PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Chick-fil-A plans to open nine new locally owned and operated restaurants across Western Pennsylvania by the end of 2028, an expansion the company says could create approximately 1,080 jobs across communities stretching from the Ohio border toward the Interstate 99 corridor.
The Atlanta-based restaurant company announced the expansion Monday, identifying planned locations in Mars, Butler, Gibsonia, Hermitage, DuBois, Indiana, Murrysville, Latrobe and Johnstown.
The company's official announcement projects approximately 1,080 jobs, rather than 900. Chick-fil-A did not disclose a $6 million construction or local economic investment figure in its Sept. 21 expansion announcement, so the total private investment associated with building the nine restaurants cannot yet be established from the company's public information.
The expansion would increase Chick-fil-A's Western Pennsylvania footprint substantially. The company says it currently has 20 locally owned and operated restaurants in the region, meaning the nine planned openings would represent a roughly 45% increase in the number of locations if all are completed.
Where the new restaurants are planned
The first of the announced restaurants is already close to opening. Chick-fil-A Mars, located at 600 Holden Drive in the Valencia area of Adams Township, is scheduled to open Oct. 1. The company says that restaurant alone will employ approximately 100 people.
A Butler restaurant is expected by spring 2027, followed by a Gibsonia location in 2028.
Farther north, Chick-fil-A plans restaurants in Hermitage and DuBois along the Interstate 80 corridor by the end of 2028.
East of Pittsburgh, the company expects an Indiana location to open by spring 2027. Restaurants in Murrysville, Latrobe and Johnstown are planned by the end of 2028.
The timetable remains a company projection rather than a guarantee that every restaurant will open on a specific date. Chick-fil-A did not provide individual addresses, construction schedules or owner-operators for most of the future locations in Monday's regional announcement.
The geographic spread gives the expansion a broader reach than the Pittsburgh metropolitan area alone. The planned sites include communities in Butler, Mercer, Clearfield, Indiana, Westmoreland and Cambria counties, in addition to the northern Pittsburgh suburbs.
More than 1,000 projected jobs
Chick-fil-A says the nine restaurants are expected to create approximately 1,080 jobs. That works out to an average of about 120 positions per restaurant, although actual staffing could vary by location.
The jobs figure is a company projection tied to restaurants that have not all been built. It should therefore be treated as expected employment rather than a current count of positions already created.
CBS Pittsburgh independently reported Monday that the company expects the expansion to create more than 1,000 jobs and confirmed the nine communities included in the plan.
Restaurant employment can include full-time and part-time positions, and Chick-fil-A's regional announcement did not provide a breakdown by hours, wages or benefits. The company also did not publish an estimate of construction employment generated while the restaurants are being developed.
Local ownership is central to Chick-fil-A's operating model. The company selects individual owner-operators to manage most restaurants rather than relying exclusively on traditional multi-unit franchise ownership. Chick-fil-A said the Western Pennsylvania expansion is intended to create additional opportunities for that local operating structure.
Regional presence dates to 1979
Chick-fil-A says its first Western Pennsylvania restaurant opened at Westmoreland Mall in 1979. The company's regional network has since grown to 20 locations, with its Uniontown restaurant becoming the most recent addition in 2025.
The nine-location plan would push the brand farther into communities where it currently has less of a presence while adding restaurants around established Pittsburgh-area markets.
Chad Terry, Chick-fil-A's area director for the Northeast region, said in the company's announcement that the expansion is focused on creating opportunities for local ownership, employment and leadership development within the restaurants.
Community donations are also tied to the openings
Chick-fil-A said it will donate $25,000 to a Feeding America partner food bank or affiliate for each new restaurant. If all nine openings occur as planned, those opening-related donations would total $225,000.
The company says it has already donated $125,000 to Feeding America partners supporting hunger-relief efforts in Western Pennsylvania since 2020 and $585,000 across Pennsylvania during that period.
Chick-fil-A also reported that Western Pennsylvania restaurant operators have redirected surplus food through the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program to help produce more than 400,000 meals.
Separately, the company says it has awarded $175,000 in regional nonprofit grants and more than $2.47 million in scholarships to team members in Western Pennsylvania. Those are historical community-support figures and should not be confused with the amount being invested to construct the nine new restaurants.
Construction investment has not been disclosed
The major financial question left unanswered by Monday's announcement is how much Chick-fil-A and related developers will invest in land, construction, site improvements and equipment for the nine locations.
The company described the expansion as a meaningful investment in Western Pennsylvania but did not publish a dollar value for the restaurant development itself.
That distinction matters when measuring the economic effect of the announcement. The company has provided a projected employment total and specific charitable commitments, but without disclosed construction budgets or payroll estimates, a broader dollar figure for the expansion's economic impact cannot yet be independently calculated.
For Western Pennsylvania communities, the most concrete commitments currently available are the nine planned restaurant locations, the projected creation of approximately 1,080 jobs and the $25,000 Feeding America donation associated with each opening.
The first test of the broader expansion plan comes quickly. The Mars restaurant is scheduled to open Oct. 1, while Butler and Indiana are the next communities expected to receive locations in spring 2027. The remaining six restaurants are planned by the end of 2028.