Lee Thurburn, who also owns five restaurants and a Ft. Worth art gallery, tells GlobeSt.com that "it's a matter of me coming in and helping to take them to the next level." That level includes Web Real Estate's recently announced franchise program, a tripling of the corporate staff by year's end and possibly moving into larger offices, he says. Thurburn says he is bringing solid experience with a rapid-growth business to the play, which will be needed as Web Real Estate rolls out its franchising strategy.

Chuck Briant, Web Real Estate president, tells GlobeSt.com that the first franchise pacts will be in hand by month's end. And that will have to be supported by increases in sales, support, training, automation-essentially all "back-office procedures," says Thurburn, who also will be on Web Real Estate's board of directors.

Web Real Estate currently has nine on its corporate staff. There will be 27 on that staff by the end of this year and another tripling is on the 2002 board, confides Thurburn. That kind of growth will translate into a demand for more than the 3,800 sf of office space that Web Real Estate has been occupying at 4851 Keller Springs Rd. in Addison. But those kinds of issues will be dealt with toward the end of the year, Thurburn tells GlobeSt.com.

Thurburn is best recognized for starting Ft. Worth's FlashNet Communications in 1995. He had remained at the helm until July 1999. Three months later, the 400-employee, 250,000-customer business had been bought by Prodigy Communications.

Web Real Estate, formed in December 1998, has a Web site with more than 1,800 commercial real estate properties, mostly in the North Texas market. "Lee's experience with FlashNet, growing the company rapidly to become a national provider, is exciting and exactly what we need." Jack Diamond, Web Real Estate's president and board chairman, says in a prepared statement.

Thurburn says other companies had courted him, but found Web Real Estate particularly appealing because it's a dot-com "with a viable revenue model, which allows the company to compete effectively while generating a profit. That is something that FlashNet, and other `Dot Coms' never succeeded at generating."

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