Franchise Today

Franchise For Good is a 501(c)(3) organization, founded to guide the growth of nonprofit organizations by leveraging proven best practices of franchising. Franchise For Good is the official nonprofit division of Franworth®. As the only full-service agency in the nonprofit space offering a suite of flexible services, Franchise For Good is a pioneering philanthropic initiative that offers nonprofit organizations of all sizes an avenue for growth.

Today’s guest is Kevin Bazner, CEO of one of America’s historic, if not iconic and legendary restaurant franchise brands. Are you thinking McDonalds, Burger King or perhaps KFC… Nope, all three of those upstarts go no further back than the fifties. You’d have to travel back to before sliced bread was created in 1928 to get even close, to the birth of this brand, I’m talking America’s first restaurant franchise ever, A&W Restaurants.  I think to be statistically accurate, NATHAN’s Famous in Coney Island began doing business 3 years earlier than A&W, but A&W beat them to the punch by miles, in terms of franchising.  

A fun fact or two about A&W: their name came from the first letters of each of the founders last names: Roy Allen and Frank Wright.  A&W was also home to the first drive-thru restaurant in America is also the birth place of the bacon cheeseburger. One last trivia tidbit, back in the late 1920s, the Marriotts, JW and Alice ran an A&W Restaurant Stand in Washington, DC, before they pivoted much later, to developing hotels..

One can only wonder what it might be like to be surrounded in business, by leaders the likes of David Barr, current and past member or chair of dozens of boards, of franchised Brands, and those of restaurant concepts, both on the zor and zee side, as well as being nothing less than past chair of the IFA Board itself. 

And what must it be like to work side-by-side with FranWorth founder and CEO John Rotche, another serial entrepreneur, mentor, FranWorth Founder and CEO and let’s not forget Drew Breez, franchising entrepreneur extraordinaire and yes, we’re talking about the same Drew Breez that for years led the New Orleans Saints, taking them to the Super Bowl while himself, personally earning 2009 Superbowl MVP honors.   

At Franworth, their mission is to help franchisors grow to their full potential. With over 450 years of combined franchise experience, Franworth was designed to multiply resources, engineered to steer strategy and accelerate growth. We partner with franchises in a variety of capacities; from start-up design and emerging concepts, to more established brands seeking to fine-tune systems.They proudly work alongside ambitious founders, creating equity partnerships or providing fee-based support, in the pursuit of shared success.

Off for the holiday this week, but I present an encore of  the most fun I have ever had producing Franchise Today.  It features me on WSB Radio, talking about my favorite topic, (aside from franchising) CHICKEN WINGS!  Mark Arum hosts the wildly popular, Afternoon Drive on Atlanta’s News & Talk.  Well, tune in to listen what happened when I wound up on the air with him...It all took place 1 year ago.  .

Today I welcome John Erlandson to Franchise Today. John is the Co-Founder, President, Board Member and an Investor, in Youth Athletes United, a recently created portfolio company, building a family of brands, all centered upon child enrichment, through youth sports. While the company itself, is fairly new, it was established out of the pairing of youth sports and activities brands Amazing Athletes and Soccer Stars.  Under its umbrella today and across all 5 of its core brands, Youth Athletes United boasts some 15 - 20 years of success and a total of 200+ locations.  Add to that, the nearly a quarter million children instructed by their programs, nationwide each year. 

Youth Athletes United has earned trust in each community they touch. The brand’s overarching mission is to help the world understand that everyone is an athlete and ultimately impact the lives of over one million children. The high-energy and passionate John Erlandson, Co-Founder and President of Youth Athletes United, this week on Franchise Today

This week I feature May's Rising Star in Franchising, Angela Healy, CEO at AvenueWest Corporate Housing and AvenueWest Franchising.    As some of you may know, I began my franchise career in residential real estate franchising, converting large, local brokerages , to brands such as ERA and PRUDENTIAL.  In those days, it was my job to convince high powered, independent real estate brokers that their world was changing and that while they could certainly dig in and ignore those changes, they would do better, to jump in with brands like ours, and protect themselves from the losses they would otherwise suffer, at the hands of RE/MAX, if they chose to remain independent.

Well, since those days, the industry has morphed by umpteen orders of magnitude and the game continues to change.  Now comes Angela Healy, with a game-changing twist of her own.  With more than 25 years of industry experience, Angela Healy is the co-owner of AvenueWest, a Denver-based, managed Corporate Housing concept and of AvenueWest Global Franchise, LLC. Along with her husband Tim they have already awarded 15 franchises in major cities across the country, with a unique strategy for growth that ensures that Avenue West’s core philosophy of investor-centric decision making is reflected throughout the company and its culture. AvenueWest has already grown from being a small, local, real estate investment brokerage, to a national, award-winning franchise organization, losing not one single office, through two years of Pandemic.  Angela Healy our Rising Star for May, this week on Franchise Today.

Today’s conversation is with Greg Cook.  Many of you know Greg fro his 10 years at the IFA, running all things marketing. Well, today he has parlayed all of that experience and more, as he heads up Silvercrest Technology and Marketing, as President and CEO.  Among our topics of conversation today, are just how much the lines have fuzzed between the disciplines of marketing and technology and what the recipe calls for in today's post COVID world of franchise marketing.  

Silvercrest was founded in 2011 to fill a growing need for franchisees to access marketing and media efficiently.  The agency is dedicated to delivering brand solutions for franchised and multi-unit organizations utilizing a combination of proprietary technology, customer data, marketing needs, and media buying, harnessed in one sophisticated yet simple platform.  Greg Cook joins us today to discuss his recipe for successful franchise and multi-unit level marketing.

Pete First has been with BrightStar care for nearly 4 years, beginning his journey there, as Vice President of Franchise Development for BrightStar Care.  During his tenure, Pete has grown that brand’s nationwide presence to 365 locations and has expanded the brand into new territories and markets.

Today, as Chief Development Officer of BrightStar Holdings Group, Pete is responsible for recruiting new franchise owners to all three of their brands: BrightStar Care, BrightStar Senior Living®, and BrightStar® Care Homes™.

This week we are joined by WOWorks CEO Kelly Roddy, to discuss his instance of one of the hottest, trends in franchising, rollups. Roll-ups are formed when a company is created, usually backed by private equity, to group multiple, compatible brands under a single umbrella, such that they may all leverage back-end economies of scale.  It's simply smart business.for so many reasons. Kelly is a veteran of FOCUS Brands, an early pioneer in roll-ups, where he served as President of Shlotzky’s, .  

WOWorks was formed in 2020 to help guests pursue their passions and live their best lives by serving healthy, nutritious, and flavorful food, delivered with first-rate hospitality. WOWorks’ portfolio consists of: Saladworks, the nation’s leading fast-casual salad brand; Frutta Bowls, a unique restaurant franchise serving a variety of superfood bowls, fresh fruit smoothies, oatmeal bowls, and more; Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, a popular Mediterranean restaurant concept; and most recently, The Simple Greek, which offers a fresh and healthy take on ancient Greek recipes, in a fast-casual setting.

WOWorks mission is to drive explosive growth across all of its brands through a variety of channels, both traditional and non-traditional, including ghost kitchens, food trucks, grocery retail, and more. WOWorks is owned by CentreLane Partners and led by CEO Kelly Roddy, who joins us here today.

Matthew Gourgeot, a true advocate and champion for small business in America.  Today, he heads Corporate and Business Development at Thryv, where he is responsible for leading their franchise division and developing the company’s strategic corporate partnerships.  Traded on the NASDAQ, THRYV is the provider of software that supports more than 40,000 loc al businesses and nearly 500,000 users, across the continent.  What they have created is a fully integrated, end-to-end B2C customer experience platform, empowering small businesses to reach more customers, stay better organized, get paid faster and generate more online reviews.  Utilizing Thryv's platform, small businesses can manage their customers anytime, anywhere and from any device.