FranChoice President Steve Hockett Joins Rapid Refill Ink

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - FranChoice president Steve Hockett has resigned from the company after three years at its helm to become the Chief Operating Officer of Rapid Refill Ink International. FranChoice is a franchise broker that matches franchise buyers with franchisors, competing with such organizations as FranNet.  Mr. Jeff Elgin, who started FranChoice in 1999, will return to an active role as CEO, taking over Steve’s responsibilities. Mr. Elgin writes:

“I’ve been away from the day to day of FranChoice for quite some time.  This is a different company in many ways than it was in January of 2003 when I turned it over to Steve, though the fundamentals of our business remain the same.”

Mr. Hockett has grown the FranChoice network during his tenure there. Bond’s Franchise Guide 15th Edition declared FranChoice had 70 “full-time professionals” in 2004. In May of 2006 FranChoice has a network of 127 consultants.

In a letter sent to affiliated franchisors and partners, the outgoing Mr. Hockett explained:

“I have decided that now is a great time to act on one of my life goals of running a franchise company. To achieve my goal I have made the very difficult decision to resign as President of FranChoice and accept the position as Chief Operating Officer of Rapid Refill Ink International.”

In a phone interview with Blue MauMau, Ms. Lori Kiser-Block, Vice-President for Consulting Services, in response to an earlier report, indicated that she was not aware of plans to downsize executive ranks.

Rapid Refill Ink indicates that since beginning franchising in 2004, it has added 150 centers throughout North America.