PFIFA is Now Accepting Nominations for the Board of Directors
FRANCHISE AGREEMENT AND AREA DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT by J. Mark Dady
April 15, 2016, was an important day for most franchisees in the Planet Fitness ® system. No, not because all of you had to pay taxes. It was an important day because it was the day Planet Fitness issued its new 2016 Franchise Disclosure Document, Franchise Agreement( FA) and Area Development Agreement( ADA). While there were not as many significant changes to the FA and ADA in 2016 as there were in 2015( when the FA and ADA underwent significant changes in connection with the MOU between PFIFA and PFHQ), there were some important changes in the 2016 FA and ADA of which all of you should be aware. Prior to going through those changes, however, I did want to make three quick points.
First, aside from the content of the FA and ADA, the process used to finalize the 2016 FA and ADA is worth mentioning. Indeed, rather than having PFHQ simply issue the 2016 FA and ADA to the franchisee community without notice, PFHQ, prior to finalizing anything, engaged in a number of negotiation sessions with PFIFA representatives. Those negotiation sessions included the exchange of numerous redlines back and forth, and PFHQ accepting significant input and direction from PFIFA representatives. While the PFIFA is not able to endorse every change that PFHQ made to the 2016 FA and ADA, the PFIFA is very appreciative of and endorses the process PFHQ used here, which, in short, gave the PFIFA a seat at the“ negotiating table” and gave franchisees a voice in the process( which is not something every franchisor does).
Second, it is important to understand that not all of the PFIFA’ s efforts related to negotiating the 2016 FA and ADA appear or are visible in the final form of those agreements. More specifically, much of the PFIFA’ s work during the negotiation process consisted of“ pushing back” on certain changes PFHQ was proposing to make that the PFIFA believed would have had a negative impact on the franchisees. As the PFIFA was successful in many of those instances, certain changes proposed by PFHQ never made their way into the final agreements.
Third, and finally, the PFIFA was able to( as discussed below) obtain a few“ wins” for franchisees in the 2016 FA and ADA. I bring this up to make the point that the PFIFA can only request changes to the FA and ADA if it knows there is an issue. So, if you have an issue or change you would like to see made in the 2017 FA or ADA, let the PFIFA board members know about it, and hopefully, we can continue to make progress on the next round of negotiations.
With the above in mind, here are some of the more important changes included in the 2016 FA and ADA( please do, however, have your agreements reviewed by an attorney prior to signing anything, as this is not an exhaustive list, and further, you may have additional rights under existing FAs or ADAs):
1
Obligation to Continuously Develop – ADA
PFHQ was concerned that some developers, if they were ahead of their development schedules, might let their territories“ go dark” and stop developing for extended periods of time. PFHQ initially proposed requiring a developer to agree to build one club every 365 days( in addition to meeting the minimum
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PFIFA is Now Accepting Nominations for the Board of Directors
PFIFA has formed a Nominating Committee to consider candidates for the five PFIFA Board of Directors seats that will be open for the 2016-2019 term. A full slate of nominees will be announced to the membership by Sept. 13, 2016.
Elections will be held in November and the new Board members will be announced at the PFIFA Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
If you would like to nominate a candidate for consideration by the Nominating Committee, please complete the form available at www. pffranchisee. org under the About Us tab no later than Friday, Aug. 12, 2016.
In order to be nominated and elected to the Board, a member must be current in all association dues at the time the member is nominated and elected.
In addition, at the time of nomination, and throughout their term on the Board, each nominee and Board member must maintain their association membership in good standing.
If you have any questions regarding the nominating process or upcoming elections please contact Kristi Keith-Hoffman, PFIFA executive director, at 678-797-5160 or email kristik @ pffranchisee. org. G
GearedUp | 2016 Issue 2
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