, retained its original appearance until its closure 50 years later, in 2019. Burgerville was founded in 1961 by George Propstra in
Vancouver, Washington. The first Burgerville was located on Mill Plain Blvd in Vancouver, about three miles east of downtown on the southeast corner of Mill Plain and Morrison. and is the largest chain in America to do so. Burgerville uses only
trans fat-free
canola oil and sends 7,500 gallons per month to be transformed into
biodiesel. In 2004, Burgerville switched to range-fed beef raised without hormones and antibiotics. In September 2009, after complaints from bicycle commuters, Burgerville began allowing bicyclists to order using its
drive-through windows . The
fast casual restaurant chain was named by
Gourmet magazine as having the freshest fast food in the country in 2003, with offerings such as a salad with smoked salmon and Oregon hazelnuts. As of August 2007, their slogan is, "Choose Fresh, Local, Sustainable. Choose Burgerville." Also in 2007, Burgerville was awarded with the "Better Burger" award at the 1st Annual
Food Network Awards. In January 2008, Jeff Harvey accepted the position of President and CEO of Burgerville after Tom Mears, the former holder of the titles stepped aside, and became Chairman of the company. In October 2018, Burgerville disclosed that it had suffered a data breach by the Fin7 hacking group of all customer credit and debit card information processed from September 2017 to September 2018.
Burgerville Workers Union In April 2016, Burgerville workers organized and formed a
labor union, the Burgerville Workers Union, with support from Portland
IWW, among other groups. The company opposed the union organizing effort and sought to discourage workers from joining. In 2018, the workers of one Burgerville restaurant in southeast Portland voted 18-4 in an
NLRB-administered election to form a labor union; the vote compels the company to officially recognize the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) and to
collectively bargain with it. The BVWU is the only fast food union in the United States with federal recognition. The union has demanded a $5 an hour increase in wages for all workers, fair scheduling, improved health care, and parental leave. In October, 2019, the workers union was preparing to
strike following a breakdown of negotiations with the company over the previous 18 months. The company had offered an increase of $1 per hour for all employees to $13.50, six months ahead of when Portland's local minimum was set to increase to $13.25. As of October 2019, five Burgerville locations have held successful union drives. == Locations ==