FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alisa Harrison, 202-628-8000
Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770
aharrison@franchise.org
mhaller@franchise.org
@franchising411
IFA NAMES LANE FISHER FIRST SID FELTENSTEIN FRANPAC MVP AWARD WINNER
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2012 – The International Franchise Association today announced it has named Lane Fisher, partner at FisherZucker, LLC, its first-ever Sid Feltenstein FranPAC MVP Award winner for his leading role in raising money for FranPAC, IFA’s political action committee.
“The growth of FranPAC signifies the commitment of IFA members to strengthen the franchising industry by supporting pro-franchising, pro-business policymakers and candidates that will protect, promote and enhance the franchising industry in Congress,” said IFA President and CEO Steve Caldeira. “Lane has taken the lead in the campaign driven by his steadfast passion to educate IFA members about the critical importance of engaging in the political process, by promoting FranPAC activities across the United States.”
The FranPAC MVP award recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond to enhance IFA member involvement in its FranPAC program. The success of FranPAC increases IFA’s ability to advocate for its Franchising=Jobs agenda, which supports policies such as comprehensive tax reform, repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act with intelligent health care legislation, sensible workforce policies including reigning in the National Labor Relations Board, and passage of the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act (BATSA).
In order to continue to increase FranPAC receipts and strengthen IFA’s political clout, the FranPAC President’s Council was created in 2011 by IFA President and CEO Steve Caldeira. The Council, made of top IFA leaders across all major segments of the industry, functions strategically to meet the IFA’s fundraising goals to ensure the franchising industry’s voice will be heard in the upcoming election.
Simultaneously, IFA announced FranPAC has reached a key milestone of one million dollars in receipts in the 2012 election cycle, one election cycle earlier from the association’s goal, placing its PAC in the upper-echelon of political action committees among business trade associations.
“The franchise small business community has been under assault the past three and a half years by increased, costly and onerous regulations, and we are now facing the prospect of the largest tax increase in our lifetimes with the impending fiscal cliff,” said Caldeira. “By increasing the size of FranPAC, we are able to more effectively support policymakers and candidates who understand the role franchising plays in the economy and that will support pro-growth policies that enable, not hinder, our members’ ability to create jobs.”
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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 50 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 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million 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.