Change is something that many auto workers have been forced to accept as the American segment of the car market has taken a beating from foreign competition in recent years. In the past six years, some 100,000 hourly jobs have been cut from America’s auto companies and predictions for coming years continue to be dire. General Motors alone expects to eliminate 30,000 jobs by next year.

Ford, which in November reported that some 30,000 workers had accepted buyouts in 2006, is expected to make another announcement on jobs early this year after the first of the bought-out workers begin leaving Ford. Some 10,000 of those Ford cuts were estimated to be “white collar” jobs.

“Traditionally, a union worker would enjoy job security and would be a reluctant risk-taker,” Clint Hamet, Marco’s vice president of development, said when the incentive program was announced in November. “But those rules of thumb are gone.”

Hamet has attended workshops and seminars to spread the word about the UAW-Marco’s partnership. The reaction from the auto workers is measured excitement that there is possibly another career out there for them, Butorac says.

Marco’s is arranging a series of discovery days for UAW workers who are interested in exploring their franchisee future more in-depth. Many of them would be totally new to foodservice; the brand says it is setting up specific training for franchisees that come to Marco’s from the UAW program. The operations department is also working to help them on employee training, recruitment, supplying, and general restaurant practices that are consistent with the brand.

Among the questions UAW recruits need to have answered is whether as individuals or as small investment groups they meet the financial requirements for a Marco’s.

“Certainly that is a question and in some cases it depends on what type of buyout settlement they receive,” says Butorac. “Of course if they don’t qualify financially, that’s just setting up a situation that is not good for them or, in the long run, good for us.”

Most of Marco’s base business is in the Ohio/Michigan/Indiana area, but expansion plans go as far as Nevada. If a UAW franchisee wanted to try an area on its growth scale and wanted to leave the Midwest there’s probably a way to make that happen, Butorac says.

But there’s also money to be made in franchised pizza in the Midwest, he adds. Just because the major industry has taken a hit doesn’t mean the drain is open in Detroit.

“Michigan is not going to blow away,” he says. “People here like our pizza, and they eat a lot of pizza. We are going to be here, and we can help them succeed here.”

As a regional chain, Marco’s stores do an average of $500,000 in volume a year; the past two years have been spent developing a franchise pitch that plays on the brand’s authentic Italian roots, Butorac says. The plan to include UAW workers should play into Marco’s strategy of smart controlled growth that protects the brand’s consistency.

Right now, there are 155 Marco’s stores, and Butorac isn’t sure just yet how many additional units will come under UAW franchisees. The point of the incentives, he says, was to develop an avenue to find quality franchisees inspired to succeed on their own. The change of careers might not have been their idea or their first choice, but with the right training it can end up being the best one.