Why Lightbridge Academy Franchisees Continue To Invest in the Brand

Alison and Joe Friedman lead the sales and marketing department for a nationwide packaging company. The two are originally from New Jersey, and after moving to the Carolinas nearly five years ago, they began discussing the possibility of investing in a business-ownership opportunity together. That is what led them to Lightbridge Academy, the early education and child care franchise with over 100 centers either open, under construction or in development in markets across the U.S.

Since being founded in 1997 and franchised in 2011, Lightbridge Academy has provided a top-notch early childhood education franchise opportunity for business owners like the Friedmans who want to make a difference by providing quality child care to their community. 

That is exactly why Alison and Joe originally signed on to franchise with Lightbridge Academy in 2018. Now, after having seen the support offered by the corporate team during the onboarding of their first location in conjunction with the way the brand has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, the Freidmans have officially signed on to open a second center.

“We’re very close with the ownership at the packaging company, and we’re passionate about the business, but when we moved to Charlotte, we thought the bustling area provided a great opportunity to bring a new business to town that would fit in with the development of the infrastructure and growing population,” said Alison. “Part of the reason our company is successful is because we care about our people and want to create an environment where they can learn and thrive. We wanted a new business opportunity that would allow us to demonstrate this support to families in the Charlotte community.”

The Friedmans, who have two young children, began looking into investment opportunities that would allow them to work with local students. Joe’s daughter, Dana Mazur, had experience in early childhood education and worked at a Lightbridge Academy. After learning more about Mazur’s positive experience with the brand and its franchise opportunity, the Friedmans believed a Lightbridge location would be successful in their new town.

“At the time, Dana had been working at the Lightbridge location for several years, starting out as a teacher and working her way up to center director,” said Alison. “Through her, we got to know more about the brand and its focus on providing children and families with excellent early education programs, unconditional care and a high level of customer service.”

After doing their homework, learning about the business model and connecting with the franchise home office, Alison and Joe felt an instant comfort level and alignment with the brand’s core values and philosophy. The family signed on to bring Lightbridge Academy to Charlotte for the first time in 2018, and Mazur moved to the area to join the team as the center director. 

As they spent the past two years looking for real estate and planning that first center, the Friedmans increasingly saw a demand for quality child care in the Charlotte area. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and that demand became even more prescient, the Friedmans were blown away by how Lightbridge Academy adapted to support working parents and decided it was time to expand their franchising plans.

“Lightbridge Academy is really one-of-a-kind when it comes to innovation, and they were able to quickly respond to the need for enhanced health and safety protocols which has really helped the brand be successful amid COVID-19,” said Allison. 

Forward-thinking services such as the ParentView® Internet Monitoring System and parent eCommunication app, has positioned Lightbridge Academy as Innovators in Educational Child Care and The Solution for Working Parents®. The brand’s leadership team understands the challenges of balancing work and family, and aims to provide working parents with peace of mind and reassure them that their children are in good hands each and every day. Now, that relationship with parents is more important than ever. In response to the pandemic, the child care brand has continued to find innovative ways to build on this established support for families with the Lightbridge Promise. 

"We have always taken children's health and safety seriously — and we certainly have taken even more precautions this year to do our utmost to keep everyone in our Circle of Care safe,” said President Gigi Schweikert. “The Lightbridge Promise sets the gold standard in the child care industry. We’ve invested in air purification and filtration systems, as well as enhanced safety procedures and staff training, to provide the type of ‘over and above’ efforts that families deserve and have come to expect from us."

Now, the Friedmans have officially signed on for a second franchise in the Charlotte area, with the two locations now slated to open in Steele Creek and Huntersville later this year. According to Mazur, the family now has the experience of planning that first location and has seen first-hand how the Lightbridge Academy office supports franchisees in all areas of onboarding the business, including site selection, operations, staffing, training and more.

“The brand operates with a Circle of Care philosophy, meaning all franchisees, families and children in the system are embraced with overwhelming support,” said Mazur. “We are onboarding our team early and connecting with the Charlotte community to promote the culture of care with our team  so that we will feel like a family before we even open.”

Looking ahead, Lightbridge Academy is gearing up for continued expansion in North Carolina. “The Friedman’s locations will be our third and fourth Lightbridge Academy centers in North Carolina, and we could not be more thrilled,” said CEO Guy Falzarano. “The Apex center is opening this April and the Holly Springs center opened in September of 2020 and both centers have experienced some of the highest pre-launch enrollment to date. We are confident that the Friedmans will be very successful in bringing Lightbridge Academy to the families throughout the Charlotte area.”

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. In response to COVID-19, Lightbridge Academy rolled out The Lightbridge Promise as the gold standard in child care health protocols prioritizing the safety of everyone in the company's Circle of Care. In 2020, the company was featured on the Inc. 5000 ranking, Franchise Times Top 200+ awards, and Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500. Lightbridge Academy was also recognized on Newsweek’s 2021 list of America’s Best Customer Service.