Quiznos today announced a microloan initiative established to provide funding for current franchise owners seeking to expand their involvement with the brand. The initiative is designed to help mitigate the effects of a difficult lending environment.

The microloans are available to existing owners with a strong operational history and are intended to be used for the acquisition of new high-quality sites and the re-opening of existing Quiznos sites.

“We see this microloan initiative as an excellent way to invest in our franchise owners,” said Rick Schaden, Quiznos founder and CEO. “We know these sites have tremendous potential under the right ownership, and we look forward to helping good owners realize greater profitability and overcome the obstacle of the current credit market by providing the necessary capital.”

Quiznos’ microloans will vary according to individual circumstance. Based on the success of Quiznos’ first microloan in February of this year, six additional franchise owners nationwide are in the process of securing microloans from Quiznos and many more are under consideration.

Martin Dang, a franchise owner who currently operates a Quiznos location in Boulder, Colorado, plans to reinvigorate two additional Colorado locations in Westminster and Louisville by the end of the month with the assistance of the microloan initiative. The microloan will be used to replace and update equipment in the newly-acquired sites.

“With this microloan program, Quiznos is demonstrating they understand the impact of the economic situation and are willing to support their franchise owners,” said Dang.

The microloan initiative is another of Quiznos’ techniques, along with its lease renegotiation program launched earlier this year, meant to help curb the impact of the challenging economic environment and provide opportunities for greater franchise owner profitabilit