Franchise Article Missed an Angle

To the Editor:

Your article “Building the Charity Franchise” (November 13) presented a very interesting portrait of the new trend in charity franchising. However, I was disappointed that the reporter did not delve into the issue of why charities, and community-development corporations especially, are focusing on attracting national food-service chains to their local communities.

Nonprofit organizations’ establishing franchises in local communities seems quite the paradox. The very same agencies that usually work so hard to tailor their service systems to the local community instead are going out of their way to bring in a generic, prepackaged business model that treats Peoria, Ill., the same as Brooklyn, N.Y. (or any other city or town in North America).

Community-development corporations in particular usually have a firm understanding of the business models that work locally. I’m confused why a community-development corporation would pay tens of thousands of dollars in franchise fees to establish a rigidly controlled company instead of creating its own business plan, building upon its vast knowledge of the local community, and drawing upon the market research it has already conducted.

The United Community Corporation, featured in the article, seems to understand the paradox. Its decision to drop the bagel franchise in favor of a local eatery is a nod to its community, along with the skills and creativity of local residents who help operate the business. Hopefully other community-development corporations will follow United Community Corporation’s lead.Jay Katz

President
Coloradogrants.org
Denver