Will congressional candidate Keith Gross reverse his stance on NDAs? Champion free speech for Veterans? Win his Veteran-centric congressional district seat in a landslide and sponsor a landmark bill that bans any agreement that infringes on Veterans’ basic rights? It could happen…! by Sean Kelly, Founder, The Franchise Truth for Veterans Initiative
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) National Guard Veteran & franchise attorney Keith Gross is running for the single seat in the Second Congressional District of Florida.
It’s a competitive race, to be sure, but Keith Gross (also known as Keithly Gross) has a unique opportunity to establish his credibility as a man of integrity.
A man of whose actions are consistent with his rhetoric.
A Veteran who stands up and fights for the rights of fellow Veterans, military families, first responders and other hardworking Americans.
Keith Gross has the opportunity to demonstrate that he’s a man who gets things done, even when personally inconvenient.
As a Veteran, a corporate attorney and a businessman, Keith Gross can speak out against the deception and silencing of Veterans by franchise and business opportunity sellers, and others.
Keith Gross is in the unique position to call for the Un-Gagging of Military Veterans.
Few would disagree that those who sacrificed and served to protect our fundamental freedoms should not have their rights compromised by for-profit corporations.
However, corporations targeting Veterans are currently permitted to hide critical information during the sales process.
These sellers are permitted to trick Veterans into signing long-term contracts that strip them not only of their financial resources, but their right to complain… to share negative reviews… to voice their honest opinions… and to share their entrepreneurial experiences for the benefit of others.
The deception and gagging of American Veterans is a national disgrace.
Congressional candidate Keith Gross has the knowledge, the resources and the political megaphone to defend, protect and fight to un-gag military Veterans.
He can announce his intentions that, if he’s sent to Washington, he’ll introduce a bi-artisan bill to ban any corporate NDAs, confidentiality clauses and non-disparagement agreements that limit Veterans’ freedom to express their opinions and share their experiences
Keith Gross’ law firm represents Florida-based DonutNV Franchising Inc., a seller of franchise opportunities that forbids it franchisees from joining Facebook groups as franchisees or other social media groups.
DonutNV forbids the sharing of negative opinions about the founders and the company altogether.
The many DonutNV franchise investors (many of whom are Veterans) who fail or leave for other reasons are required to sign agreements forbidding them from sharing their experiences and opinions.
After some franchisees asked UnhappyFranchisee.Com to share their opinions as warnings to others, DonutNV Franchising Inc. sued this website and its publisher, Sean Kelly.
[You can read the DonutNV leaked comments here: DonutNV is NOT a Franchise Success Story… And May Never Be. The other blog post cited in the complaint was, curiously enough, their own sales representations: DonutNV Franchise Earnings Claims: Accurate? Or Intentionally Deceptive?]
(The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is being asked to review whether DonutNV’s blocking access to critical information from Veterans and other prospective investors is a violation of the FTC Franchise Rule.)
Keith Gross is in a position to request that his firm’s clients, DonutNV founders Alex and Amanda Gingold, and DonutNV’s private equity and strategic consulting firm, Franchise Altitude, actively reconsider (and drop) their practice of gagging Veterans and other hardworking Americans.
Keith Gross’ husband, Scott Marr, is regarded as success story and influential force in some areas of the franchise industry.
Marr founded and grew* two home improvement franchise brands, Koala Insulation and Wallaby Windows, which he sold to Empower Brands.
EMPOWER BRANDS Exits Franchise Fastlane. Will They Exit the “Semi-Absentee Franchise” Pitch as Well?
With that success story as a foundation, Scott Marr founded Franchise Altitude to provide funding and guidance to grow franchise companies.
Franchise Altitude’s website claims the firm provided funding and strategic guidance to DonutNV that resulted in 3800% growth and the sale of 270 territories in less than two years.
If Scott Marr and Keith Gross were to become co-champions of the Un-Gag America’s Veterans movement, they could provide immediate motivation to their current and former franchise clients & associates, including:
In the past week, I’ve gained a new appreciation for congressional candidate Keith Gross.
And while I’m frequently sarcastic, I mean this sincerely.
The guy has guts.
It takes guts to switch from Democrat to Republican, knowing it will be used against you.
It takes guts to be an openly gay candidate running on a conservative Christian platform in the South – knowing it will be used against you.
It took ambition to serve in the National Guard at the same time as attending law school.
And while other controversies, like being disqualified as a candidate in Georgia after failing to prove residency, might be used to question his honesty, it certainly establishes a relentless desire to serve in public office.
Self-funding a $5M war chest and flying his own private jet may cast doubt on his claim to being a non-money-driven man-of-the people, but it sure underscores his political ambitions.
Give me $5M and a private jet and I assure you I wouldn’t be spending my week speaking at county fairs and shaking hands at VFW breakfasts.
For most people, going from writing and enforcing NDAs to calling for them to be outlawed would be an unrealistic expectation.
With Keith Gross, it just might be possible.
*Scott Marr grew his franchise companies using the same outsourced sales company, Franchise Fastlane, used by DonutNV Franchising, Inc.
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TAGS: Semi-absentee franchises, Veterans in Franchising, Franchise Truth for Veterans, DonutNV, DonutNV franchise, Gross Law Firm, Keith Gross, Keithly Gross, Scott Marr, Franchise Altitude, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, First amendment, Non-disclosure agreements, NDAs, Koala Insulation, Wallaby Windows, RealClean Aircraft Cleaning, Franchise Fastlane, Empower Brands,
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