Northern Illinois Franchise Association Looks Back at 2015 & Ahead to 2016
December 17, 2015
The Northern Illinois Franchise Association (NIFA), founded by All Points PR’s executive leadership Jamie and Lauren Izaks with friend and colleague Andrew Bleiman, managing attorney with Marks & Klein, one of America’s leading law firms focused on the franchising industry with a Chicago office, has had an exciting year.
Beginning with the Winter Luncheon in February held at Mity Nice in downtown Chicago, NIFA membership and guests attended a panel discussion entitled, “Local Marketing Strategies to Maximize Your Digital Presence and Drive Customers Through Your Doors,” led by a small group of the area’s digital marketing and franchise industry experts.
The May Spring Luncheon was a milestone event for NIFA as Steve Caldeira, then-president of the International Franchise Association, gave the keynote speech. He spoke at Chicago Cut Steakhouse about the tough issues facing the franchise and small business industry as well as the tremendous growth the sector has seen in recent years.
Following the highly attended Spring Luncheon was August’s Summer Luncheon, held at Summer House Santa Monica in Lincoln Park. The Luncheon included a panel discussion entitled “Athletes in Franchise Ownership,” and featured several former professional athletes to discuss the different post-athletic franchise ownership opportunities afforded to them and their peers.
Finally, the Fall Luncheon was held in November at Formento’s in the West Loop and featured a panel discussion about veterans in franchising. Guests learned how franchising can provide a structured, turn-key opportunity for veterans.
Each of these luncheons created an important networking opportunity for like-minded franchise professionals in the Chicago area to mix, mingle and live the NIFA mission to promote, enhance and foster the success of franchisors and franchisees in Illinois through communication, political advocacy, networking, support services and educational programs.
As NIFA continues to grow, so does its membership – in 2015, we saw a 55 perecnt membership increase across multiple facets of the franchising industry. As we look ahead to 2016, please click here to join the NIFA membership. As a part of NIFA, you will have discounted access to each of our four great quarterly events, with relevant and timely topics being considered such as women in franchising and more.
As 2016 approaches, keep an eye out for more quarterly NIFA events!
