Papa John's Named One of Top Franchises for Minorities for Second Consecutive Year

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Louisville, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the second consecutive year, Papa John's International, Inc. (Nasdaq: PZZA) has been named one of the top 50 franchises for minorities by the National Minority Franchising Initiative (NMFI). NMFI made the selection based on many factors, including historical performance, brand identification, franchisee satisfaction, level of initial training, on-going support and financial stability.

"We've worked hard to put programs and incentives in place to attract a diverse group of franchisees into the Papa John's system," said Bill Van Epps, Papa John's president, USA. "We're honored that our efforts have been recognized by the National Minority Franchise Initiative."

NMFI, which also recently named Papa John's one of the top 25 franchises for Hispanics, utilized a detailed questionnaire focusing on the minority make-up of the existing franchisee base and at the senior management level within the franchisor, as well as development incentive programs offered to minority franchisees, to determine the top 50 franchises.

Papa John's Enterprise Zone Program allows franchisees who qualify to pay no up-front franchise fee (normally $25,000) for development of restaurants in predominantly urban markets, including: Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Upstate New York, California, Connecticut, Michigan and New Jersey. Additionally, franchisees agreeing to build five or more units in these areas pay a reduced royalty through 2011, and those building less than five restaurants will pay no royalty during Papa John's 2009 fiscal year. The program is available through Sept. 30, 2009.

"We're confident that our Enterprise Zone Program, which is one of the most aggressive this industry has seen, will support our continued growth with minority franchisees," said Thomas Flaherty, Papa John's vice president of new business development. "We've placed a strong emphasis on recruiting minority franchisees to better reflect the neighborhoods in which we operate, and the customers we serve. Minorities currently make up more than 20 percent of the Papa John's system, and with programs like our Enterprise Zone Program, we hope to substantially increase that number."

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world's third largest pizza company. For nine years running, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's also ranks first among pizza companies in the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, was honored by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine (R&I) with the 2008 Silver Award for Consumers' Choice in Chains in the pizza segment, and was named 2007 Pizza Today Chain of the Year.

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