Re: Fwd: Message from McDonald's Corp.
dvanhorn <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.org.ballistichelmet.heads |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Nicholas Bonfatti wrote: > Haha! > > > Speaking of franchises, does anyone remember offhand the percent of > small-business loans that go to starting franchises? It's in Fast Food > Nation but I returned it to the library and would like to know it for a > discussion in my public policy class tonight. > > Thanks, > Nick [ This is a great book, btw. -- David ] For more than three decades the fast food industry has used the Small Business Administration (SBA) to finance new restaurants --- thereby turning a federal agency that was created to help independent, small businesses into one that eliminates them. A 1981 study by the General Accounting Office found that the SBA had guaranteed 18,000 franchise loans between 1967 and 1979, subsidizing the launch of new Burger Kings and McDonald's, among others. Ten percent of these franchise loans ended in default. During the same period, only 4 percent of the independent businesses receiving SBA loans defaulted. In New York City, the SBA backed thirteen loans to Burger King franchisees; eleven of them defaulted. The chain was "experementing," according to a congressional investigation, using government-backed loans to open retaurants in marginal locations. Burger King did not lose money when these restaurants closed. American taxpayers had covered the franchise fees, paid for the buildings, real estate, equipment, and supplies. According to a recent study by the Heriatage Foundation, the SBA is still providing free investment capital to some of the nations largest corporations. In 1996, the SBA guaranteed almost $1 billion in loans to new franchisees. More of those loans went to the fast food industry than any other industry. Almost six hundred new fast food restaurants, representing fifty-two different national chains, were launched in 1996 thanks to government-backed loans. The chain that benefited the most from SBA loans was Subway. Of the 755 new Subways opened that year, 109 relied upon the U.S. government for financing. _______________________________________________ heads mailing list [email protected] http://ballistichelmet.org/mailman/listinfo/heads/ http://ballistichelmet.org/donate/