Lightbridge Academy Celebrates Recognition on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 and Newsweek-Statista's Best Customer Service Brands 2021 Lists

Lightbridge Academy®, the early education and child care franchise with more than 50 locations open across the Mid-Atlantic and almost another 70 under construction or in development, announced it had received recognition in two prestigious national industry publications, Entrepreneur and Newsweek. 

The brand, based in Iselin, New Jersey, was ranked No. 143 on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500, the coveted list of the top franchise brands in America.

To determine its rankings, Entrepreneur exhaustively researches brands and judges a variety of criteria, including cost and fees associated with the brand, its size and rate of growth, the support it provides franchisees, its overall brand strength, and financial strength and stability.

“It’s an honor to be listed among the top brands in the United States,” said Gigi Schweikert, Lightbridge Academy president. “Last year was challenging for all Americans, but I think that by staying true to our values and our core business strengths, we proved that even during adversity, companies have the ability to continue to grow their brands, strengthen their relationships with their customers, and support franchise partners when they need it the most.”

Additionally, Newsweek-Statistia ranked Lightbridge No. 3 in the Best Child Care Services category in its annual list of Best Customer Service Brands in America for 2021.

Newsweek-Statista performs an independent survey of more than 25,000 U.S. customers who have either made purchases, used services, or gathered information about products or services in the past three years. The final list recognizes the top three to five brands in 160 categories.  

For each category, the most relevant brands were included in the scope of the survey according to reputation, turnover or market share. The final assessment and rankings were based on the Net Promoter Score (50% of the final score) and the five evaluation criteria (also 50% of the final score). 

“Lightbridge Academy was built on a foundation of family values,” said Schweikert. “It is a place where parents, children and staff members, as well as the community and franchise owners, come together as a family to create a trusted Circle of Care. The Net Promoter Score measures the level of loyalty we have built with the families in our centers. Our current score is 82, which is better than 90% of companies in the child care sector. It helps to confirm that we are building the high care culture that we work so hard to create.”

Lightbridge Academy credits its Circle of Care philosophy for achieving the high score in the Child Care Services category and the Lightbridge Academy team believes their strong culture of care helped them maintain momentum during a global pandemic. 

Schweikert said that the challenges of 2020 allowed Lightbridge Academy to live its philosophy by putting additional customer care standards in place. The company introduced the Lightbridge Promise, reinforcing its commitment to health and safety standards that went above and beyond, including the system-wide center installation of an air purification and filtration system using an advanced oxidation process to continuously purify the air and all surfaces. 

Since some state regulations prohibit parents from dropping off children inside the building, the brand also leveraged technology to keep parents connected, create transparency and enhance communication. Every Lightbridge Academy center is equipped with cameras that provide parents with real-time access via the internet, as well as a parent eCommunication app to send updates, videos and pictures, Schweikert said. “These protocols give parents the peace of mind they need to go to work during these challenging times.”

Last fall, Lightbridge Academy® also made the Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest-growing brands in America. This achievement places the early childhood education franchise in elevated company, joining Microsoft, Timberland, Vizio, Intuit, Chobani, Oracle and Patagonia who have been recognized in years past.

To find out if Lightbridge Academy has territories available in your area, visit their website.

About Lightbridge Academy®

Established in 1997, Guy and Julia Falzarano founded the company based on core values and a Circle of Care philosophy that places equal importance on the needs of children, their families, teachers, center owners and the community. Lightbridge Academy provides early education and child care to children ages six weeks through kindergarten, as well as special programming for children up to 10 years old for summer camp and a new school age remote learning program. The company franchised in 2011 to expand their distinctive concept throughout the Mid-Atlantic region; it currently has over 119 child care centers either open, under construction or in development throughout Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.