For immediate release
Contact:
Alisa Harrison, 202-628-8000
Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770
aharrison@franchise.org
mhaller@franchise.org
twitter.com/franchising411
 

WASHINGTON, MAY 31--International Franchise Association Senior Vice President, Government Relations & Public Policy Judith Thorman released the following statement after reports that New York City will propose to ban thousands of franchise establishments from selling sugar-sweetened beverages including sodas, coffees, teas, juice drinks, flavored waters, sports drinks, or energy drinks in sizes larger than 16 ounces.

"This proposal will harm New York City's thousands of small business franchise owners, job creators and their employees at a time when they are still grappling with a slow economic recovery.   Limiting the sale of beverages to consumers will do nothing more than force small business franchise restaurant owners to raise prices on other items to account for a loss in sales, or worse yet, consider laying-off workers and neither option is a good option.

"New York City policymakers should shift their focus to improving the business environment for small business franchise restaurant owners who provide many entry-level and managerial jobs for the city's residents, rather than proposing regulations that would harm small business owners and impact the freedom of their consumers to make their own product choices."
 

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About the International Franchise Association
The International Franchise Association is the world's oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.