ICYMI: Economist Highlights Franchising as Purest Distillation of the American Dream

As AI disrupts white-collar careers and student debt reshapes the calculus of a college degree, more young Americans are rediscovering that franchising is the ticket to the ownership economy

WASHINGTON D.C. – A recent expose in The Economist confirms what the International Franchising Association (IFA) has been saying for years: franchising is the “purest distillation of the American Dream.”

Headlined “Franchising has quietly made countless Americans rich,” the story traces the rise of Greg Flynn, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Flynn Group, and IFA Board Member, the world’s largest restaurant franchise operator. Earlier this year, Flynn was honored as the 2025 recipient of the IFA Hall of Fame Award.

“Amid this global age of AI-powered disruption, franchising is elevating everyday Americans into the ownership economy,” said Matt Haller, IFA President and CEO. “Franchising works because it aligns incentives at every level — for brands, for owners, for employees, for communities. It’s why we fight to protect this business model that allows people to go into business for themselves but not by themselves, keeping the American Dream very much alive.”

As Haller told The Economist, “There’s really not a franchise you can run without people,” highlighting how franchising uniquely provides a path to business ownership, especially attractive as traditional career paths are evolving.

IFA predicts that there will be 845,000 franchised businesses in the U.S., employing nearly 9 million people by the end of 2026 and producing over $920 billion in economic output. The fastest growing regions for franchising remain the southeast and southwest, with child services and commercial and residential services as the fastest growing industries.

According to IFA’s 2026 Value of Franchising report:

85% of franchisees live and work in the communities they serve.
83% of U.S. franchisees gave to local charities in the past year.
82% of franchisees own only one location.
64% of franchisees are first-time business owners.
30% of franchisees say they would not own a business at all without franchising.
Franchised businesses are more likely to be minority-owned than non-franchised businesses.

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For media requests of Haller, please reach out to Katherine Patterson at kpatterson@franchise.org.

About the International Franchise Association:

Celebrating over 60 years of excellence, education, and advocacy, the International Franchise Association (IFA) 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 832,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 8.8 million direct jobs, $907.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy, and almost 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.