Paving a way for recovery and growth
ADVOCACY FIRST
The most valuable service the IFA provides to
members comes down to advocacy and
protecting the business model of franchising
from being “tinkered with,” Haller says.
Secondary services include education
and networking. The association offers a
series of educational events, online classes,
webinars, an annual convention, and a
Certified Franchise Executives program
(CFE) – a designation that shows an executive
has been certified to the highest standards of
qual ity training and professional ism.
“Anybody that receives the CFE
designation agrees to uphold the Code of
Conduct of the IFA,” Haller says. “You
can use it as a selling point within your
brand.” The IFA works closely with state,
f edera l , l oca l and internat i ona l
g overnment s . The y educate the
government on the creation of jobs from
franchising in their local communities
and how different policies – whether it’s
taxes, health care or workforce policies –
impact IFAmembers.
“ We work to advocate advances in those
policies, and work to remove policies that
provides too much regulation from our
88 | BusinessWorld |
May 2014
