CAFOB California Alliance Of Family Owned Businesses

The California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses (CAFOB) serves as a powerful advocate for the interests of small business owner/operators, championing their causes at both state and local government levels. Our commitment lies in sharing our narrative, highlighting the fact that we are not major corporations; our brands may be national, but it is the family-owned business model within our communities that truly define us.

Facts About Family-Owned Businesses

Family-owned businesses play an integral role in California’s economy through their support of jobs and businesses across the state, driving economic opportunity for their independent owner/operators, crew members, and suppliers.

Family-Owned Businesses Play an Integral Role in California’s Economy

California has over 15,000 franchised restaurants that employ over 500,000 people across the state.

Family-Owned Businesses Represent Diverse Communities

California is home to nearly 1,300 McDonald’s restaurants in virtually every community. More than two-thirds of the McDonald’s owner/operators in California are women or people of color.

Family-Owned Businesses Empower their Crew

Employees at family-owned businesses can take advantage of education benefits and earn a high school diploma, take ESL classes, get tuition assistance, and receive free educational and career guidance from advisors.

Our Mission

Our mission is to foster the success, resilience, and intergenerational continuity of family businesses across California. Through collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and advocacy, we strive to empower and support our stakeholders, providing a platform for networking, learning, and growth. We are dedicated to preserving the unique values and legacies of family businesses, while promoting sustainable practices, innovation, and economic vitality in the California business landscape.

Why Family-Owned Businesses Matter

Family-owned businesses represent the American Dream by passing along a strong work ethic, restaurant ownership, and financial security to their children. These businesses are advocates for their communities, providing jobs, reliable daily services, and local charity leadership.

Risks Family-Owned Businesses Face

In the fast-paced and competitive landscape of California, family-owned businesses face unique pressures that threaten their survival and growth. From navigating the complexities of succession planning to adapting to new market trends and sustainability practices, the challenges are multifaceted.

Further complicating these pressures are the hostile policies continually emerging from the state legislature, posing a threat to the job security of employees, the services provided to customers, and the generational opportunity for entrepreneurs.

For example, Assembly Bill 1228, passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor in 2023, mandated a higher minimum wage for fast food restaurants while excluding other businesses.

Family-owned businesses want an even playing field.

What Family-Owned Businesses are Saying

  • “In order to protect our family businesses in California now and into the future, it has become clear that we must more actively engage in politics across the state.”

    Kerri Harper-Howie Los Angeles County, CA
  • “I think we took for granted that the community understood that we were not all corporate-owned restaurants.”

    Marisol Sanchez Apple Valley, CA
  • “I joined the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses to fight on behalf of our livelihood and the working families who are our customers.”

    Anthony Mangione Riverside, CA

In the News

California’s fast food workers are getting a raise. But the labor-industry truce is fraying

Both sides billed the high-profile California fast food deal last year as a resolution to two years of escalating political tensions.  One of workers’ biggest wins in the Legislature during “hot labor summer,” […]

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Fact check: Did McCarty accept over $300,000 in state money for 10-minute Sacramento commute?

The first negative mailer of this year’s Sacramento mayoral race is now in voters’ mailboxes. Its target? Kevin McCarty. The mailer contains several claims about the Sacramento area California assemblyman. […]

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Editorial: Californians knead answers. Did Panera Bread get an exemption from $20 minimum wage law?

Even before Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the landmark law in September that would increase the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 per hour starting in April, there were some eyebrows raised over the […]

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