ITEM 1
THE FRANCHISOR AND ANY
PARENTS.4TS PREDECESSORS, AND AFFILIATES
The franchisor is Franlink, Inc., doing business as
Link Staffing Services, which will be referred to as "Link",
"we" or "us" in this offering circularDisclosurc
Document. We will refer to the person
who buys the franchise as "you" throughout the offering circularDisclosiire
Document. If you are a corporation or
other entity, "you" includes the owners of the entity.
Link is a Texas corporation
incorporated on March 31, 1980 and its principal business address is 1800
Bering, Suite 800, Houston, Texas 77057. Link''s ageniagents for service
of process kare disclosed
in Exhibit A. Link operates under its corporate name and the trademarks,
service marks and commercial symbols described in Item 13 (the
"Marks"). Link was previously known as PBA, Inc. (1980-82), American
Personnel Services, Inc. (1982-83) and Personnel Concepts, Inc. (1984-1998) and
operated under the additional names of American Office Personnel Services,
American Services and Link Personnel Services. The most recent name change to
Franlink, Inc. occurred on January 1, 1999. PBA, Inc., American Personnel
Services, Inc. and Personnel Concepts, Inc. had their principal business
address at 6565 West Loop South, Suite 520, Houston, Texas 77401. Link''s
ultimate parent entity is Link Staffing Services Corporation
("LSSC"), andwhich is located at the same address as Link.
Although Link''s principal business always has been the providing of temporary
help services, in 1987 it began to concentrate on the skilled and semi-skilled
crafts and trades and light industrial/unskilled labor.
Link operates and allows
others to operate businesses under the "Link Staffing Services" name
and other Marks! (We call these businesses "Link Businesses"; we call
your business the "Business".) Link''s subsidiaries now operate 810 Link staffing services
businesses ("Link Businesses"W�r all located in Houston, Texas and 2 in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas,, Link
provides management services to these subsidiaries.
Link began offering
franchises for Link Businesses in late 1993. In order to become a franchisee,
you will enter into the Franchise Agreement attached as Exhibit B. Neither Link
nor any of its predecessors or affiliates have offered franchises in any other
line of business. The Link franchise may be one of the only temporary personnel
businesses, which emphasizes the crafts and trades in addition to general
industrial labor. (A limited number of permanent placements may also be
provided by Link Businesses.) Link has developed systems and procedures for:
recruiting and maintaining temporary employees and clients; computerized
tracking of temporary employees and clients; payroll systems; drug screening
and skill testing of employees; risk management and safety monitoring and
training; selection of full-time employees; and client billing and collection
procedures. Link also offers a conversion franchise to persons who already
operate temporary personnel services (for which a separate Conversion Rider is
executed).
These attributes of a Link
Business distinguish it from the competition, particularly since there are few
temporary help businesses offering services in the crafts and trades. In
addition, since Link Businesses provide employees who have been screened,
tested and matched to client
needs, Link believes this is
a significant distinguishing feature of a Link Business. The competition may be
from franchised or company-owned offices of large chains, independently . owned
personnel businesses, state or local employment offices or referral agencies.
Potential clients include
manufacturing firms, construction companies, warehousing and distribution
operations, service organizations and a wide variety of other businesses that
have temporary needs for the personnel provided by Link BusinesseBffHsjn,ess.
Many clients will have used temporary help for unskilled labor positions but
skilled crafts and tradespersons have generally not been available from
temporary help services. Link believes that this market is undeveloped and has
significant potential for growth. Prospective clients, however, may require
some degree of initial marketing and education on the availability and benefits
of temporary employees in the crafts and trades.
There are no regulations
specific to the temporary personnel business. However, since drug screening is
part of Link''s required temporary employee screening procedures, this activity
may be subject to federal, state and local laws restricting drug screening and
requiring confidentiality of test results. There may be other laws applicable
to a Link Business and Link urges you to make further inquiries about these
laws.
