Automotive Feature Articles

At February's Franchise UPDATE Multi-Unit Conference in Dallas, attendees dug into their pockets to help Rocco Fiorentino's Little Rock Foundation. Multi-unit operators are known for generosity to charities, but the record for amounts may well go to Batteries Plus. Batteries Plus Multi-Unit Franchisee Leonard Cyphers, who owns three Atlanta-area Batteries Plus stores, was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson's disease in 1997 at age 48. He is managing his disease with diet, medication, and exercise, and the help of a pioneer in Parkinson's research, Dr. Ray Watts.

Capital fuels growth, and multi-unit operators know how important growth is to their success. One finance company making growth happen for many area developers is GE Commercial Finance, Franchise Finance (GEFF). With more than $12 billion in served assets, GEFF has more than 6,000 customers and 21,000 property locations, mainly in the restaurant, hospitality, branded beverage, storage, and automotive industries.

When Nikki Gahr Sells decided to forgo her school teaching job of eight years in 1983, a job in which her mother had spent a lifetime, she didn't know a lot about career paths for anyone, much less women, outside of teaching. She went to a staffing agency for help in finding a new job. In an unexpected twist, the staffing agency hired Sells. The agency, Express Personnel Services, was the first franchisee of Express Services Inc.

In 2000, Lou Brown, one of the more successful high-tech entrepreneurs of the 1990's, decided to exchange silicon for a grease gun, and took over struggling Precision Tune.