--- title: "Lightbridge Academy® to Exhibit at The Franchise Show in Dallas on January 21; Meet CEO Gigi Schweikert" url: https://burnaze.com/article/2c7c2fe7-2439-4437-a02b-abdc452f9059 source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/lightbridge-academy-to-exhibit-at-the-franchise-show-in-dallas-on-january-21-meet-ceo-gigi-schweikert-2717702 category: "Childcare & early learning" industry: "Education & Childcare" segment: "Childcare & early learning" topics: ["People"] published: 2022-01-13T15:10:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:13:06.423Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/af6c5431213be6a3f6aa9bdf5f64d3455885.jpg --- # Lightbridge Academy® to Exhibit at The Franchise Show in Dallas on January 21; Meet CEO Gigi Schweikert **TL;DR:** Lightbridge Academy, a child care franchise, will exhibit at The Franchise Show in Dallas on January 21 to highlight opportunities in the Texas market. The brand plans to open 15 locations in Dallas and 10 in Houston, creating roughly 35 jobs per location. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-01-13. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/lightbridge-academy-to-exhibit-at-the-franchise-show-in-dallas-on-january-21-meet-ceo-gigi-schweikert-2717702).* ## Story Lightbridge Academy*®*, the innovators in early educational child care with more than 60 open locations and 60 additional franchises sold or in development across the U.S., will be exhibiting at The Franchise Show in Dallas on January 21 and 22. The franchise show will jump-start the brand’s growth plans, which include opening 15 locations in Dallas and 10 in Houston, with each location creating roughly 35 jobs. Lightbridge Academy’s CEO Gigi Schweikert will be attending the show and meeting with prospective franchisees at the Dallas Market Hall. “We've been paying close attention to Texas,” said Jim DiRugeris, Lightbridge Academy’s senior vice president of franchise sales. “The Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston markets are still very much underserved.” DiRugeris stated that the demand in the Texas market is also a result of residential growth in the area, and in particular people leaving California and heading to the Lone Star State. “You can land in Dallas and start driving in most any direction, specifically north of the city, and there are neighborhoods being built as far as the eye can see,” explained DiRugeris. “This presents a great opportunity for parents who have or had their children in quality child care programs, understand the high value it provides to children and families and want to make a difference in their communities.” Schweikert elaborated on the growth plans for Lightbridge in Texas and the impact the Dallas Franchise Show will have on the brand’s expansion in the state. “The Dallas Franchise Show is an integral event in our expansion into the state of Texas,” said Schweikert. “We hope to network with like-minded franchisees who are passionate about child care, share our values and wish to bring a leading, national brand to their community to be The Solution for Working Parents®.” Schweikert stated that Lightbridge Academy goes beyond offering a solid early education curriculum and care for children by being uniquely designed to support parents through the many challenges they face. With industry-leading programs and services like ParentView® Internet Monitoring, a parent eCommunication app, extended hours and state-of-the-art safety and security systems, Lightbridge Academy is able to support parents and children every step of the way. Lightbridge Academy has plans to attend about a dozen franchise shows in Texas, Florida and the Carolinas. DiRugeris stresses that these shows are critical for the franchise to take the necessary time to network with potential franchisees in areas of development. “There's nothing better than being face-to-face with people,” said DiRugeris. “Prospective owners can see the love we have for our brand, our belief in the model and the commitment we have to the success of our franchisees. We spend the time connecting with people. Some come in knowing the type of business they want, and are looking to meet franchisors in a specific industry and others are just beginning to explore because they know they want to be in business for themselves — but haven’t yet discovered what that is. Those are the people we enjoy talking to the most. Some just know they want to make a difference and through our conversations they realize it's an incredibly rewarding business with so much room for growth.” ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - franchise growth (topic) - Education & Childcare (sector) - texas (location) - Dallas (location) - texas expansion (topic) - child care (topic) - Gigi Schweikert (person) - franchise show (topic) - The Franchise Show (location) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/lightbridge-academy-to-exhibit-at-the-franchise-show-in-dallas-on-january-21-meet-ceo-gigi-schweikert-2717702). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/2c7c2fe7-2439-4437-a02b-abdc452f9059).