Who owns the clients identified or generated by the National Business Development Program at City Wide?
City_Wide Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
CITY WIDE has established a program focused on attracting and servicing clients that have a regional or national presence ("National Business Development Program").
All clients identified or generated by the National Business Development Program belong to CITY WIDE.
As of the date of this Agreement, there are two aspects of the National Business Development Program:
- 3.6.1.
CITY WIDE has established national accounts with national companies with locations all over the United States with whom CITY WIDE typically negotiates one contract for each personal account ("National Account Contract") for the provision of facility maintenance services for all the national account's locations ("Top Down Account").
CITY WIDE also might be designated a preferred vendor by a regional or national account ("Preferred Vendor Account").
Top-Down Accounts and Preferred Vendor Accounts are serviced either by CITY WIDE'S other franchisees or by an affiliate of CITY WIDE, Arete Facility Management, LLC ("Arete").
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 65)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to City Wide's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, clients identified or generated by the National Business Development Program belong to City Wide. This program focuses on attracting and servicing clients with a regional or national presence.
This means that while a franchisee may service these national accounts, the client relationship remains with City Wide. This is part of City Wide's strategy to secure and manage large accounts that span multiple territories. The FDD outlines two aspects of this program: National Account Contracts (Top Down Accounts) and Preferred Vendor Accounts. These accounts may be serviced by City Wide's other franchisees or an affiliate, Arete Facility Management, LLC.
As a franchisee, you may be offered the opportunity to service these Top-Down Accounts within your designated territory at a price established by City Wide. However, if you are unable or unwilling to fulfill the order, City Wide can assign it to Arete or another third party. If another franchisee or Arete is already servicing a Top-Down Account in your territory, you may need to pay a fee to take over the account, as detailed in Attachment B of the Franchise Agreement. If the National Account is being serviced by Arete, the fee you pay to Arete will be contributed to the National Marketing Fund.
Franchisees are required to participate and cooperate in the National Business Development Program, which may include adhering to specific marketing and distribution channels. City Wide retains the right to modify or discontinue the program at any time with written notice. If a franchisee services a National Account, they must maintain the insurance types and coverages required by the National Account Contract and ensure their subcontractors do the same. Franchisees also pay a royalty fee based on gross sales, including those from National Accounts.