including legal and real estate professionals, before making site selection decisions.

Training.

Before opening your Noodles & Company restaurant, you and your Operating Partner (described in Item 15), and management personnel for your Noodles & Company restaurant who have not previously graduated from our certified training programs or approved training programs (as applicable depending on position) must successfully complete the appropriate training program as described in the Franchise Agreement, Section 4. Your personnel must also be trained using our approved training programs and materials, as outlined in the Operations Manual. All training must be completed to Noodles & Company's satisfaction. Failure to timely complete training to Noodles & Company's satisfaction could result in the termination of your Area Development Agreement or Franchise Agreement(s), or both.

You and your Operating Partner must complete all Noodles & Company training, which includes hands-on training and classroom training covering all phases of Noodles & Company restaurant operations, including food preparation, food safety, equipment operation and maintenance, cost control, inventory control and basic techniques of management. The training time periods and locations will be set forth by Noodles & Company, as amended, in the Noodles & Company Operations Manual and other materials as we deem appropriate. You and your Operating Partner must start your training at least 16 weeks prior to your first restaurant opening and your General Manager must start his/her training at least 12 weeks prior to the restaurant opening. Currently, training typically occurs at the Noodles & Company Central Support Office in Broomfield, Colorado, and at certified training restaurants in Colorado and in other states. The duration of general manager training under the current general manager training schedule is set forth in the Training Summary provided below. Training is currently scheduled based on a mutually agreed upon schedule between the FAO and Noodles & Company.

As of the date of this disclosure document, training will be administered by Becky Randall, Director - Training Ops Services and various members of our staff and Noodles & Company restaurant management personnel who have experience in the operation of Noodles & Company restaurants. Ms. Randall has been in the Director of Training role for almost nine years. In most cases, our trainers have an average of 8-12 years of previous experience with Noodles & Company.

You are required to use the Company designated systems for procedures and training. The internal procedure system is The Binder. The training systems is a webbased Learning Management system. It's called The Table and all new hire and development training is done via this website-based platform.

Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 36–48)