Dunkin Donuts offering free Dolphins tickets

As part of a partnership between Dunkin Donuts and the Miami Dolphins, the first 50 people at 10 Dunkin Donuts restaurants, including three stores on the Treasure Coast, on Saturday will receive two free tickets to the Dec. 27 game between the Dolphins and the Houston Texans at Land Shark Stadium. The promotion starts at 7 a.m.

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Bain Gets Poor Moody’s Review

Jerry Kronenberg writes in the Boston Herald that former U.S. Senate hopeful Steve Pagliuca is touting one-time rival Martha Coakley’s job-creation credentials, but a new study questions his own firm’s ability to turn companies around. Moody’s recently ranked Boston-based Bain Capital – where Pagliuca serves as a managing director – the fifth-worst major private-equity firm in terms of buying businesses and saddling them with risky debts.

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Access to Money Selected by Dunkin’ Brands as a Provider of ATMs for Franchisees

Access to Money, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: AEMI), one of the largest providers and non-bank operators of ATMs in the United States, has been selected by Dunkin’ Brands as one of only two approved vendors to offer ATM machines to its Dunkin’ Donuts network of franchisees. The ATM program will be available to franchisees in New York and may expand to additional markets in 2010.

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DDIFO Members: Attend the Second Annual CFA Day Forum in Washington DC

As the year comes to a close and the New Year is almost upon us, it’s a good time to reflect on the challenges we face as small business owners. Legislatively, 2009 has been a difficult year for business owners. There is more to come, legislators in Washington DC are preparing to enact new laws that will have a dramatic impact on your bottom line. As the Legislative Affairs Coordinator for DDIFO, I can assure you that DDIFO is not sitting idly by as legislators continue to pry into your business. As a founding member of the Coalition of Franchisee Associations (CFA) we have been working together with other franchisee associations to make sure that all of our voices are heard on Capital Hill.

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Joblessness Plan Revamps Rules on Bank Bailouts

David Cho writes in the Washington Post that the Obama administration plans to channel money from the government’s massive financial bailout program to small businesses as part of an effort to limit the political and economic damage of high unemployment. One plan under consideration involves spinning off a new entity from the Troubled Assets Relief Program that would give banks access to federal funds without restrictions, including limits on executive pay, as long as the money was used to support loans to small businesses. But officials are not yet certain whether carving the program out of TARP would be the best way to encourage banks to boost small-business lending, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans are not final.

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Subway to Launch Major Bay State Expansion

Officials at the Subway sandwich chain said yesterday that they plan to open 130 new stores in Massachusetts over the next five years. There are already 175, according to Bob Hurley, a Subway development agent. “As far as Subway is concerned, it’s just underdeveloped,’’ Hurley said yesterday of the Massachusetts sandwich market. “There’s only one store for every 25,000 people. If you look at surrounding areas, states like Rhode Island and Maine, there’s one store for every 12,000.’’

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Hundreds Turn Out to Build Home for Disabled Vet

Jeannie Nuss reports in the Boston Globe that hundreds of contractors, students, and other volunteers are turning out in Middleborough this weekend to build an accessible home for a veteran who lost both legs in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan. Homes for Our Troops, a Taunton-based non-profit group, organized a three-day building brigade to raise a house for Staff Sergeant Mike Downing.
The house will have wider hallways and accessible doors to allow 43-year-old Downing to get around in his wheelchair. The kitchen will feature lower cabinets and the bathrooms will have roll-in showers. Donations from organizations like the Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation cover the cost of the houses, which go to the veterans for free, according to Vicki Thomas, a spokeswoman for Homes for Our Troops.

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Bank’s Pullout Idles Dunkin’ Donuts Construction

The construction of a Dunkin’ Donuts in the LaGrange town center remains at a standstill due to lack of capital. “The bank pulled the financing,” said Nick Palumbo, co-developer of the project on Route 55, next to Arlington High School. After receiving town Planning Board approval in June to build the Dunkin’ Donuts, Palumbo and co-developer Joe Deangelis made rapid progress in constructing the foundation and frame of the two-story structure.

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Circle K Launches Franchise Program in Florida

Circle K is breaking new ground this year by offering franchise opportunities to business owners in Florida who recognize the value of the Circle K brand. For your information Circle K is also owns approximately 14 Dunkin Donuts Franchises in the Cleveland Ohio Area

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How one big investor is “playing offense again”

Patricia Sellers interviewed Carlyle Group’s Sandra Horbach, who heads the private equity giant’s consumer and retail group, at the Women’s Alternative Investment Summit in New York last week. I shared a few highlights, and since the session drew terrific audience feedback, it’s worth giving you more of Horbach’s smart talk about managing through the recession, investing into the recovery, and navigating a career in private equity, where few women dare to tread.–Patricia Sellers.

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