Lauren Fernandez/Origin Development Group
Founding Partner
Lauren is the founder of The Fernandez Company, the culmination of over a decade of practice as a trusted brand consultant and legal advisor with all kinds of clients, from start-ups to multinational companies. She grows new revenue streams for companies, particularly in the food and hospitality industries through strategic consulting and legal support. Lauren is expert in the areas of restaurant development and expansion, franchising, product development and licensing. Before forming The Fernandez Company, Lauren served as the General Counsel for FOCUS Brands, where she ran the legal and franchise departments and provided instrumental leadership in the company’s growth in both licensing and international development.
In Lauren’s most recent venture, she serves as a partner of the newly formed Origin Development Group, a multi-unit franchise developer who serves as a strategic partner for both new and established franchised brands.
Lauren holds an undergraduate degree from Stetson University, as well as a JD/MBA from Emory University. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. She also is a dedicated fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and was named the 2015 Woman of the Year for raising nearly $95,000 in less than three months for cancer research.
Thomas Rockwood/The Brand Bank
Vice President, Business Development Officer
Thomas Rockwood is currently a Business Development Officer for Brand Banks Government Guaranteed Lending division out of Buckhead, GA. He is a results driven, commercial banking executive with over 10+ years of experience in government guaranteed financing solutions helping businesses thrive, grow & expand. Thomass focus is in providing Small Business Administration (SBA) or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans to businesses that qualify for these loan programs. He excels at developing and executing lending strategies vital to helping businesses increase cash flow to grow and expand their business.
What I do:
Thomas’s focus is to help business owners participate in the government loan programs for which they are eligible. There are programs and/or incentives for veteran-owned, women-owned and minority-owned businesses. Additionally, there are programs for companies that export goods to foreign countries, for companies that manufacture in the US and for companies that are implementing green environmentally friendly strategies for their business to reduce energy consumption or produce renewable energy. Taking advantage of these programs helps businesses hold onto more of their cash and in some cases get extended repayment terms compared to non-government guaranteed loans.
The types of financing transactions that Thomas does helps business owners:
Acquire a business
Start a new business or franchise business
Buyout a partner of an existing business
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Henry Turner/Turner Law Offices, LLC
Owner
Henry Turner has a law practice in Decatur, Georgia. His Juris Doctorate is from GA State University College of Law, where he was recognized as a best oralist and honored with the Board of Trial Advocates Award as Outstanding Student Litigator. In addition, Henry has a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration on Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Throughout his career he established professional affiliations with the State Bar of Georgia, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, CFA Institute, Atlanta Society of Financial Analysts and Fellow Financial Analysts Federation. He is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Georgia, Georgia Court of Appeals, US Court of Appeals-Eleventh Circuit, US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Henry’s primary area’s of practice are Franchise Law, Banking Law and Securitities Law.
John Quattrocchi/Corporate Financial Options LLC
Founder
“We Make Business ownership Easier”, is the motto of John Q CPA and his business Corporate Financial Options. Concentrating his practice in the franchise industry, John Q is dedicated to helping business owners not only maintain their accounting records but to help them understand the information to enhance and improve operations. “what is properly measured can be effectively managed”, is john Q’ s way of saying, Lets create an efficient system for keeping your books, ensure that it is accurate and create a process to implement improvements to your operations. John Q works with franchisees, franchisors and business owners that are aggressive growing and looking for true professional help.
Pam Currie/Franchise Intellect, Inc
Founder
Pam Currie has over 20 years in franchising and traditional corporate America; She has acquired business acumen from multiple perspectives of the franchise business model, starting at the franchisee level, then as a franchisor business support & trainer, to a franchisor launch & system developer, all of which included creating strategies for sales development and implementation of relevant training programs.
Her experience puts her in the role of training other franchise advisors. She founded Franchise Intellect and offers franchise consulting to individuals who are interested in pursuing franchise ownership and to franchisors that are looking to receive assistance in developing a franchise growth strategy and/or a training strategy. She specifically enjoys guiding her client’s in making a knowledgeable decision in selecting the best franchise based upon their criteria, with the objective of achieving financial health and life enjoyment.
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