Membership

FRANCHISEE MEMBERSHIP

Any Franchisee with a Franchise Agreement is eligible to join the Association. The dues are $75.00 per store, and are due and payable prior to December 31 of each year. Simply multiply the number of units you own times $75.00 and send a check payable in that amount to the Association's office.

Only members will be entitled to vote for the Board of Directors. While the Officers are elected every year in September, the Board members are elected every two years. The next election will be in 2008.

If you look at Section 2 to Article IX of the Bylaws, you will see that the Board consists of 10 directors elected from the membership. Five directors are elected at-large from the membership, five directors are elected from five designated geographic areas, and at least one of those five shall represent Franchisees who own or operate five or fewer restaurants. Over 85% of the LJS restaurants are represented by Association members.

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP:

The Association has had a significant and favorable impact for the Franchisees. The following are just a few of the most recent accomplishments of the Association:

	It negotiated one of the most franchise-friendly Franchise Agreements in the industry for the Long John Silver’s Franchisees.
	We negotiated a favorable co-branding Franchise Agreement for the co-branding of A&W with a Long John Silver’s restaurant with significant competitive area protection to the Franchisee.
	We obtained procurement audits with the result that each Franchisee has received a rebate from the purchasing accounts.
	We were able to successfully negotiate certain favorable exceptions to the restrictive competition provisions of the co-branding agreement and enlargement of the radius protection provisions of that agreement for certain classifications of franchisees from 1.5 miles to 3 miles.
	We acquired accountability of the marketing and procurement area and, as a result, a committee of the Franchise Board receives detailed reports quarterly.
	We negotiated provisions in the Franchise Agreement that, in the event of a buyback of the Franchisee's franchise interest from exercise of Franchiser's option, the buyback value would include more than just the price for bricks and mortar; it would include an amount for the enterprise value.
	We have been instrumental in structuring the LJS Purchasing Co-op and have ensured that the franchisee community elects six of the eight Board members of the Co-op.
	We have been actively involved in negotiating a universal co-branding agreement which would apply to any co- or multi-branding with any Yum! concept including, of course, Long John Silver's.
	We have joined a council of the franchisee associations of all the other Yum! Brands to participate in addressing broad issues that affect all of the Yum! franchisee concepts.
	We have been instrumental in encouraging Yum! Brands Inc. to arrange financing facility for franchise expansion, image enhancement and co- or multi-branding.
	We have taken responsibility for planning and executing the annual Long John Silver's conventions.

We have negotiated an enhanced benefits impact policy which affords our franchisees greater protection from competition. This is particularly important because of aggressive co-branding.

We lead the development of a new single-brand LJS prototype building which is far more economical than the prior prototype.

We have teamed with the company to reinvent itself into a "franchisee-focused" organization and have frequent and regular meetings with company representatives to insure continued progress and accountability.