What is Benjamin Franklin Plumbing's right regarding the establishment of Cooperatives?
Benjamin_Franklin_Plumbing Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We have the right to organize: (1) co-marketing programs in which Franchised Businesses and vendors (or other third parties) cross-promote each other's goods and services; (2) joint marketing efforts in which multiple Franchised Businesses contribute to a specific ad or event; and/or (3) local or regional marketing co-operatives ("Cooperatives") that pool funds of Franchised Businesses in a geographic area or with common characteristics on an ongoing basis to jointly promote the Marks and the Franchised Businesses.
The amount we require you to spend or contribute to joint marketing programs and/or a Cooperative will be credited to your obligation for Local Marketing under Section 10.4 or, at our option, to your Brand Fund obligation under Section 7.3, or any combination of the two.
You are required to participate in each applicable joint marketing program and comply with the rules of the program.
If an existing Cooperative is applicable to your Franchised Business at the time it opens, you are required to immediately become a member of the Cooperative.
If a Cooperative applicable to the Franchised Business is established during the term of this Agreement, you are required to become a member no later than thirty (30) days after the date we approve for the Cooperative to begin operation.
We have the right to designate any geographic area or set of common characteristics for purposes of establishing a Cooperative.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 88–312)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 FDD, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing has the right to organize local or regional marketing cooperatives. These cooperatives pool funds from franchisees within a specific geographic area or those sharing common characteristics to jointly promote the Benjamin Franklin Plumbing brand and their respective businesses.
If a cooperative already exists when a new Benjamin Franklin Plumbing franchise opens, the franchisee must immediately join. If a cooperative is established during the franchise agreement term, the franchisee is required to become a member within 30 days of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing approving the cooperative's operational start date.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing also has the right to designate the geographic area or common characteristics that define a cooperative. The amount a franchisee is required to spend or contribute to joint marketing programs and/or a Cooperative will be credited to the franchisee's obligation for Local Marketing or to the Brand Fund obligation, or any combination of the two.