Editor\u2019s Note:<\/b> The original version of this story misstated the average franchise fee estimated by Suzanne Beall of the International Franchise Association. The correct range is $30,000 to $50,000.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers are teaming up to try to <\/b>make franchising opportunities more accessible to veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Reps. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., and Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., on Tuesday introduced the Veteran Entrepreneurs Act of 2017 \u2014 legislation that would create a tax credit to cover 25 percent of initial fees for veteran franchisees, if passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVeterans have the leadership skills needed to succeed in small business ownership, but frequently they are not financially able to manage the up-front costs,\u201d Brownley said in an email. \u201cMaking small business ownership \u2014 including franchises \u2014 more accessible will better enable more veterans and their families to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Franchise fees vary widely by industry, but the average is about $30,000 to $50,000, said Suzanne Beall, assistant vice president of government relations for the International Franchise Association, which runs the VetFran initiative. According to the organization\u2019s latest research, one out of every seven franchises is owned by a veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re 100 percent supportive of the entire bill,\u201d Beall said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Representatives from veteran service organizations also expressed their support for the legislation this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe American Legion has advocated for increased entrepreneurship opportunities for veterans for decades, and we support legislation that reduces barriers to entry for veterans looking to start businesses,\u201d the group\u2019s spokesman, Joe Plenzler, said in an email. \u201cIt is important to remember that access to capital to start a business and networking in the business community remain the number one and number two hurdles facing \u2018vetrepreneurs\u2019 today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veterans of Foreign Wars <\/b>Associate Director Patrick Murray said in an email the organization has partnerships with the franchises Sports Clips and Burger King and \u201cstrongly (supports) efforts to provide business minded veterans the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tax credit proposed in the legislation would apply to franchise fees under $400,000. Eligible veterans could also opt to transfer the tax credit to their franchisors in exchange for a discounted fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tenney\u2019s spokeswoman, Hannah Andrews, said the congresswomen hope the bill will move quickly through the House, and Brownley\u2019s advocacy as a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs could help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe would hope that it would move really fast,\u201d Andrews said. \u201cWe have an administration, and we have a Congress that\u2019s really focused on economic growth and, I would say, is equally focused on our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. representatives on Tuesday introduced the Veteran Entrepreneurs Act of 2017 \u2014 legislation that would create a tax credit to cover a portion of initial fees for veteran franchisees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":97511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,16,26,65,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3346],"class_list":["post-59387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-education-transition","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IYGP5VSRLJGLJPKEFURREZJXEM","arc_canonical_url":"\/education-transition\/jobs\/2017\/11\/29\/lawmakers-propose-making-franchising-cheaper-for-vets\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n