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After years in education, Bob joined Batten, Batten, Hudson & Swab, a management consulting company which serviced mainly Fortune 1000 companies. His positions included: Vice President of the Education division and lead a large team of consultants who conducted over 3,200 seminars annually all over the United States; Vice President of Marketing.

In 1981 Bob founded Management 2000 and has been its President since. His dedication to the franchise business strategy has been very strong over the years. Bob has served as the Director of Education for the International Franchise Association, served on their committee that created the certification program for franchise executives called “The Certified Franchise Executive” of CFE. He has also worked closely with the Canadian Franchise Association over the years.

Bob has worked on several writing projects over the years and his works are included in parts of publications by Andrew Sherman; The International Franchise Association’s “ICFE Study Guide For Franchise Executives”; and many articles for various franchise publications.

In addition, Bob has been involved in several franchise concepts himself, therefore bringing to the clients of Management 2000 a perspective of the franchisee in addition to his other qualification.

Her career in travel ended at Carlson Wagonlit Travel where her last position was as Vice President in the franchise division. She joined the company just as it began the franchise system in 1985. The franchise company grew to approximately 1600 travel agency locations in the United States. Over the years she held positions in agency operations, customer service, training & development and meeting planning. She was involved with: The overall growth of the network via new locations, expansions of existing franchisees and increased sales and profits in the franchisee’s locations; Franchisee Satisfaction; Development of new programs, products and services; UFOC and Operation Standards Manuals development; Field Service operation and internal Support Service Department; Development of a program for the top Franchisees; Name changes for the franchise network.; The acquisition of another travel franchise company and the integration.

Pam served on several boards which directly affected the industry: Airline Reporting Corporation Advisory Board, Sonesta Hotel Advisory Board and ASTA (American Society of Travel Agencies) Committee for Franchisees and Consortiums.

He understands the four components of a business [Philosophy, Process, People, and Technology] and how to assist and mentor the existing leadership of a company to evolve into a professionally managed, system and process driven organization. As a COO he had accountability for profits and growth by designing strategies and tactics to drive revenue, control costs, and increase productivity. He brings his knowledge and expertise in these areas to client engagements.

A key component to building a successful franchise organization is having great franchisor/franchisee relationships. Gene is skilled at involving and engaging franchisors and franchisees in collaborating with one another to achieve the greater good of the Brand and in confronting and resolving issues, dealing with resistance effectively, problem solving, and maximizing opportunities.

Gene also brings skills at helping examine how to maximize current operations and at assisting a client’s team on examining if the current business model needs to change in order to for the Brand to win in an increasingly competitive environment.

Gene is a Graduate of University of Arkansas in Marketing with minor in Computer Science. SEO,SEM, ORM and Web expert. TTI (Tri-Metrix) Personal Core Skills, Behavioral, IMPACT, and Aptitude Assessment Certified, holds an active Enrolled Agent Certification.

 

Before his time with BeneTrends, Darnell served as a consultant and worked directly for some of the largest and most important names in franchising. In 2004 Darnell was recruited by legendary franchise icon Anthony A. Martino to join Maaco Enterprises, Inc. as consultant and franchise development manager. During his five year tenure with the company he was primarily responsible and credited for profitable sales growth.

Other relevant employment positions of Darnell’s include Senior Vice President & Director of International Development & Corporate Operations with Physician’s Weightloss Centers, Inc.; Senior Management Advisory Consultant, Special Markets & Merchandising for Molly Maids, ServPro, A Choice Nanny, Proforma, DuraClean and Maaco Worldwide; and Senior Vice President & Chief Operations Officer for Forum-3 International.

“Guidant is the 800 lb. gorilla in the rollovers as business start-ups industry,” says Darnell. “It still amazes me how many people don’t know this. I saw a real opportunity to elevate the awareness of their brand and share with others in the community their incredible company and culture. They really have created a very customer-centric organization and their compliance protocols blew me away.”

In business since 2003, Guidant Financial has helped roll more than $1 billion into small businesses and franchises with their iFinance, a rollover for business start-up service.

“I think this industry is going to see accelerated growth in the near future and, of all the companies that provide 401(k) rollover services,” adds Darnell. “Guidant is best positioned to capture the lion’s share of that growth. I am thrilled to be a part that.”

About Guidant Financial

Guidant Financial is the premier provider of rollovers as business start-ups (ROBS). Guidant's services allow aspiring entrepreneurs the freedom to invest their existing IRA or 401(k) funds into a small business or franchise and without taking a taxable distribution or getting a loan. For more information Small Business Financing please visit http://www.guidantfinancial.com.

 

His areas of expertise include: being a results-driven entrepreneur; sales/marketing professional with 15 years leadership in business ownership; territory/account management; business development; product promotions; communications; strong organizational, analytical and interpersonal skills; and customer service. He is comfortable in both consultative and product environments. Kit is also fluent in conversational Spanish.