15 Years of Excellence
The Story of the GGFA
Owners’ Conference
The work of the early years of the Association
centered around the franchise agreement in place
at the time. In 2005, the Board of Directors hired a
new attorney to represent them. Andy Selden was
the most prominent attorney in the U.S. in franchise
law at that time. Working together, they began the
negotiation of what was to become the Legacy II
franchise agreement.
The Executive Board determined it was important for the GGFA
to show that the franchisees were independent and had their
own power. In December 2005, the board decided to host a
conference for the owners in February 2006. Ginger secured
the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead Atlanta and handled
the promotion, registration, banquets, budget and print work
on her own! A snowstorm came through the week after the
OC, so everyone felt very lucky that the bad weather held off
until after our event. This was the origin of the OC and what
We Thank
In June 2005, the board created the position
of
Our Sponsors
Board Members: Board Members:
John Burriss, Sr. President John Burriss, Sr. President
Executive Director
of the
Doug Pearson
Secretary Association for Ginger. She
Lowell governance
Treasurer
brought stability Jeremy and
to the organization.
Jerry McCall
Director (Past President)
A warm sense of
hospitality
was sorely needed
Joel Potter
Director
Mike Epstein
Director
which Ginger exuded.
John Burriss had just been
Ginger Collins
Executive Director
appointed President and Blair McHaney was Vice
President of the GGFA. Together they recruited and
hired her and shared the story of her interview at the
2015 OC when Ginger was recognized for 10 years of
stewardship and service to the GGFA. In our
interview for this issue, John lamented to Ginger that
he is so happy they hired her!
Vice President
Vice President
Doug Pearson Secretary
Jeremy Lowell Treasurer
Jerry McCall Director (Past President)
Joel Potter Director
Mike Epstein Director
Ginger Collins Executive Director
245 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard - Suite 100
Sugar Hill, Georgia 30518
678.730.0815
Through all of this, strong relationships were formed
within the franchisee community. Andy suggested
that a gathering of the owners would be seen as the
coming together of the brand.
“In the founding years, GGI did not like the fact that
the GGFA was being formed. The first Owners’
20
A united voice for the
Gold’s Gym franchisee
Blair McHaney
Blair McHaney
W
Ou
To share the story of why the OC was created, we
need to look back at the founding of the GGFA. The
first ad-hoc meeting of franchisees took place in
2001, with the introduction of the concept of a
Franchisee Association. The GGFA was created
later that year, and the corporate entity was formed.
Legal counsel was hired and the first Board of
Directors was established, with voting rights.
Conference was planned in the middle of the Legacy II
negotiations and it gave the Association credibility. It proved
that the GGFA existed and had political relationship capital.
It was highly successful for the purpose from the first year
and it took off from there.”
Blair McHaney
GGFA President – 2007-10
1 Annual
GGFA Owner’s
Conference
st
245 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard - Suite 100
Sugar Hill, Georgia 30518
678.730.0815
year, the GGFA hosted the 15th Owners’
Conference. What an amazing journey it has been
for GGFA Members! We wanted to share with you
how it all started and why it has become the annual
signature event of the Association’s members and
stakeholders. We spent time with Ginger Collins,
Executive Director of the GGFA since 2005, along
with John Burriss, Sr., and Blair McHaney, two of the
Presidents of the Association in the early years. The
resounding message was that the Owners’ Conference
has never been simply an event for the members. It
has a history that is rooted in purpose.