Founded in 1991 by Don Dwyer Sr., IFA's VetFran was created to provide access and opportunities in franchising to our nations veterans and their spouses. Don, who was founder of the The Dwyer Group, started the initiative as a way to say "thank you" to our veterans returning from the first Gulf War. Since its inception, the initiative has grown to a network of over 650 franchise brands that voluntarily offer financial discounts, mentorship, and training for aspiring veteran franchisees and veterans seeking employment.
On Veterans Day 2011, the franchise industry was part of the first and largest private-sector commitments to the White House Joining Forces Program led by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden. IFA and its membership pledged to hire as employees and recruit as franchise business owners 80,000 veterans, wounded warriors and military spouses through 2014. To date, IFA's VetFran has contributed 238,000 veterans and military spouses, having become owners or have been hired as franchise team members. This has also contributed significantly towards the 2015 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring Our Hero's (HOH) and Capital One Financial Corporation’s goal of engaging the business community to hire 500,000 veterans and military spouses.
As tens of thousands of service men and women return from overseas deployments, and are discharged from the military, expanded opportunities are needed to ensure veterans and their families can transition into the civilian economy. The franchise business model provides comprehensive training opportunities, scalability, and the need for operational execution and excellence, offering an ideal career path to enable veterans to become productive participants in the U.S. economy. VetFran supports veterans and their spouses’ ability to access franchise opportunities through education on the franchise industry, financial assistance, and industry mentorship.
Today, VetFran is as strong as ever and its legacy continues through the Dwyer Group and others. "Franchisees helped by VetFran nationally have created 238,000 jobs, and The Dwyer Group has granted more than $2 million in discounts on company purchases in the past five years," said Mike Bidwell, CEO of the company whose headquarters sprawl across a site near Lake Brazos and University Parks Drive," said Mike Bidwell, CEO of the company whose headquarters sprawl across a site near Lake Brazos and University Parks Drive in Texas.
"We’re very fond of what the military does and the people they turn out, and we’re proud to provide the opportunity to become franchisees,” Bidwell said. “Ex-military typically do well in a franchising environment because it involves following a template, procedures and a proven method. And they are not afraid of hard work.” Bidwell went on to say.
IFA will honor VetFran on it's 25 year anniversary during this years Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Click here to read a recent article on Dwyer-Inspired VetFran's continued legacy.
Date: 2016-02-10
