With backing from former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and the help of an international franchisor, a Frisco-born men’s grooming company is launching a national franchising program.

Founder and president Ben Davis created The Gents Place in 2008, receiving a $307,000 Small Business Administration loan two weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and pitching in about $93,000 of his own money to get his business off the ground.

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