FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770
Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766
mhaller@franchise.org
jweisbord@franchise.org
@franchising411
INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT & CEO STEVE CALDEIRA ANNOUNCES HE IS STEPPING DOWN
Robert Cresanti named interim COO; Search committee formed to find a successor
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2015—The International Franchise Association announced today that after five-and-a-half years as President & CEO, Steve Caldeira, CFE, has tendered his resignation. After ongoing attempts to align on a new CEO contract by both parties, those efforts unfortunately failed.
Robert Cresanti, currently IFA executive vice president of Government Relations & Public Policy, has been named interim Chief Operating Officer. The Board of Directors has formed a search committee to immediately begin the process of identifying and recruiting a new President & CEO.
“IFA and the franchising community recognize Steve’s strong contributions as our chief advocate and media spokesman over the past five-and-a-half years. Under Steve’s tenure, IFA’s revenue has grown by over 70 percent, its political action committee has nearly doubled to $1.3 million and the association is now widely recognized as a go-to leader on small business issues in the national and inside-the-beltway media, on Capitol Hill, at the state and local levels and within key federal agencies.” said Melanie Bergeron, IFA chair and chairwoman of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK, Intl. “Steve gives everything he does 110 percent and we are very grateful for his passion, dedication and wisdom as we have been navigating through the most challenging legislative and regulatory environment in our industry’s history.”
Under Caldeira’s leadership, he has led IFA’s passionate defense of franchising from a multitude of threats in recent years, most notably an expanded joint-employer standard adopted by the National Labor Relations Board. To thwart this existential threat to the franchise model, the IFA formed and is a key leader of the Coalition to Save Local Businesses.
Additionally, IFA has challenged the constitutionality of a potentially precedent-setting, discriminatory minimum wage law suit in Seattle, Washington that discriminates against franchisees versus similarly-situated non-franchise small businesses. To help combat these threats, Caldeira orchestrated the successful launch of the Franchise Action Network, IFA’s flagship grassroots and public affairs campaign to educate, mobilize and activate franchisees to political action at all levels of government.
“I am very proud of our accomplishments during my tenure to protect, promote and enhance the franchise business model,” said Caldeira. “It has been a real honor and privilege to represent franchising, which is the true essence of entrepreneurship in America. While I appreciate the opportunity to have worked with so many respected business leaders and the extremely talented staff at the IFA, the time has come for me to move on.”
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About the International Franchise Association
Celebrating 55 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 780,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 8.9 million direct jobs, $890 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology and business development.
1900 K St., N.W., Suite 700 Washington, DC 20006 USA
Phone: +1 202/628-8000 Fax: +1 202/628-0812 www.franchise.org