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| On The Cover.. |
On the Job for Victory
IFA’s first-ever CEO, Matt Shay, champions franchising on the Hill, overseas and in a state capital near you
International Franchise Association President and CEO Matt Shay doesn’t have an ego wall—unless you count all the framed pictures of his beautiful wife and children. His official IFA photos taken with U.S. presidents and influential politicians are neatly stacked in a file folder, tucked away in a desk drawer—brought out only when a visitor asks to see them.
His spacious office with a view of the Washington landscape houses a conference table; a couch; two mounted, stuffed pheasants—trophies from successful hunting trips; painted, antique duck decoys; a basket with three yellow ServiceMaster toy trucks and a 100-year-old wooden surveyor’s rod. Over his desk hangs a 1918 original print that served as a promotional poster for the shipping board during World War I. The title is symbolic of Shay’s present mission: “On the job for victory.” Just as the country fought to keep the world free for democracy during the First World War, Shay and company are fighting to keep the world safe from government regulations of free enterprise.
The surveyor rod also holds special meaning for Shay, a history buff: George Washington was a surveyor and president, and the rod represents a need to not only plan strategically for future development, but to measure that progress in small increments.
 Though Matt Shay has plenty of accomplishments to boast about, his office is filled with knickknacks, vintage prints and toys for his kids, rather than the ego shrines that occasionally decorate CEOs’ offices. Photos by Steven Purcell |
On the other hand, the ServiceMaster trucks are just what they appear to be—toys for when his three young children visit the office, a gift from former chair Mike Isakson, president/COO of ServiceMaster Clean.
Unlike his predecessors, Shay worked his way up the ranks, not unlike the association’s chairs do. He started as a lobbyist for IFA at 30, then moved up to vice president of governmental relations and chief general counsel, then senior vice president.
Shay has always been charming, but not nearly so polished as he is today. Some of it, of course, comes with life experience, but much is due to a conscious effort on his part. A friend and colleague of Shay’s who asked not to be named said Shay saw early on who the influencers were at IFA. To get where he is—president and CEO of an international trade association—“you gotta play a lot of cards right,” the source said. “My hat’s off to him. He did it the right way.” To ascend as Shay has, he said, one has to be a “hard-worker, have vision and pick good mentors … and learn to play the politics.” “There’s nothing Machiavellian (a term used to suggest being manipulative for personal gain) about it,” he stated. “As a friend it’s been nice to see his growth as a leader.”
“It’s been interesting to see him go through the ranks,” said Michael Seid, managing director of MSA and a former board member. “Don DeBolt (the president before Shay who was brought in to right the ship, so to speak) was a tough act to follow, and Matt’s done a good job. DeBolt was a big supporter of Matt’s … and he’s learned a lot from DeBolt on being accessible and treating IFA like an extended family.”
DeBolt was a professional association manager, unlike his predecessors who were lobbyists schooled on the Hill. DeBolt depended on Shay, an attorney who lives and breathes politics, for that side of his role as president. Aside from DeBolt’s tutelage, Seid said Shay is indebted to DeBolt for the outstanding staff he assembled. Uncommon in associations, IFA’s staff has longevity, which provides institutional memory, a plus for trade associations. Shay also has added some key staff: He brought on David French to lead the lobbying effort and Alisa Harrison as vice president of communications and marketing.
Early in his career Shay was handed some serious responsibilities. As a 20-something lawyer, working for the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, Shay helped design a bill that provided a tax break for business owners in Ohio. The following year he authored an unemployment compensation law that resulted in a one-time $120 million tax break for state businesses. This caught the eye of Washington insiders, which led to a position at IFA.
No one will ever admit this—at least not on the record—but it can’t be easy to lead a bunch of strong-willed, self-made entrepreneurs. In essence, Shay not only has a different “boss” every year, as the new chairperson moves into the top volunteer spot, but he’s accountable to an entire board of directors, plus membership.
Perhaps the job is easier now that franchising has become more sophisticated (there are a multitude of off-the-record stories about some of the early board meetings being more “colorful” than today’s). Professional management types have moved into the role of running companies, and some of the “mom-and-pop” franchisees who used to be the majority have morphed into multi-unit franchisees, some of whom are running companies larger than franchisors.
Shay describes the experience as a “one-year executive MBA program.” Each chair “brings a different style,” he said. “You have to adapt to them, they don’t adapt to you.”
Shay has come a long way since feeling like a small-town boy from Ohio in the big city. He’s in the major leagues. Along with eight other association presidents, he met with then-President George W. Bush in the Oval Office when Bush returned from the Olympics in Beijing to talk about small-business issues. Shay has always believed the IFA should be seated at the table when these topics are discussed by policy-makers.
 Matt Shay’s firstborn, Pearson, shown here in 2007, has already attended more IFA conventions than a lot of members. She also has her own passport and frequent flier number. That’s just one of the perks of being the daughter of two politically active parents. |
“Five years ago board members didn’t realize how much ability we had to improve our regard,” Shay said. But all that has changed, thanks to a Political Action Committee fund that’s worth thousands instead of hundreds and an economic impact study that can show representatives exactly how many of their constituency back home earn a living through franchising. “Five years ago we had an inferiority complex, now we have a sense of entitlement—‘Of course, we need to be in the room,’” Shay explained.
IFA, according to Shay, is “fighting above its weight-class.” There are about 8,000 associations headquartered in the D.C. area. IFA’s $12 million budget gives members more clout than featherweight associations, and partnering with larger groups with similar interests, such as the National Restaurant Association, gives it added reach.
Last summer, Shay was selected by CEO Update as one of the top association and nonprofit CEOs in the country. The 32 CEOs nominated for the honor were selected by peers and industry insiders and profiled in the magazine. Shay was lauded for leading his association through “a tumultuous economy.” The five qualities peers were asked to consider were:
• Legislative success;
• Leadership ability;
• Skill in raising a group’s profile or managing a crisis;
• History of building coalitions and reaching consensus;
• Membership excellence in areas such as meetings, education, certification.
Dawn Sweeney, head of the National Restaurant Association and another top CEO nominee, said she and Shay meet on a regular basis to discuss the issues both associations have in common.
“Matt’s challenge is representing a way of doing business,” as opposed to an industry, Sweeney said. Not only is IFA’s work more nebulous, most members also have an industry association to lobby for them—which means another association they need to support with money and time.
“In today’s environment, it is even more challenging to lead a diverse group,” Sweeney said, adding Shay’s challenge is to be able to “see around corners to see what’s coming.” But fortunately, “Matt’s skilled at that. He’s been able to articulate the challenges of his constituency in a real and practical voice,” she said.
Shay’s longevity with the IFA has benefitted not only him, but also the association. “He understands how to read the tea leaves,” said Joyce Mazero of Haynes and Boone, who has been instrumental in gaining more rights for supplier members, especially attorneys—a crusade Shay supported. “He keeps it moving toward the goals of the association,” in part because his vision has been honed by seeing the association from several different vantage points over the years, she pointed out.
Getting personal
In his early years with IFA, Shay was the state lobbyist. “I liked being in the state capitals,” he said, because they were often small towns. The challenge was to “leverage someone else’s’ relationships in that city,” he said. The local IFA member would become his guide, introducing him to his or her representatives. Shay’s job required political savviness, not to mention a bottomless knowledge of state and local issues. It was a great life when he was young and single, he said.
Shay married when he was 41. His wife Allison established the PAC for Outback Steakhouse before becoming a lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association. “All my best ideas come from Allison, and you can quote me on that,” Shay said. The couple has three lively children who enjoy stopping by to entertain the IFA staff on occasion. The oldest child, Pearson, has traveled more than most globe-trotters.
 Matt Shay, left, with a friend during a fishing trip. The picture originally ran in the June 2001 issue of Franchise Times when Shay was one of our legal Hotshots Under 40. |
How has life changed since Shay became a father? For one thing, he doesn’t linger on business trips: A recent business trip to Dubai meant more hours on a plane than on the ground—28 airborne, 22 in meetings.
IFA isn’t the first thing to test Shay’s mettle. In 1991, he was in a car accident where he went through the windshield. Every bone in his face was shattered and his legs were fractured. He required four years of plastic surgery, speech and physical therapies, and oral surgery. In 2001, he told Franchise Times, “When I got out of ICU, my hospital room was across the hall from a guy who had been in the same kind of accident—he had gone through the windshield of his truck the same night of my accident, and he didn’t have a scratch on him. But he was paralyzed from the waist down.” Shay doesn’t like to talk about the accident—he doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him because he’s moved past it. Once, however, he admitted to how strange it was years after the accident to look in the mirror and not recognize the face you had grown up with.
Like the majority of people who work in Washington, D.C., Shay eats, drinks and breathes politics. His vision for the association is for it to be perceived as a “first-class trade association.”
Each chair adds to that vision—in their role as chair or past-chair, he said. For instance, former chair and 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year Sid Feltenstein took on the challenge of chairing the PAC in 2002. The previous year the PAC had only raised $25,000. “Sid said he’d only do it if we raised $100,000 the first year,” Shay said. Staff and volunteers stepped up to the challenge and the PAC became a priority. Michael Isakson’s commitment was to research, and he spearheaded a research project that was a significant expense for the association, but has paid off multiple times on the Hill when members could show legislators the direct impact franchising was having in their districts.
The economy won’t be IFA’s only challenge. A new Congress is wrestling with small business issues that could affect franchises, as well as what IFA views as the dreaded franchise regulation that threatens like storm clouds.
But Shay—with some help from staff and volunteer leadership—has developed a long-range plan that will hopefully help the association stay victorious.
“We’re in good hands with Matt,” said former chairman Doc Cohen.
