Who owns huntington learning center

The idea of opening a business that moved reading and math tutoring away from the dining room table to a private setting was completely new, but they were undeterred in their goal to help students become better learners. Working as a tenured junior high and high school teacher at the time, Eileen saw firsthand how many students entering her classrooms lacked the basic skills and study skills they needed to succeed.

He also believed that this was a viable opportunity to start a profitable business. We knew that if we had integrity and compassion, and focused on student success, we would be successful—and it turns out that we were right. The Huntingtons brought a unique combination of skills to their new business. Ray provided the business know-how that helped support Eileen in her work as she added certified teaching staff and enrolled students.

In , Eileen and Ray decided that it was time to expand their concept nationally and began franchising. The wide range of potential customers we can help allows our franchisees to access multiple revenue streams. On average, our students: Grow 2 grade levels in reading and math See a 5. Best of all, The New York Times aptly noted that the industry seems to be resistant to recession.

Regardless of the economy, children still need to attend school, and parents understand that their investment is a worthy one. Receive a personalized report of exciting new franchise opportunities to your inbox each week. No spam , just good, helpful information for aspiring entrepreneurs. We do not SPAM you. There was just a desire to do what we felt was good and sure to make some money.

The first goal was simple survival, the next was to establish a strong regional network, and the final goal was to take the business to a national level. As soon as the Huntingtons opened the doors of their first center in June they found an immediate demand for their services, so that the company's growth was little more than a function of keeping up with the level of interest.

From the outset the company helped students ages five through 17, and with the introduction of test preparation coaching within the first few months of opening, Huntington Learning Centers essentially offered the same services as it would 25 years later. Demand was so strong that the Huntingtons opened a second outlet in Livingston, New Jersey, in In the beginning the couple shared all administrative and operational responsibilities and together gained a business education on the fly, sometimes learning by making mistakes.

For instance, they had signed a three-year lease on their original office space but never thought to negotiate an option on future years. As the lease drew to a close they were surprised when the landlord informed them that they would have to move because an insurance company was ready to take over the space.

Over the first seven years in business the Huntingtons gradually expanded their chain of learning centers so that by they had a dozen outlets, all but one located in Abbington, Pennsylvania operating in New Jersey.

With their first two goals met, they started to think about taking their business to the national level. It was also during this period that the Huntingtons first learned of Sylvan through an article in the Wall Street Journal. Sylvan, although founded two years after Huntington, was now a unit chain with a presence in 39 states.

Although both companies were pursuing similar educational goals, their approaches in some cases differed significantly. Sylvan guaranteed that students would exhibit a certain level of improvement or the center would provide additional instruction. The Huntingtons, on the other hand, believed that such an approach was inappropriate.

A more significant divergence involved how the two companies chose to motivate their students. Sylvan rewarded correct answers with plastic tokens, redeemable for prizes in the "Sylvan Store. Where Huntington and Sylvan agreed was on the use of franchising to grow the business. Rather than take on outside investors to expand Huntington Learning Centers, the Huntingtons decided to let franchisees fund its growth.

To move to this next stage of development, the business was reorganized with Huntington Learning Centers, Inc. The first franchise was sold to an attorney and his wife, who opened their learning center in in Langhorne, New Jersey. In its first year of franchising the company sold approximately 12 franchises. In the following two years, it sold 30 each year, then leveled off to between 10 and 20 franchises each year after that.

In order to fuel the growth of company-owned units, the Huntingtons filed a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July for an initial public offering of 1.

As the business grew, Raymond and Eileen Huntington began to separate their roles in the company and in the final years of the s he began to focus his attention on administration while she concentrated on the operational side of the business.