Media Contact: Stacy Rubenstein, Fishman Public Relations, (847) 945-1300, srubenstein@fishmanpr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PAFI Heads South to Florida for Annual Summit
Conference Aimed at Educating Professional Athletes about Franchise Opportunities
ATLANTA – The Professional Athlete Franchise Initiative (PAFI), which works in conjunction with the International Franchise Association (IFA), and is aimed at helping professional athletes explore small business opportunities in franchising for after they retire, will be hosting its third annual PAFI Franchise Summit Conference from July 15 – July 18 at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The conference will feature educational sessions and panel discussions aimed at offering mentorship to professional athletes. Speaking at the conference to discuss their personal experiences in franchising will be former NFL players such as Muhsin Muhammad, former wide receiver for the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers. Currently, Muhammad is the managing director of Axum Capital Partners, which owns the Wild Wings Café franchise. Also speaking will be Van Jakes, who formerly played with the Kansas City Chiefs, the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers, and now owns and operates five McDonald’s restaurants.
“I understand the challenges that professional athletes endure when they are faced with the ultimate decision of what they are going to do next in their life,” Muhammad said. “The franchise industry has brought great success to many and I want professional athletes to understand that there could be a tremendous future in franchising ahead of them after playing the game.”
This year’s summit will feature athlete and franchisor joint sessions, industry-panel discussions, various team building sessions and new franchisor workshops with sports leagues and alliance partners.
“We are excited to meet with our charter members and company representatives for a few days to offer them educational sessions that are geared at helping professional athletes discover the opportunities that lay ahead of them after they retire,” Michael Stone, PAFI Founder and Executive Director, said. “Our goal during the conference is to provide continuous education to the professional athlete community on the value of the franchise model.”
For more information on the 2012 PAFI Franchise Summit, visit www.thepafi.org.
About the Professional Athlete Franchise Initiative (PAFI)
PAFI is a bridge that connects the professional athlete community to the franchise community through education, research and interaction. PAFI fulfills its mission by partnering with stakeholders in the professional sports and franchise communities to build education based programming for professional athletes interested in learning about the franchise model and franchisors and suppliers interested in discovering ways to open doors to this niche audience. To learn more about PAFI visit www.thepafi.org.
About the International Franchise Association (IFA)
The International Franchise Association is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the franchise industry, which supports nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development. For more information on IFA, please visit www.franchise.org.
