Franchise Business Review Appoints New President

by FBR

Well-known Client Liaison to Focus on Company Growth, New Services for Franchisors

Portsmouth, NH – Franchise Business Review (FBR) announced today the appointment of Michelle Rowan as president. Rowan will leverage her 15-plus years’ experience in sales, business development, client relations, and operational management to oversee day-to-day operations at the market research firm and to head the company’s growing menu of market research services for the franchise industry.

Rowan is well-known in the franchising world. She is a prominent figure at International Franchise Association events and will become a Certified Franchise Executive at the IFA’s national convention in February. She is especially familiar to FBR clients, with whom she works closely to survey franchisees and identify and improve operational issues.

Rowan joined Franchise Business Review seven years ago as an account executive and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2010. She replaces company founder Eric Stites as president.

“Michelle’s been with FBR from the very beginning, and has played a very active role in the management of the company from day one. She’s the perfect person to lead FBR as we continue to grow and expand our service offering to franchisors,” Stites said.

Stites, who will remain CEO of FBR parent company Abistar Group, will oversee the continued growth of all three of the company’s brands, which include Franchise Business Review; ShareMyFeedback, a customer satisfaction tool; and Frantopia, a new Web 2.0 social network platform designed to improve franchisee engagement and performance.

As president, Rowan plans to focus on gaining more exposure for the work FBR does improving franchisor operations and relationships with franchisees. FBR has several new service offerings to help franchise systems implement franchisee evaluations into their business planning and measurement efforts and to share franchisee data with potential buyers. The company will also focus on new ways to connect franchisors with each other in order to share best practices.

“When I joined FBR, it was a new idea for franchisors to ask their franchisees to rate their franchise system and to share that data with existing franchisees,” Rowan said. “Seven years later, transparency is the expectation in the industry from franchisees and people investigating a brand, and I am hoping to make FBR the tool all top franchises use in 2012.”

Prior to joining FBR, Rowan worked for a national telecommunications company, managing the inside sales team for New England. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and sits on the Funding Development Committee for the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, serving New Hampshire and Vermont.
 

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