Run a locally owned business in the Franklin area? We'd love to know about it. Every business on The Franklin Local is vetted before it appears — and listing is free, because it can't be bought.
The ground rules
- Locally owned and operated only. No chains, no conglomerates, no investor-portfolio brands. Local owners with more than one location are welcome — brands run from a boardroom are not.
- Vetted, not paid. We review every application personally. Money doesn't move the queue and never will.
- Featured on merit. Being vetted gets you eligible; where and how you appear depends on fit with our guides and what our readers need.
What happens after you apply
Applications get reviewed personally, in the order they arrive. We look at the same things a careful customer would — who owns the business, how long you’ve been operating, what your reputation looks like among the people who’ve actually used you — plus fit: where you’d belong in our guides and what our readers are looking for.
If you’re approved, you’re eligible — which is not the same as instantly featured. Placement follows fit: a vetted business appears when a guide covers its category, at the position its merit earns. If we can’t verify enough to vet you yet, that’s not a rejection; it usually just means we need more time or more signal, and reapplying later is welcome.
Two questions we get constantly: yes, it’s really free, and no, there is genuinely no way to pay for placement — not sponsorship, not “partnership,” not ads. That’s the entire reason a listing here means something.