For the second year in a row, PostNet International Franchise Corp. was chosen as one of the 50 Top Franchises for Minorities by the National Minority Franchising Initiative.

This is the second annual survey to be placed in the USA Today – Franchising Today section of the newspaper. The article and listing can be found at http://www.worldfranchising.com/download/Top50_USA-Today.pdf.

The NMFI picked 50 franchisors from over 300 companies requesting evaluation for inclusion in the article. There was no cost to participate in the survey. The only constraint was that franchisors had to have more than 50 operating units. Each participating franchisor was required to submit its most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) and the marketing package that is sent to prospective franchisees, as well as a completed questionnaire. The questionnaire noted the number (both absolute and as a percentage of the total number) of operating units owned by minorities, as well as the number of minorities in senior management that earned over $60,000 per year.

Final selection was a function of many factors that included historical performance, brand identification, market dynamics, franchisee satisfaction, the level of initial training and on-going support and financial stability, as well as the results of the questionnaire. In many cases, actual franchisees were contacted to confirm our initial observations. The companies were not ranked within the Top 50.

According to Rob Bond, co-founder of the NMFI, “It is both surprising and rewarding to see how many companies not only talk the talk, but more importantly walk the walk. There are a number of companies that actually have a majority of minority franchisees within their system. Many others have a significant number of minorities within their senior management. The times, they definitely are a-changin’. This list is a great honor for those franchise systems selected. The analysis was rigorous and entirely objective. We are unaware of any other study that has published a similarly rigorous analysis.”