When Don and Annette Miller opened their first Dunkin’ Donuts 40 years ago in western Pennsylvania, they never anticipated it would be the first of a network of successful family-run stores. Franchising wasn’t even part of the young couple’s plans at the time, but when Don lost his job unexpectedly, they heeded the nudge of…
Forget the Coolattas; skip the sandwiches; it’s not about the bagels (or the donuts). Dunkin’ Brands runs on coffee, which is why “America Runs on Dunkin’.” Perhaps no beverage is more intertwined to people’s lives than coffee. Whether one drinks it black, with a mocha swirl, a shot of almond milk, or “regular,” coffee is…
Few of today’s Dunkin’ franchisees can say they’ve been with the brand for 50 years. And only one (that we know of) has logged more than 20 years at both Dunkin’ Brands and as a franchisee. So, when it came time to talk about the evolution of Dunkin’ Donuts, it was an easy decision to…
It’s not even a drop in the bucket compared to the federal Paycheck Protection Program that just this week ran out of $349 billion in small business loans, but the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey just yesterday launched her own grant program to assist small businesses suffering under the coronavirus crisis. Attorney General…
Aside from the loan and other financial components contained in the pending federal CARES Act, a number of states and cities are also looking to create and fund business loan programs to help get the economy back on track. Toward that end, 10 days ago the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan program was launched…
Legislators and environmental activists across the nation continue to target single-use plastic bags, straws and other plastic products for elimination as the new legislative sessions begin. Massachusetts will most assuredly advance a plastic bag ban, although 135 communities already have a local ban of some sort on their books. The state senate approved a sweeping…
From those who gave us the $15 minimum wage and dramatic expansion of paid sick leave and other employee benefit mandates across much of the country, they’re establishing a new priority moving forward – Fair Workweek laws. The Fight for $15 and its associated labor groups have seemingly shifted gears and are now organizing in…
Delayed from earlier in the summer, employer obligations under the new Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Law (PFML) will begin in a few weeks on October 1, 2019, when covered employers are required to begin contributions to fund the program. The PFML provides temporary income replacement to eligible workers who welcome a new child…
In the catalogue of government overreach, or nanny-state actions of late, we’d hasten to submit Oregon at the state level and old favorite San Francisco in the local community category. Just a few weeks ago, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law Senate bill 1019, which provides that beginning in the year 2024, all eggs…
The California state senate is closing in on final consideration of AB-5, which will codify the Dynamex decision of the California Supreme Court. That decision, rendered in early 2018, established the “ABC Test” for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor as opposed to the historically-accepted Economic Realities Test. Whereas the…