Firehouse.com reports that the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), in partnership with the Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation, has selected 10 outstanding junior firefighter programs and Explorer Posts from departments nationwide to receive a $5,000 grant through the NVFC National Junior Firefighter Program. This is the second year that the program has honored ten exceptional junior firefighter programs with grants.
After a month of buildup, National Coffee Day pits the region’s longtime coffee king Dunkin’ Donuts against the fast-food behemoth McDonald’s. For a month now, McDonald’s franchises in New England have been giving away free cups of their new regional brew.
Tim Hortons started to take steps over the summer toward the reorganization. In June Tim Hortons made a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and said its proposed reorganization would include a combination with a newly formed subsidiary. The company would then become a wholly owned subsidiary of a business also named Tim Hortons Inc. under the Canada Business Corporations Act.
When the makeover at the termoinal is finished, sometime next year, the airport’s retail and restaurant space will have almost doubled. Revenues are expected to be twice what they were. Visitors will be able to pick from a mix of regional and national fare, from Great Lakes Brewing Co. and Panini’s to Dunkin’ Donuts and Obrycki’s Crab House and Seafood Restaurant. And they won’t have to pay more for a wider range of shopping choices.
Initial and ongoing training in all aspects of the business operation is clearly a benefit of becoming a franchisee – as opposed to starting an independent business. Most franchisors are very good at training the technical and operational aspects of the business because it is what they know – running a restaurant, cleaning cars, whatever. But many of their franchisees may not have run businesses before, so they need training in more than just how to operate the restaurant or clean cars.
Dunkin’ Donut franchise owners who attended the members’ meeting in Worcester, MA on September 22 learned about plans to double the size of the group’s membership, were exhorted to get involved with the government legislative process for their own benefit and heard a battle cry to fight against apparantly aggressive legal tactics by the brand against the franchise owners.
The McDonald’s McCafé espresso-based coffee line has been rolled out in the United States. In Europe, the McCafé concept is an actual coffeehouse. And if McDonald’s has its way, its goal is to become the No. 1 coffee chain on the continent, according to a story in BusinessWeek. The chain plans to open 200 cafes in Europe this year, bringing its total to 1,100. Starbucks has almost 1,200 stores in the region.
Starbucks aired the first creative for its Via Ready Brew during the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live” last night. Four 15-second spots from agency BBDO, New York, challenged consumers to a taste test at its cafes this week, to discern the difference between its much-lauded instant product and the Starbucks house brew.
Twelve months ago, a series of financial-sector failures catapulted an already troubled economy into a period of prolonged marketplace volatility. Distressed banking giants that did not go bankrupt were swooped up by their peers. Insurance provider AIG received an $85 million bailout from the federal government, which later offered rescue funds to banks across the country. Real estate values plummeted and workplace layoffs left millions without jobs.
The landscape of lenders willing to work with small business owners has changed dramatically in the last year, but one bank — Wells Fargo — has emerged stronger than ever.
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