Meineke Car Care Center has been named one of the “50 Top Franchises for Veterans” by the World Franchising Network. Meineke was selected from more than 400 companies for its commitment to the recruitment and advancement of veterans within the company. Maaco — another Driven Brands company — also was named to the list.     

“Veterans make excellent franchise owners and we have many veteran franchisees who have found Meineke to be the perfect post-military career,” said Dave Schaefers, senior vice president of franchise development for Driven Brands. “Veterans understand how to follow a system and have excellent leadership skills, which are a couple of the reasons why we recruit them to be franchise owners. We are happy to be named to this list because it recognizes our commitment to helping veterans succeed in franchising.”        

Meineke currently has 57 veteran franchise owners and two veterans in senior management positions. Meineke provides veterans with a 10 percent discount off its franchise fee through VetFran and has provided more than $600,000 in VetFran discounts, ranking it sixth in licenses sold among all franchisors since the VetFran program was launched in 2002.

“The steady increase in veteran representation within the overall franchising community over the past several years has been extremely encouraging,” said Rob Bond, founder of the World Franchising Network. “It certainly is clear evidence of the intrinsic values, invaluable experience learned through life’s lessons and the exceptional work ethic of our military veterans. Hopefully, this trend will continue so that these fine young men and women can test their skills in franchising."      

Growth projections for Meineke call for about 70 to 80 new franchises to be added in each of the next three years, with a total of approximately 180 to 200 franchises added by the end of 2014.