kroc Award to recognize their outstanding work. From there, a selection committee of representatives from McDonald’s Operations, Training and Human Resources select the top 1 percent of McDonald’s Restaurant Managers for the Ray Kroc Award. This year a select 141 managers were chosen to receive this top honor, which includes a cash award, a Ray Kroc Award trophy and pin, and a trip to Chicago for the awards gala, hosted today by Fields.