By Carol Coultas, MaineBiz, Published 1-27-2014
Photo – Tim Greenway – Mainebiz
Jim Coen, executive director of the Maine Franchise Owners Association, is pushing legislation intended to help franchise owners exert more control over their businesses.
Jim Coen has spent decades in the franchise industry. It’s a familiarity he’s hoping to parlay into legislative action that improves franchise owners’ chances of controlling their own business destinies.
Coen, a former executive director of the New England Franchise Association and for five years the president of the Dunkin’ Donuts Independent Franchise Owners Association, formed the Maine Franchise Owners Association this fall. As executive director, he intends to marshal attention and some PAC money toward legislation that he believes will help level the playing field between franchisers — the corporations such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Dairy Queen, Re/Max, Subway and Ace Hardware that lend their brand to a network of independent operators — and franchisees, the independent operators.
“Right now, the power belongs to the franchiser, who has been able to gain what we consider an unfair advantage over a franchise owners’ ability to harvest, perpetuate and build equity in their businesses,” says Coen.
Specifically, the MFOA plans to introduce amendments to LD 1458, the Maine Small Business Investment Protection Act, which was bound over from the last legislative session. MFOA is soliciting members — it counts more than 3,500 franchise units in Maine with a payroll that exceeds $1 billion. To further its cause, MFOA has organized a franchise owners conference set for Jan. 29 in Augusta with workshops geared toward helping them understand labor and compliance issues, as well as the Affordable Care Act. There’s also a lawmaker meet-and-greet component so legislators have a chance to interact with franchise owners and understand their unique circumstances, says Coen.
“Some people don’t realize it’s the franchise owners who hire the employees, who pay the taxes, who drive economic development, not the franchisers,” he says. (Details of the conference are at mainefranchiseowners.org)
Mainebiz chatted recently with Coen. The following is an edited transcript.