Christopher M. Grandpre
About Christopher M. Grandpre
Christopher M. Grandpre (age 58) is a 2025 Board of Directors nominee at The Joint Corp. with over 30 years of experience as an M&A investment banker and as founder/CEO of a multi-brand franchising platform. He serves as Chairman of Empower Brands and as an Operating Partner (Executive Board) at MidOcean Partners, with prior roles leading Outdoor Living Brands and senior posts across franchising and corporate development. Education: BSBA in Finance (University of Notre Dame) and MBA (Virginia Commonwealth University) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoor Living Brands, Inc. | Founder, Chairman & CEO; set strategic direction; grew via acquisitions/incubation | Not disclosed | Built multi-brand franchise platform |
| Empower Brands (post-merger of Outdoor Living Brands with LYNX Franchising) | Board member (2021), Chairman (2022) | 2021–present | Strategy oversight; evaluate acquisitions/incubation; >$1.5B system sales |
| National Restorations (now Renovar) | CEO & Director | Not disclosed | Executive leadership |
| U.S. Structures | Chairman & CEO | Not disclosed | Executive leadership |
| National Guaranty Corporation | Director | Not disclosed | Board governance |
| Matrix Capital Markets Group | Managing Director | Not disclosed | Sell-side M&A advisory |
| Management consulting (now Accenture) | Consultant (early career) | Not disclosed | Early career foundation |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Scope/Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Empower Brands | Chairman | Oversees strategy and evaluation of franchise acquisitions/incubations for a 10-brand residential/commercial services franchisor (> $1.5B sales) |
| MidOcean Partners | Operating Partner, Executive Board | Assists in executing investment thesis targeting franchised consumer businesses |
Board Governance
- Status at JYNT: Nominee for election; no current committee assignments are listed for Grandpre .
- Independence: The Board discloses that, except for the CEO, all current non-employee directors are independent under Nasdaq and SEC rules; independence for nominees is not separately stated in the proxy .
- Committee structure and leadership: Compensation (Chair: Suzanne Decker), Audit (Chair: Ronald DaVella), Nominating & Governance (Chair: Glenn Krevlin through the 2025 meeting); Lead Director: Matthew E. Rubel .
- Board activity: 2024 Board met 8 times; all directors met ≥75% attendance; Audit (4), Compensation (5), Nominating & Governance (3) meetings in 2024; executive sessions held each meeting without management .
- Stock ownership guidelines for directors: 2x annual cash retainer within 5 years of becoming subject to the target .
Fixed Compensation
JYNT director pay framework (2024):
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual retainer (cash) | $50,000 | Payable to non-employee directors upon election/reelection (except Gramm in 2024) |
| Lead Director stipend | $15,000 | Annual |
| Audit Chair stipend | $15,000 | Annual |
| Compensation Chair stipend | $10,000 | Annual |
| Nominating & Governance Chair stipend | $5,000 | Annual |
| Committee member stipend | $2,000 | Annual; non-chair (except Gramm in 2024) |
| Special IT Committee | $5,000 | Annual member stipend |
| Special Finance Committee | $15,000 (Chair); $5,000 (Member) | Annual |
Note: Grandpre received no 2024 director compensation (not a director in 2024) .
Performance Compensation
Standard director equity design (2024):
| Equity Instrument | Grant Policy | Vesting | Valuation Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted stock | Shares equal to $50,000 divided by closing price on election date | Earlier of 1 year from grant or next annual meeting | Grant-date fair value per FASB ASC 718; typical unvested balance per director: 3,306 shares at YE2024 |
Executive equity and clawback infrastructure (context for governance quality):
- Executive Officer Clawback Policy adopted in 2023 to recoup erroneously paid performance-based incentive compensation post-restatement, per SEC/Nasdaq rules .
- Compensation Committee engages Korn Ferry biennially for pay benchmarking; next evaluation expected 2025 .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Current public company boards | None |
| Prior public company boards | None disclosed |
| Interlocks | MidOcean Partners: Grandpre (Operating Partner, Executive Board) and Rubel (Chair of executive board for MidOcean Partners Private Equity Consumer Group); potential governance interlock to monitor, no related-party transactions disclosed involving MidOcean |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Franchising & industry expertise; Corporate finance & M&A; Senior management and CEO leadership; Operations; Marketing/Branding .
- Education: BSBA – Finance (Notre Dame); MBA (VCU) .
Equity Ownership
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership at 3/24/2025 | Not listed among directors/executives in the beneficial ownership table; table covers current directors/executives and ≥5% holders at that date |
| Shares outstanding reference | 15,322,532 shares outstanding as of 3/24/2025 |
| Stock ownership guidelines (Directors) | Must hold ≥2x annual cash retainer within 5 years |
| Hedging/pledging | Prohibited: short sales; hedging/monetization; public option transactions; margin accounts/pledging |
Insider Trades
| Period | Form 4 Filings | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FY2024–early 2025 | Not disclosed for Grandpre | Proxy indicates compliance reviews; delinquent Section 16 filings noted for Holt and Singleton only; Grandpre not a reporting insider in 2024 |
Governance Assessment
- Strengths: Deep franchising and M&A experience; Chairman role at Empower Brands with large multi-brand system scale; alignment with JYNT’s strategy to pivot to a pure-play franchisor; strong operational and branding credentials .
- Board effectiveness signals: Robust committee structure with independent chairs; executive sessions each meeting; annual board/committee self-evaluations; director ownership guidelines and anti-hedging/pledging policy support alignment .
- Potential conflicts/interlocks: Shared MidOcean affiliation with Lead Director Rubel—monitor for any related-party considerations; no MidOcean-related transactions disclosed; Related-party transactions disclosed involve another director (Gramm) and family/franchise interests with standardized terms .
- Independence/attendance: Grandpre is a nominee with no 2024 attendance record and no committee assignments yet; independence for nominees is not separately stated, while current non-employee directors are independent under Nasdaq rules .
Appendix: Director Compensation (Context)
| Director (2024) | Cash Fees ($) | Stock Awards ($) | Total ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew E. Rubel | 71,000 | 50,000 | 121,000 |
| Ronald V. DaVella | 74,000 | 50,000 | 124,000 |
| Suzanne M. Decker | 58,000 | 50,000 | 108,000 |
| Abraham Hong | 59,000 | 50,000 | 109,000 |
| Glenn J. Krevlin | 68,000 | 50,000 | 118,000 |
Note: Grandpre had no 2024 director compensation (not serving as a director in 2024) .