After 10 years in the United States Navy, Tom Perez has signed with Meineke Car Care Centers to take over the location at 2871 West Michigan Ave. in Pensacola, Fla. Meineke quickly approved Perez’s franchise application because of his skills and personality. Meineke has discounted its franchise fee by 25 percent and is financing nearly 75 percent of the entire purchase, but Perez still needs to raise additional capital to get started. He is the first Meineke franchisee to use Sprigster’s Boost A Hero franchise crowdfunding program.
Perez, 31, who was honorably discharged last year due to downsizing, served
as a master of arms in the Navy. He completed three tours in Iraq and many
tours in other locations. Perez is a decorated veteran who has received four
Navy/Marine Corp Achievement Medals, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the
Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit
Commendation, three Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Medal, the Iraq
Campaign Medal, the Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War On
Terrorism Expeditions Medal and the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
"Tom is a great franchise candidate who served our country for 10 years
and just recently returned to the U.S.," said Dave Schaefers, senior vice
president of franchise development of Driven Brands. "Tom has a great
personality and the skills to be a successful business owner. Veterans make
great franchise owners because they are hard working and know how to follow a
system. We look forward to bringing Tom into the system and we’re doing
everything we can to help him get the financing he needs to get started."
Boost A Hero is dedicated to using crowdfunding to get U.S. veterans the start
they need to be franchise business owners. Veterans who are accepted by Boost A
Hero create a project campaign telling their story and funding goal. The
projects can be viewed on the website where people can make contributions. View
Perez’s project at
http://www.sprigster.com/projects/6-help-navy-vet-tom-open-a-meineke.
"In my 10 years in the military, I spent half that time in hostile
environments. Now I am ready to use my leadership and management experience
combined with my education to be a successful entrepreneur," Perez said.
"I know that my military training will help me excel in business because
it instilled in me the leadership skills and the work ethic to make it happen.
I’m really looking forward to getting started with a great brand like Meineke
and I’m very excited to be one of the first people to use the Boost A Hero
program for financing."
Meineke is owned by Driven Brands, the parent company to six franchised
automotive brands. Other Driven Brands companies include MAACO Franchising,
Inc. (collision repair and auto painting), Econo Lube N’ Tune (automotive
repair/quick-lube services), Aero Colours (automotive paint repair), AutoQual
(vehicle reconditioning, protection and appearance maintenance services) and
Drive N Style (aftermarket installation services), as well as Tortal.net, a
training company that specializes in developing interactive online training solutions.
Driven Brands, Inc.
2871 West Michigan Ave.
Pensacola, FL 32526
Contact: Tom Perez
Phone: 850-377-0561
Press & Media Contact:
Caitlin Varley
Sanderson & Associates, Ltd
Pensacola, FL - USA
312-829-4350
