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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It&#8217;s official: King&#8217;s College has signed a 10-year contract with a new food service company that includes bringing Chick-fil-A to Public Square, the first store for the franchise in Luzerne County.</p><p>King&#8217;s announced the deal, with Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services, in a media release Thursday morning. Along with promising to bring a Chick-fil-A to the current site housing Zime restaurant, the company has agreed to retain &#8220;the 63 food service and conference and events staff currently working at the college for current contractor, Sodexo.&#8221;</p><p>Work on the Chick-fil-A site is scheduled to begin prior to July 1, with a planned opening in the fall.</p><p>Word of the likely arrival of the national chain broke in <a href="https://civitas.newsengin.com/gps2/" target="_blank">December</a>, thanks to an &#8220;internal notice&#8221; reaching the media. At the time, King&#8217;s had narrowed the choices of likely food vendors to three, with all three promising to bring Chick-fil-A to town.</p><p>Here&#8217;s the complete media release from King&#8217;s:</p><p>&#8220;King&#8217;s College has signed a 10-year contract with Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services effective July 1.</p><p>A highlight of the contract which will affect the local community is the placement of a Chick-fil-A franchise in the King&#8217;s on the Square building on Public Square. The restaurant, the first Chick-fil-A franchise in Luzerne County, will be located in the space currently occupied by Zime restaurant.</p><p>&#8220;We are very pleased to enter this long-term arrangement with a quality partner such as Chartwells,&#8221; said John R. Loyack, executive vice president for business affairs and administration at King&#8217;s. &#8216;We look forward to working with Chartwells to upgrade our facilities and to bring a major franchise to our community, all while keeping students&#8217; food cost for the upcoming academic year at this year&#8217;s level.&#8217;</p><p>Chartwells has also committed to retaining the current 63 food service and conference and events staff currently working at the college for current contractor, Sodexo.</p><p>Site work for the Chick-fil-A will begin prior to July 1, with a target for the restaurant to open this fall. Chartwells will be making extensive changes to all of the College&#8217;s food service locations - Connerton&#8217;s and Marketplace located in the Sheehy Farmer Campus Center, the Susquehanna Room located in the Administration Building, and Leo&#8217;s on Mane, located in O&#8217;Hara Hall at the corner of N. Main and W. North streets.</p><p>Kevin Lyden, Chartwells&#8217; regional vice president commented, &#8216;We are enthusiastic over the welcome we received from King&#8217;s College administration and honored to be chosen to manage dining operations. We will deliver a high quality food service program for the students, staff and Wilkes-Barre community that provides value, convenience and service they can be proud of.&#8217;</p><p>Chartwells is a recognized leader in contract foodservice management, hospitality and award-winning guest service within 270 college and university dining environments throughout academic institutions across the U.S. The company is a division of Charlotte, NC-based Compass Group.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

King’s College inks deal bringing Chick-fil-A to Wilkes-Barre