--- title: "Sylvan Learning Summit Speaker: CEO John McAuliffe" url: https://burnaze.com/article/36a34478-13ed-4818-81d9-08aa9ed9cf9d source: "1851 Franchise" original_url: https://1851franchise.com/sylvan-learning-summit-speaker-ceo-john-mcauliffe-2714838 category: "Tutoring" industry: "Education & Childcare" segment: "Tutoring" topics: ["People"] published: 2021-01-26T23:18:17.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:26:11.880Z image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/afab595a8f9424bc29f1c7bdf9c70f358526.jpg --- # Sylvan Learning Summit Speaker: CEO John McAuliffe **TL;DR:** Sylvan Learning CEO John McAuliffe discusses the brand's growth and investment opportunities during the pandemic. Sylvan Learning has 750+ points of presence and 40+ years of experience, making it a leading supplemental and enrichment education brand in America. *originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-01-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/sylvan-learning-summit-speaker-ceo-john-mcauliffe-2714838).* ## Key facts - Sylvan Learning has 750+ points of presence - The company has 40+ years of experience - Sylvan invested $2.5 million in a deferral program for franchisees ## Story Sylvan Learning CEO John McAuliffe joined 1851 Publisher Nick Powills for a conversation at the Sylvan Learning online summit, and the chief executive made the case for why his company represents the right investment move right now. With the COVID-19 crisis deeply disrupting nearly the past year of K-12 education, McAuliffe predicted that Sylvan Learning, the leading supplemental and enrichment education brand in America with over 750 points of presence, would see a surge in demand. “Everybody understands with the unprecedented conditions we’re living under, the education landscape has been really put on its heels,” said McAuliffe. “In fact, virtually every child will lose almost a year’s worth of education over this period of time. There’s going to be an unprecedented demand for the types of services we provide.” At Sylvan, McAuliffe says the boom in demand has already arrived, and only COVID-19 restrictions have kept centers from being jammed packed. According to McAuliffe, most centers now can only accommodate half their normal capacity due to health and safety restrictions. ## Market demand growth But when restrictions lift and parents across the U.S. go to find educational support, McAuliffe explained that Sylvan is perfectly situated to take on the spike in demand. “We have the best brand in our industry,” McAuliffe said. “Virtually everyone knows who we are and what we do. That's critical for parents when they’re searching for who they think a supplemental education provider should be.” McAuliffe attributed Sylvan’s unbeatable brand recognition to the company having 40+ years in the business and an ace corporate marketing team that supports all franchisees. “The ultimate test of your marketing group is your brand awareness, and our brand awareness is up in the upper 90%,” he said. “That’s really amazing in our industry.” Another competitive advantage that will position Sylvan as the go-to for educational support is the fact that Sylvan covers all areas of education. Today’s students aren’t just missing math class. They’re missing out on reading, writing, help with homework and the routine school provides. Sylvan has services to address each of those areas of need. “Most of our competition is focused on math but the reality now is, it's just not math that people are falling behind in,” said McAuliffe. “We provide math, reading, homework help, writing, study skills, test prep and STEM. We have the ability to address any child’s academic needs because of the programs.” And just like Sylvan has a small army of happy franchisees that can validate the business model, it also has an army of parents of Sylvan students who all attest to the efficacy of the end product. “We have a track record of 40 years because our programs work,” he said. “They’re third party evaluated. We have a phenomenal voice of the customer scores which is our parents’ response to the services they’re receiving.” ## Technology investments How Sylvan Used Tech to Beat Pandemic Lockdowns But without the proper investments in technology, all of Sylvan’s value would be for naught. Luckily, Sylvan managed a pandemic pivot to distance learning in a brisk two weeks. As school systems around the world adjust to this fundamental change in instruction, Sylvan has ridden the crest of this wave and never lost sight of the most important part of education: allowing teachers to teach. “We’ve invested heavily over the years in particular into SylvanSync™, our proprietary delivery technology,” said McAuliffe. “It doesn’t replace the teacher, it just allows the teacher to do what they do best. To teach, to motivate, to build confidence. They’re the key component in a child’s learning and we’ll never lose track of that at Sylvan.” Sylvan franchisees need not worry about COVID-19 impacting business as Sylvan makes it possible for students to learn in a variety of settings. This flexibility and operational seamlessness make Sylvan stand head and shoulders above its competitors. “Our investments have now made it possible that our families can get services in centers, in satellite locations, they can get them in the home and they can now get it virtually,” said McAuliffe. “Nobody else can provide that service in all of those modalities and become the most convenient provider in the industry.” ## Franchisee support How Sylvan Supports Franchisees McAuliffe has always prided his brand on supporting its franchisees, but beyond just making the right investments in tech, he put the company’s money behind backing his team when times got tough. “During the pandemic, we knew it was going to be difficult and we set up a $2.5 million deferral program,” he said. “We worked our buns off to make sure they had all the health and safety guidelines they needed to reopen.” When the government made PPP loans available, McAuliffe made sure his franchisees were the first in line. “I don’t think you’re going to find a franchisor that stands behind their franchisees as much as we do and we appreciate them because of all the effort they’ve undertaken over these last several months to stay successful and stay profitable over these past few months,” he said. Looking back at how his business fared, McAuliffe said it’s a clear choice for an investment. Education isn’t going anywhere and neither is Sylvan. “That’s why education and that’s why Sylvan,” he said. ## Entities - 1851 Franchise (publication) - Education & Childcare (sector) - franchise support (topic) - Sylvan Learning (company) - pandemic impact (topic) - brand recognition (topic) - John McAuliffe (person) - education investment (topic) --- Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/sylvan-learning-summit-speaker-ceo-john-mcauliffe-2714838). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/36a34478-13ed-4818-81d9-08aa9ed9cf9d).