Nation’s Restaurant News: Returning veterans need industry support

By Stephen J. Caldeira

Hundreds of thousands of young men and women, America’s sons and daughters, have fought valiantly since 9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, they are coming home.

Tens of thousands of veterans will return from Iraq and Afghanistan by June. And due to the nature of these wars, many are coming home wounded. Meanwhile, the overall unemployment rate among veterans is 11.7 percent, with a troubling 22 percent of the unemployed between the ages of 19 and 24.

These brave young men and women fought for us. Now, they need work and opportunity in our civilian economy to have stable, productive lives.

In response, the International Franchise Association and many franchised businesses, including chain restaurants, have launched Operation Enduring Opportunity, a campaign to hire and recruit as franchise business owners and team members 75,000 veterans and their spouses, and 5,000 Wounded Warriors, by 2014.

With its rapid training opportunities, structure, and need for team leadership and operational excellence, franchising has proven a successful path for veterans to become leaders in our companies and in our economy. There are over 66,000 veteran-owned franchise businesses that employ 815,000 team members, according to the U.S. Census. IFA’s VetFran program, founded in 1991, has enabled more than 2,100 veterans to become franchise business owners.

With a million troops returning home in the next five years, franchising wants to do even more.

That’s why IFA has partnered with the White House Joining Forces initiative and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes program in an unprecedented recruitment effort. Our IFA members are setting company targets through the VetFran program, which offers recruitment tools and turnkey
 solutions for our members.

The leader of the White House Joining Forces initiative, Capt. Brad Cooper, said the IFA’s commitment was “exactly what we had hoped for” when President Barack Obama called on the private sector to hire our nation’s veterans earlier this year.

“All of this is adding up, and thanks to the IFA, there is a wave of support forming across this country,” first lady Michelle Obama told the media.

I had the distinct honor and privilege to join President Obama, the first lady, Vice President Joe Biden, Jill Biden and two IFA franchise leaders at a White House bill-signing ceremony Nov. 21 for the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. VOW stands for Veterans Opportunity to Work.

The act provides tax credits in support of this historic campaign. Hiring a veteran who has been unemployed for over a month yields a credit of $2,400. If a veteran has been unemployed for over six months, the credit is $5,600. The credit is $9,600 for hiring a veteran disabled in a combat zone who has been out of work for more than six months. The bill passed the House and Senate without opposition.

IFA’s Operation Enduring Opportunity campaign next seeks passage of H.R. 2888 and S. 1540, the Help Veterans Own Franchises Act, providing franchise small-business start-up tax credits — up to 25 percent of the initial franchise fee, not to exceed $100,000 — to veterans. We also strongly support measures to enable veterans to use GI Bill funds for franchise and business training.

Now is the time to demonstrate the commitment of franchising and the foodservice industry to those who have served our nation so bravely. They deserve the opportunity to serve and lead in our civilian economy.

“When I came back from Vietnam, there was nothing for veterans,” said IFA past chairman Jim Amos, now chairman and chief executive of Tasti D-Lite. “We can’t let that happen again.”

No, we can’t. With more veterans returning home from Iraq, Afghanistan and Southwest Asia in the coming years, franchises stand ready to be part of the solution to the unemployment crisis faced by America’s veterans. Join this effort and find out more by visiting www.VetFran.com. Our veterans fought for us; now the business community needs to fight for them.

Stephen J. Caldeira is president and chief executive of the International Franchise Association.

 

Published in Nation’s Restaurant News, January 9, 2012.