ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. – Hardee's franchisee Restaurant Management Group (RMG) has named its Hardee's restaurant in Elizabethton as its Restaurant of the Year 2004. The franchise, located at 107 Broad St. , was chosen from among the company's 47 Hardee's restaurants. Becky Crow, the restaurant's general manager, was also named Co-General Manager of the Year.

The winners were announced at an awards celebration last week. Crow was recognized for her work, along with Nancy Brobeck, general manager of a Hardee's franchise in Greeneville , Tenn. This is the first time RMG has awarded General Manager of the Year to two people.

Criteria used to select the Restaurant and General Manager of the Year were similar and included nominations, guest comments, drive thru times, sales increase and employee retention. Signature of excellence, extra effort and community involvement were also considered.

RMG is the fifth largest Hardee's franchisee in the United States . The company owns and operates Hardee's restaurants in and around the Tri-Cities region of Virginia and Tennessee as well as in West Virginia , Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Hardee's Food Systems, Inc. recently honored RMG with national franchise awards for Operations Excellence and Franchisee Sales in 2004 and the company has been recognized as Franchisee of the Year in the past. RMG is based in North Carolina.