One of President Obama’s invitees at his worker summit is hoping to educate policymakers about the franchising model targeted by labor regulators.
Ciara Stockeland founded the North Dakota-based retail outlet MODE Stores in 2006 after leaving her family’s window installation business to strike out on her own. She began franchising the designer-outlet store four years ago, expanding from one store with two employees to nine franchisees operating 11 stores.
She now employs 10 people at her Grand Forks office; her franchisees have 40 full and part-time workers. She wants to show policymakers at Wednesday’s White House Summit on Worker Voice that franchising goes beyond multi-billion dollar fast food brands.
"When people think of franchising they think of big corporations like McDonalds. I want to educate folks that it takes all sizes and style of business to create jobs," she said. "Franchising was the vehicle where I could build a company and hire people quickly. Where I could put it in the hands of local entrepreneurs to grow our brand."
Stockeland, a 36-year-old mother of two, said that she plans on expanding to 75 stores by 2024. That business model may disappear after the Obama-appointed National Labor Relations Board ruling that franchisors could be held liable for the actions of independently operated franchisees in the Browning Ferris case.
"I didn’t start collecting regular paychecks until 2014, that’s eight years running my own business with ups and downs, which shows there’s already so much uncertainty and risk," she said. "What concerns me is that the NLRB is adding uncertainty when we already have enough of it. Not knowing what I’ll be liable for and what part I’ll play in franchising makes me reconsider growing the business and hiring people."
The White House approved her nomination to attend the worker summit several weeks ago, which she hopes will provide her a "voice at the table."
"They extended an invitation and I was surprised overall to get the opportunity. It’s fantastic that they’re giving us a voice in the process to tell people about my business," she said.
Stockeland is not just in Washington to attend the summit. She testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee on Tuesday to voice her concerns about the controversial franchising regulations. She called the Browning-Ferris decision "a critical threat to our livelihoods."
She encountered skepticism from Democratic committee members, including Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.), who disputed that "the, uh, board’s Brown-Ferris decision would be bad for small business," presumably referring to the Browning-Ferris decision.
Stockeland disagreed.
"You are applauding small business and are excited and don’t feel that this applies to me," she told the committee. "There’s no definition here [in Browning-Ferris], and so who decides if a franchisor is big or small … that uncertainty is what really gives me cause to pause and look at further expanding my business because I don’t want that liability."
The White House summit begins Wednesday morning.