Letter from Alfredo Ortiz, JCN President and CEO on Defending Main Street

January 20, 2015

Job Creators Network is launching a new campaign to educate lawmakers and defend against the latest big government attack on business. You may have heard that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is currently looking at ruling on a case that would make franchisees and franchisors “joint employers.” While this particular case deals with McDonald’s—our concern is that this potential precedent would hurt all current and future franchises. This action by the NLRB highlights how just a few unelected bureaucrats can affect such a huge portion of the economy and hurt job creation.

The campaign starts tomorrow and includes:

• A new website at DefendMainStreet.com,
• A commercial that is running on all four cable news channels in Washington DC,
• A print ad that is running in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call and in the Washington DC edition of The Wall Street Journal, and
• Corresponding efforts online and in social media.

There are more than 825,000 franchised businesses in the US and they support more than 18 million jobs. And 20% of all franchises are owned by minorities—which means this decision, if upheld, will disproportionately hurt minority business owners. If the joint employer rule is finalized it may become more costly to buy a franchise and fewer people will potentially get the opportunity to open a franchise as parent organizations become more selective in offering franchises.

I hope you can continue to help JCN defend the free enterprise system. Whether it’s with a donation, volunteering your time, or educating your employees—we all need to be part of the solution.

Sincerely,

Alfredo Ortiz
President & CEO
Job Creators Network