CODE ZERO's 'Anchor' Franchise... the Justice Institute of British Columbia

Date

Jan 19, 2011

Just as any popular and successful shopping mall needs an ‘Anchor’ tenant, the key to a popular and successful franchise network is having a strong ‘Anchor’ franchise.  In the case of CODE ZERO, that strong ‘Anchor’ franchise is the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC).

For many years, as “Canada’s Leading Public Safety Educator”, amongst other duties, the JIBC had been responsible for teaching advanced driving skills to First-Responders.  Being able to arrive safely and swiftly at an emergency requires a high level of competence and awareness behind-the-wheel and the driving programs delivered by the JIBC have been highly lauded for providing those skills to Police, Fire Departments and others.  

In March 2007, CODE ZERO was formed as a joint venture between its creator Andrew Field and the JIBC.  While sharing a driver-training facility with the JIBC, Andrew envisioned offering an advanced driving program for the public based on the course delivered by JIBC to new Police Recruits. The basic concept was to teach the same essential, life-saving driving skills and techniques to the public that are taught to First-Responders.  Obviously, the acquiring of these skills is vital to Public Safety and the JIBC was eager to participate in a program that could pass such skills on to everyone.  After announcing CODE ZERO at the 2007 Vancouver International Auto Show, hundreds of drivers signed up for the program and in fact, CODE ZERO became so successful that a slightly more challenging Level Two driving program was announced in 2008.

As the popularity of the CODE ZERO program increased, so did the aspirations of its founder.  In 2009, Andrew joined together with JIBC Chief Instructor Grant Kinney, ‘Franchise Guru’ Norm Friend and Operations Specialist Athena Paling to form CODE ZERO Licensing International Inc.  The new organization intended to take the immensely popular program international in the long term with the short-term goal of opening CODE ZERO franchises across Canada.  Although the group realized that there would probably be a high demand for their product across the country, they also realized that success for their future franchisees would be dependent on the strong infrastructure that they would make available along with a well-proven model provided by their ‘Anchor’ Franchise... the JIBC.                                                                                                                                       

CODE ZERO in Metro Vancouver continues to be a success story.  Thanks to a dedicated ‘hands-on’ approach by its Franchisor, a myriad of benefits provided to its graduates plus a growing number of promotional partners and ‘official suppliers’, JIBC’s CODE ZERO program has expanded beyond expectations.  Moreover, a new JIBC driver-training facility is expected to open soon which will aid considerably in CODE ZERO’s future growth locally as well as provide the perfect site for franchisee training.  Again, the high level of expertise provided by the JIBC and its staff will become a fundamental aid in the training of all CODE ZERO franchisees.
Obviously, the JIBC is much more than just another CODE ZERO franchise.  They are the ‘Anchor’.