Franchising law involves helping new business owners evaluate franchising opportunities, and assist in the purchase and operation of business franchises -- an alternative to starting a new, independent business from scratch. Franchising allows businesses owners to reduce their investment risk by associating with an established company, but may also require business owners to relinquish significant control over their business.
Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,113 at the 2000 census, and estimated to have reached about 19,580 in 2007. The town is located in central Massachusetts, about a 40 minute drive, or about 40 miles (64 km), west of Boston, and about a 20 minutes' drive, or about 16.5 miles (26.6 km), northeast of Worcester. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a suburb of the neighboring Marlborough, Massachusetts, and was known as Feltonville. From around 1850 until the last shoe factory burned down in 1968, Hudson was known as a "shoe town. " At one point, the town had 17 shoe factories, many of them powered by the Assabet River, which runs through town. Because of the many factories in Hudson, immigrants were attracted to the town. Today, most people are of either Portuguese or Irish descent, with a smaller percentage of people being of French, Italian, English, or Scots-Irish descent. Hudson is served by the Hudson Public Schools district. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Hudson, please see the article Hudson (CDP), Massachusetts.