IFA Franchise Association : Urges President Obama to Focus on Policies to Help Small Businesses Grow and Create Jobs

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IFA URGES PRESIDENT OBAMA TO FOCUS ON POLICIES TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES GROW AND CREATE JOBS

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2015 - In advance of President Obama's State of the Union address, International Franchise Association President & CEO Steve Caldeira, CFE, outlined concrete ways Washington can help small businesses grow and create more jobs in 2015. 

"Main Street businesses, particularly locally-owned franchise businesses, are a steady and proven pillar of job creation for the U.S. economy. America's 780,000 franchise establishments support nearly 8.9 million direct jobs, $890 billion in economic output and 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Tonight, local franchise business owners across the country will be looking for the President to recognize the important economic contribution they make and hope he will offer an agenda that fosters franchise small-business growth." Caldeira said. "Right now, there are significant public policy headwinds that threaten to undermine the economic potential of franchised businesses. The President should carefully consider how his Administration's current and future agenda impacts this vital and growing sector of our nation's economy.

"For example, the Administration's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is advancing an agenda that severely threatens the time-tested and proven franchise business model. The NLRB is pushing policies that would reverse decades of legal precedent, holding franchisor brand companies liable for charges against local franchisees and threatening to dismantle the franchise relationship that has allowed hundreds of thousands of new businesses to open and millions of jobs to be created. If entire franchise systems are declared to be single units, or "joint employers," local franchise owners everywhere will lose control of the businesses that they have worked so hard to build," he said. "Policymakers should take action to protect local franchise small business owners by rejecting this radical and politically-motivated re-alignment of traditional and well-established employment structures."

Caldeira also said there are several steps the Administration, in cooperation with Congress, can take to reduce the burden on franchised small business owners and help them continue to grow and create jobs. These include: restoring the 40-hour work week as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and simplifying the ACA's compliance process for small businesses; and passing immigration reform that strengthens our borders, includes an effective employment eligibility verification (E-Verify) that provides safety and certainty for employers, and vastly improving our visa program to allow temporary and low-skilled workers to enter the United States legally. 

"We also hope the President will embrace comprehensive tax reform to make the tax code simpler and fairer, and not simply levy new taxes on local franchise business owners. The franchise business community supports comprehensive tax reform that addresses both the corporate and individual tax codes, lowers effective rates and reduces complexity to make American businesses more competitive globally, while also driving much-needed job creation. The IFA also supports tax credits that instigate the hiring of more veterans and their families by small franchise businesses which will benefit the economy as a whole," Caldeira said.

IFA released its 2015 Policy Platform to help guide lawmakers and policy makers as they address the many challenges facing small business owners. The full version is available here.

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About the International Franchise Association
The International Franchise Association is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 55 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 770,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million direct and indirect jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.

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