Whereas the franchise business model is the largest vocational training industry in America, bringing together brands, local business owners, employees, and the local community; Whereas locally owned franchises own 733,000 establishments, have directly created 7.6 million jobs, and influenced the creation of 13.3 million jobs across the country; Whereas entrepreneurs who make up the franchising system directly contribute $674.3 billion in economic output for the economy of the United States and $1.6 trillion of economic output is contributed because of the franchise system; Whereas, in 2016 alone, Small Business Administration-backed loans to franchise businesses totaled $770 million and were used in the financing of over 5,500 franchise businesses; Whereas franchise businesses provide $404 billion in economic activity in communities across the country, and for every $1 million in lending to franchises, an estimated 40 new, direct and indirect jobs are created; Whereas franchising accounts for 2.5 percent of the private-sector gross domestic product of the United States; Whereas owning a franchise empowers entrepreneurs to go into business for themselves, but not by themselves; Whereas owning a franchise provides entrepreneurs with a certain level of independence in which they can operate their business with an established product or service that may already enjoy widespread brand-name recognition, providing the entrepreneurs with the benefit of a customer base that would ordinarily take years to establish; Whereas franchises create business and wealth accumulation opportunities for all Americans, and especially for women, minorities, and veterans; Whereas the franchise business model provides comprehensive training opportunities, scalability, and the need for operational execution and excellence, offering an ideal career path to enable veterans to become productive participants in the economy of the United States