Crossroads Solar is a South Bend-based solar manufacturing company founded in 2021. The company produces five different panels: three core solar modules and two specifically designed for the RV and maritime industries. Importantly, the firm is uniquely positioned as one of the few, if only, solar panel manufacturers with the mission employing only the formerly incarcerated, who typically struggle to find work.
While looking to find opportunities for Crossroads to expand across the United States, we were challenged with maintaining the integrity of the organization by including the criteria that labor would be reserved for other underserved communities. We considered the typical factors when franchising a business, such as current and future market demand, government regulations or incentives and location specifications. Secondly, we considered a more focused set of criteria that delved into local government incentives, costs associated with initiating a manufacturing business within that location and most importantly the underserved community that would source the organization's labor force.
With this double-set of criteria, we outlined 20-25 potential franchise opportunities across the United States for Crossroads Solar to consider, with its mission as a guiding principle throughout the search.
Our recommendation was threefold. First, we mapped out 24 specific locations across the U.S. that we recommend Crossroads Solar target for franchising. Second, we provided our research and analysis details and recommend certain areas be prioritized based on their performance across our established criteria. Last, we recommend addressing additional considerations with our specified locations such as potential partnerships with local governments, local experts, existing manufacturers and suppliers and community leaders.