Impact of The Financial Rescue Plan on Franchised Businesses

Members of the International Franchise Association, (IFA) the world's largest organization representing franchising with a growing membership of more than 1,300 franchise systems, 10,000-plus franchisees and more than 500 firms, made fervant efforts to the House of Representatives to pass the financial market rescue plan. According to this article, IFA President & CEO Matthew Shay felt that: "Passage of the bill in the House will send a positive signal to the financial markets and hopefully free up much needed credit for franchised business to expand. We cannot stress enough the importance of this vote." Shay said that "the 900,000 franchised businesses in the U.S. provide for 20 million jobs and contribute $2.3 trillion to the private sector economy."