What is meant by the term “franchise fund” and do Austin Automation Center (AAC) customers benefit from receiving IT-related services from AAC, a franchise fund?
Franchise Funds were established in Government to promote competition and to reduce the cost of providing common administrative support services. Authorized under the Government Management Reform Act of 1994, the AAC is one of six VA Enterprise Centers offering common administrative services on a fee-for-service basis. No appropriated funding is provided franchise fund organizations, so the success of the AAC depends on our ability to fully recover costs from customer revenue, satisfy customer requirements, and to expand our customer base. The AAC has been very successful in the VA Franchise Fund. Our unit costs have been reduced each year due to increased workloads, new technology, expert contract negotiations, and improved processes. We have also expanded our business with VA and other Federal agencies. All AAC customers have benefited from this success.
