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Franchising's leaders: the International Franchise Association's board of directors executive committee.

Article Excerpt
The International Franchise Association serves as the "Voice of Franchising" and is composed of talented and experienced representatives as members of its board of directors. The board includes franchisees, franchisors and suppliers. The franchised businesses they represent range from food to fuels management, hotels and motels to commercial and residential cleaning, business services to legal consulting, lawn care to information technology solutions and mail and package shipping to moving services. The leaders of the world's oldest and largest trade organization for the franchise sector are briefly profiled below.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chairman-elect

Richard Rennick, CFE

Founder and Chief Executive

Officer

American Leak Detection, Inc.

Dick Rennick, CFE, called the father of high-tech leak detection after he built a business that revolutionized the leak-finding process, is also known for his commitment to teamwork and franchisee support. A member of IFA for two decades, Rennick has served on many committees and presently serves as chairman of the association's Educational Foundation for 2004. He founded the Franchise Emergency Action Team (FEAT) to mobilize assistance from the franchise community when disasters strike. While serving on the IFA Convention Task Force, Rennick was the driving force for the "Taste of Franchising" idea that has been very successful during the association's conventions since 2000. For his vision, Rennick was named IFA's Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997.

First Vice Chairman-elect

Lawrence J. "Doc" Cohen, CFE

President

Doc & Associates, Ltd.

Lawrence "Doc" Cohen was a pharmacist and attorney before becoming a leading franchisee of the Great American Cookie Co. He served as founding president of the company's franchise advisory council and has been honored by IFA as Franchisee of the Year and by Great American Cookie Co. as Franchisee of the Decade. He is an IFA Educational Foundation trustee, former chairman of the association's Franchisee Forum and 2004 chair of the association's Finance, Audit and Budget Committee. Cohen was the first franchisee to earn the Certified Franchise Executive designation.

Second Vice

Chairman-elect

Michael M. Isakson

President and Chief

Operating Officer

ServiceMaster Clean

The ServiceMaster Co.

Michael Isakson is responsible for more than 5,000 franchises worldwide and sales of more than $1 billion. The ServiceMaster Co. has worldwide revenues of $5 billion-plus and is made up of franchises including residential and commercial cleaning services and on-site furniture repair. Isakson and his wife, Jinny, owned a ServiceMaster franchise in Bismarck, N.D. for 13 years, and a Merry Maids franchise for two years before he joined the corporate team in 1990 as vice president of franchise sales. As franchisees, the Isaksons received the Marion E. Wade Award of Honor, ServiceMaster's most prestigious award. In 1992, Isakson was promoted to president and COO of Merry Maids, and in 1994, he was appointed president of the ServiceMaster Consumer Services Franchise Services Group. He has served as co-chair of the IFA Franchisor Forum.

Secretary-elect

Steven J. Greenbaum, CFE

President and Chief

Executive Officer

PostNet International

Franchise Corp.

Steven J. Greenbaum, CFE, has served as president, chief executive officer and director of PostNet International Franchise Corp. since he founded it with partner Brian Spindel in 1992. Greenbaum is responsible for the company's strategic management and direction. He is an accomplished retail professional and entrepreneur with more than 20 years experience in the postal and business-services industry. Prior to founding PostNet, he was national sales manager and ultimately became president of Consolidated Services Corp., an independent development and consulting firm that specialized in the postal and business-center industry. Greenbaum was involved in the development of more than 400 independent postal and business centers located throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. Since the inception of PostNet's franchising program in 1993, the company has licensed more than 925 franchises in the United States and more than 20 countries as one of the largest and fastest growing privately-held companies in the postal and business-services industry. In 2003, Greenbaum led an initiative that resulted in...

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