FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

IFA’S VETFRAN PARTNERS WITH HIRING OUR HEROES & CAPITAL ONE ON BEHALF OF VETERANS

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2013—The International Franchise Association VetFran initiative has strengthened its partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Hiring our Heroes” program and forged a new partnership with Capital One Financial Corporation. The partnership is part of its Operation Enduring Opportunity, the franchising industry campaign to hire as team members and recruit as franchise business owners 75,000 veterans and military spouses and 5,000 Wounded Warriors by the end of 2014.

As part of the partnership, the Chamber and Capital One made an $80,000 financial contribution to IFA. On Veterans Day, 2011 Operation Enduring Opportunity committed to hiring 80,000 veterans during an event with the First Lady Michelle Obama. Since that commitment, over 64,000 veterans, military spouses and wounded warriors have started careers in franchising, including 4,314 who have become veteran franchise business owners.

“We are grateful for the support of the Chamber and Capital One to recognize the proven track record veterans have as employees and franchisees in our industry,” said IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira. “These relationships with Hiring Our Heroes and Capital One will further our collective goal of getting America’s returning veterans back to work and reducing the veteran unemployment rate.”

“We are honored to have the opportunity to work alongside IFA once again,” said U.S. Chamber President & CEO Thomas J. Donohue. “We share the important goal of helping the men and women who have served our country seek new opportunities in the next chapters of their lives. We hope this joint commitment will help thousands of veterans and military spouses pursue their dreams as franchise business owners.”

“IFA has been one of our greatest partners and believers since Hiring Our Heroes began,” said Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel (ret.), executive director of Hiring Our Heroes. “IFA galvanized its membership to make a significant commitment toward our Hiring 500,000 Heroes campaign, and they will be a major factor in us getting there.”

“The IFA’s efforts to hire veterans and military spouses and to motivate many returning heroes to become new franchise entrepreneurs truly represents the spirit of Hiring Our Heroes,” said John Finneran, general counsel of Capital One Financial. “We are proud to support the IFA and the mission of Operation Enduring Opportunity. Together we are committed to helping ease transition of servicemen and women to the civilian workforce and help other companies understand and leverage the unique skills and experience our veterans have to offer.”

IFA’s Operation Enduring Opportunity commitment represents a major component of the National Chamber Foundation and Capital One’s Hiring 500,000 Heroes campaign, the largest initiative of its kind. The campaign encourages businesses of all sizes to hire veterans and was launched in March, 2012 with the goal of employing half a million veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014.

Through this partnership, the campaign now claims commitments to hire 200,000 veterans, with nearly 100,000 already hired. IFA, Hiring Our Heroes and Capital One will work together towards the collective goal of hiring 500,000 heroes.

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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.