SAN DIEGO — Giving back is great for business. Tali Burton is a U.S. Marine Veteran and owns 12 Dunkin' franchises across San Diego County. Burton has dedicated each of the 12 Dunkin' location to a fallen service member and he's showing veterans how to become an entrepreneur.
Burton served 12 years in the U.S. Marines. Burton graduated from the Naval Academy and began piloting helicopters.
After leaving the service, he opened Dunkin' franchises on military bases.
"Growing up with Dunkin', I always thought it was a taste of home to veterans here in San Diego," said Burton.
In addition to dedicating his stores to fallen service members, he donates 10% of store proceeds on each service members birthday.
"Each of his 12 stores is dedicated to a service member who was killed in action. And he's a great, great representative of the franchise community," said Michael Layman, Vice President of the International Franchise Association.
Burton dedicated his first Dunkin' store to his best friend, who he says had a lifelong love of coffee. Burton is being recognized this weekend as the IFA kicks off its week-long convention.
San Diego is a hotspot for franchisees. The county is home to nearly 6,000 local franchises that employ more than 60,000 people.
This weekend, the International Franchise Association chose San Diego to kick-off its convention. The IFA announced its Open for Opportunity initiative that focuses on sharing the stories of local franchise owners and workers from around the country.
Open for Opportunity aims at encouraging veterans and other diverse members of the community to open franchises and become business owners.
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