Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2013 | Page 25

Grow Market Lead
regulations are eventually written.
The panel also included David Barr,
chair of PMTD Restaurants, which
operates 23 restaurants. He presented
different scenarios he’s been exploring for his 412 employees (109 fulltime, 303 part-time). In one scenario,
the act’s regulations would have cost
him $750,000 annually. After studying different scenarios, he managed
to reduce his initial estimates of what
the act would cost him from $750,000
to $444,000; and in an ideal scenario,
where employees don’t sign up because
they went on their spouse’s plan, that
cost could come down to $136,000. He
said that in any scenario that came in at
less than $200,000, it was worth it for
him to play, instead of pay the penalties. He did express concern about the
effects of employee c utbacks on the
quality of service at his restaurants, and
how that must be balanced against the
purely monetary aspects of any decision. “Reducing FTEs has to be com-

“Reducing
FTEs has to be
completed with
one eye toward
customer service.”
—David Barr

pleted with one eye toward customer
service,” he said.
After that session, filled with dense,
detailed charts and diagrams explaining
the rules, current options for franchisees,
and seemingly endless ways to work the
numbers in an uncertain environment
(implementation is still in the works),
the morning’s general session broke
into two separate luncheons, one for
franchisees and one for franchisors
and suppliers.
Franchisees gathered to continue

networking with peers and enjoy a fastpaced, humorous magic show by motivational speaker, magician, and former
NFL player Jon Dorenbos, who was a
long snapper for the Philadelphia Eagles
and a 2010 Pro Bowl selection. After
that, the panelists from the healthcare
discussion fielded questions from the
audience.
In a separate room, the franchisor
luncheon focused on lead generation,
recruitment, and qualification. Facilitated
by Lane Fisher, partner at franchise law
firm FisherZucker, the panel consisted
of Steve Dunn, vice president of global
development at Denny’s; Pete Lindsey,
vice president of franchising at Sport
Clips; Dan Collins, senior vice president
of brand development at East Coast
Wings & Grill; Greg Tanner, national
director of franchise sales at Aaron’s;
and Scott Mellon, vice president of
franchise sales at Papa Murphy’s (see
page 56, “What’s Your Development
Speed?”).

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