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The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

Snapshot Arizona Veteran Wins Franchise

Posted by Irene Messina on Thu, May 21, 2009 at 2:22 PM

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In this day and age of reduced veteran benefits, it's good to see one company providing veterans with a little help.

Cruise Planners/American Express, a home-based travel agent franchise network, launched their Corps Care veterans program in November. The program provides veterans with more than $2,500 in discounts toward purchasing a franchise.

The company also conducted a veteran franchise giveway contest where veterans submitted an essay explaining why they deserved to receive a franchise. "It's important that companies and organizations reach out to help ease the transition of the veteran community back to a civilian lifestyle," says Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners. "It's often challenging for veterans to readjust to the workforce and we want to support them in this process."

The winner of the $10,000 franchise is Chris Silman of Sahuarita (pictured above) who was notified in honor of Memorial Day.

Silman served six years in the Air Force working as an electronic warfare systems technician. He was deployed to Afghanistan where his combat search and rescue unit was directly responsible for 22 combat rescues of downed pilots, injured soldiers and Afghan fighters.