Private Club Radio Show
361: Legislative Insights & Punk Rock Music-NCA Update w/ Joe Trauger
We then dive into an engaging conversation with Joe Trauger from the National Club Association (NCA) to explore the invaluable role the NCA plays in advocating for private clubs through top-notch education and governance practices.
Excited to hear some surprising stories from Joe Trauger about his deep connection with Green Day? You're in for a treat! Joe reminisces about how Green Day once rocked his college basement in Mankato and shares memorable anecdotes about Billy Joe Armstrong's close ties to the local community. We chat about the electrifying live shows of Green Day and Foo Fighters, emphasizing their exceptional fan interactions and the joy they bring to audiences.
Switching gears, we tackle the serious business of current legislative activities in Congress, focusing on appropriations and the Department of Homeland Security's H2B visa policy.
We discuss the efforts to secure more supplemental visas for seasonal employers and the competitive nature of this process. Additionally, we navigate through the latest regulatory changes, including new overtime rules, upcoming regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the complexities of club membership fees. Stay tuned for updates on the private club industry and exciting upcoming events from the NCA.
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We then dive into an engaging conversation with Joe Trauger from the National Club Association (NCA) to explore the invaluable role the NCA plays in advocating for private clubs through top-notch education and governance practices.
Excited to hear some surprising stories from Joe Trauger about his deep connection with Green Day? You're in for a treat! Joe reminisces about how Green Day once rocked his college basement in Mankato and shares memorable anecdotes about Billy Joe Armstrong's close ties to the local community. We chat about the electrifying live shows of Green Day and Foo Fighters, emphasizing their exceptional fan interactions and the joy they bring to audiences.
Switching gears, we tackle the serious business of current legislative activities in Congress, focusing on appropriations and the Department of Homeland Security's H2B visa policy.
We discuss the efforts to secure more supplemental visas for seasonal employers and the competitive nature of this process. Additionally, we navigate through the latest regulatory changes, including new overtime rules, upcoming regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the complexities of club membership fees. Stay tuned for updates on the private club industry and exciting upcoming events from the NCA.
Follow us on the socials
Private Club Radio Instagram
Private Club Radio Linkedin
Denny Corby Instagram
Denny Corby Linkedin
Yeah, yeah, so, um, so I grew up in a in a smallish town city, uh, mankato, minnesota, and we had a, uh, we had a very robust punk music scene and, um, we had all sorts of bands come through there and I was kind of in the scene a little bit and, um, but yeah, when I was in college, um, some of my roommates, um, you know, kind of traveled in those circles as well and they played in our basement.
Speaker 1:Now I will say that I was not there, I was visiting my girlfriend in Wisconsin at the time. But yeah, and then if you go into, if you follow Billy Joe Armstrong's sort of, you know, progression and stuff like that, so he's married to Adrian, who went to Minnesota State where I went to school, and my ex wife is, you know, she used to hang out with her socially and all that kind of stuff, and Billy Joe and Adrian fell in love and you know they've been together ever since and she's from Mankato, minnesota, the small little town, and so it's, it's this weird convergence and confluence of connections and all of that kind of stuff that, uh, yeah, so I've been following their career since before Duke, hey everyone.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the private club radio show podcast, the industry source for news, trends, updates and conversations all in the world of private golf and country clubs, whether you are brand new to the industry or a consummate professional, welcome to the show. We are glad you are here. I'm your host, denny Corby. This episode is an NCAA update. What that means is I'd like to bring on our friend, joe Trauger from the NCA, the National Club Association, the Association for Private Clubs and their Boards. The NCA advocates the private club community through advocacy, insightful education and governance best practices, and has been doing this for over 60 years. So I'd like to bring on Joe Trauger to give us all an update of what's going on in their world, especially because it's some things that I don't know much about, which is a lot of things, but neither here nor there. If you have not done so already, make sure you sign up for our newsletter. Head on over to privateclubradiocom and it pops right up so you don't have to worry about it. But if you're not subscribed to a newsletter, we release different updates and different things that we don't always release on our channel. So best to stay up to date with all of our content on there and, speaking of content, if you are liking, if you are enjoying the channel, a like, share, a subscribe, a follow on Apple Podcasts, spotify, wherever you are listening and consuming. We're also fairly active on LinkedIn and trying to be more on Instagram, so go follow us on all the social channels as well, and real quick.
Speaker 2:Before we get to our episode with Joe Trauger, I just want to give a big thanks to our show partners here on the channel. We have Concert Golf Partners boutique owner operators of private golf and country clubs nationwide. If you or your club is looking for some recapitalization, head on over to ConcertGolfPartnerscom. We also have member vetting, kenneth's. If you are looking for fact-based member vetting and if you're not doing fact-based member vetting, highly encourage you. Go check out membervettingcom. Set up a call with Paul Dank and see how you can protect your most valuable asset your club and your members and your reputation MemberVettingcom. We also have our new friends, golf Life Navigators, the only resource that golf enthusiasts have to discover, experience and ultimately secure their dream home and club. If you would like your club to be a part of this platform, head over to golf life navigatorscom and set up a call with Jason Becker. Guaranteed, it's going to be awesome.
Speaker 2:And finally, me I'm one of the show partners the Denny Corby experience. If you are looking for a super fun member event night, one that's going to be talked about for months and years, I have the Denny Corby experience. It's magic, mind reading, comedy and crowd work. The show starts as soon as the people show up for the cocktail hour reception and ends when it ends. But it's close-up magic. There's sleight of hand, there's a standup show and it's a ton of crowd work. The audience is pretty much the focus of the show. There's so much banter, there's so much back and forth. It is quite the experience, if I say so myself, but I am a little bit biased. If you want to learn more, head on over to DennyCorbycom. That's DennyCorbycom, but let's get on with this episode. Private Club Radio listeners let's welcome from the NCAA, joe Trocker listeners let's welcome from the ncaa, joe trauker. I side note, I still I would have never pegged you for for for a green day fan. Really, yeah, I, I don't know why.
Speaker 1:When you said that, I was like yeah, yeah, I've been a big fan of theirs for a long time I I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's in my head. I was like there's no way, but now I'm like that makes total sense.
Speaker 1:So now I cannot listen to green day without immediately thinking of well, I suppose there are worse things to be associated with than than that. But um, yeah, I've been, yeah, just been a fan of theirs since before dookie hit and oh you're an OG fan.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, well, they played in my basement in college.
Speaker 1:What, yeah, yeah, so I grew up in a smallish town city, mankato, minnesota, and we had a very robust punk music scene and we had all sorts of bands come through there and I was kind of in the scene a little bit.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, when I was in college some of my roommates kind of traveled in those circles as well and they played in our basement. Now I will say that I was not there, I was visiting my girlfriend in Wisconsin at the time, um, but um, yeah, and then if you go, if you go into, if you follow Billy Joe Armstrong's uh sort of you know, progression and stuff like that, so he's married to Adrian, uh, who went to Minnesota state where I went to school and my ex-wife is, you know, she used to hang out with her, um, socially and all that kind of stuff, and Billy Joe and Adrian fell in love and you know they've been together ever since and she's from Mankato, minnesota, this small little town, and so it's. It's this weird convergence and confluence of connections and all of that kind of stuff. That, uh, yeah, so I've been following their career since before dookie and and now just stadium arenas.
Speaker 2:It is oh yeah, the size that they play, and multiple, oh my, it's yeah, yeah and they I mean there's I.
Speaker 1:I personally, I think that there's two bands right now that put on just amazing shows, and I'm fans of both of them. Green day, you know. They can get up there and play for three hours no breaks and just kill it and foo fighters are the same way.
Speaker 2:I was just gonna say.
Speaker 1:I was just gonna say you're gonna say I was almost gonna say let me, let me write it down, because I think I know what you're gonna say I 100 agree, and I think I know why.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they. They interact with the fans and let the fan, they break that third wall beyond. Then just what's up?
Speaker 1:pittsburgh, whatever they bring fans up to play, um right, yeah, they're, they're having a big party and everybody's invited and you know they just have a good time, fantastic shows, and I had a few years ago. So Billy Joe Armstrong had a side project called the long shot. I don't know if you've ever heard him. Very good Music is really good, but it's it's sort of side project of his and so he does plays guitar and lead singer on that as well and it's a little bit more like rockabilly kind of music at the Black Cat, which is owned by Dave Grohl. And so it was this small venue, just a barroom show, with Billy Joel Armstrong up there with Longshot, and it was just a fantastic show. I mean, maybe 20 feet away from him he's up on stage and I'm sitting at the bar and it was just, it was amazing to see in that sort of smaller environment. But yeah, it's um, yeah, I'm a fan did you see?
Speaker 2:there was a video that that went viral for a minute. I don't know if it was ireland, europe, I don't know where at it was some little pub over in europe.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it was Ireland.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and all of a sudden I guess like Green Day was there and the band was like, do you guys want to play? And like they just took over and they're in this pub. That's probably the size of my like little studio here and they're all just like rocking out and there's like 50 people and everyone's just going bonkers it's going bonkers, it was so cool.
Speaker 1:Um, it's, it's, it's such a and that's. I think that a commonality between those two bands is is it's, um, you know they, absolutely you can tell they love what they do and you know they just have a good time doing it and it doesn't matter the venue, they just like making music.
Speaker 2:It's, it's, it's awesome to see, it's refreshing did you read or listen to dave grohl's book?
Speaker 1:I actually haven't um. I I've started reading it. I haven't gone through all of it yet I would do the audio.
Speaker 2:I think it's a little bit better because, like he, he talks it yeah. So like yeah, I don't know you get that the inflections and the yeah, you know yeah, and then, and then there the other one where, where his mom wrote about him like being his mom and being like a rock stars mom, uh, and then she, she talks it too. I thought that was just fascinating also.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and she didn't she go around and interview, like a bunch of other rock star moms, um, as part of that book or part of a project she was doing, um, she, she contacted other lead singers, you know rock stars moms, and just interviewed them.
Speaker 2:so yeah, that was pretty, pretty interesting, dave and I think grohl's daughter like goes on tour with him now and she like helps out backstage and like loads the trucks or like whatever like needs to be done, like that, yeah, that is so cool that's so cool.
Speaker 1:It's a family business.
Speaker 2:It is and speaking of family business, what is going on in the family business of capitol hill? Oh, what a what a transition, because I know you and I could probably chat for hours now, so I figured we should. We should be a a little productive at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's quite a segue. So, yeah, it's well, as has been the case. It's definitely a dysfunctional family, but yeah, there's. You know, right now I think there's just a wide recognition that Congress is, at least in the legislative sense, is not really going to be doing a whole lot for the remainder of the year. I think their, their main goal is really to get the appropriation stuff as far along in the process as they can. I don't really anticipate that they'll be able to pass anything until after the election. You know it's. It's a pretty well-worn path that Congress has been on for the last 20 years or so where they just sort of kick a can down the road on appropriations until after elections or, you know, or they make a deal on Christmas Eve and go home for the rest of the rest of the year, until the next year. So I don't really see anything changing with regard to that. So I don't really see anything changing with regard to that.
Speaker 1:So, but that being said, there are some things that that we're we're watching and there has been some progress, particularly on the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bills, our bill that would affect H2B policy, which is something that we're very interested in and want to see changes in.
Speaker 1:So right now. Just last week the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee passed their bill through their committee and it included language that would allow the administration to add an additional 64,000 supplemental visas once the visas run out, you know, because there's 66,000 every year. So once they reach that 66,000, they can authorize another 64. Unfortunately, the language says they may release an additional 64,000. So we're trying to change that so that it says shall. You know, may and shall are two very important words up on Capitol Hill and we'd like to make sure that there's no wiggle room that they do actually have to release those additional visas. So that's brewing and we're doing some outreach on the Hill and particularly with uh leadership and and I think the rules committee next week is going to be um, looking at uh amendments to that bill. So, um, we'll continue to push on that. But really, the big, the big stuff.
Speaker 2:What does that mean? Go ahead so just in like the terms like what would that what? What would that 60,? What would what would that mean for the club space to have the extra 64,000? Well, it's, it's not just the club space. So you know.
Speaker 1:I was trying to break it, I was trying to bring it in Right. So so clubs, clubs, have to compete with every other employer. Um, you know whether it's every other seasonal employer, whether it's a fisheries, you know whether it's every other seasonal employer, whether it's fisheries, you know any kind of industry where they have seasonality. So there's a highly it's a highly competitive market and by the time you know, by the time the 66, the 66,000 visas go pretty quickly. 66,000 visas go pretty quickly and you know. So the ability to know ahead of time that you're going to have additional visas available is so beneficial for the industry not only you know, the club industry, but just businesses in general that operate seasonal businesses. So you know, one of the things that I've given the Biden administration credit for is that they have traditionally, in the last couple of years, they've announced additional visas early in the year as opposed to waiting until later and later and later, because the later you wait, the more difficult it is for those to actually be used. Where I think they've come up a little bit short is there's quite a bit of backlog in approving, you know, the certifications and that kind of thing that need to be done to actually employ the people that are getting those visas. So you know we're working with the administration on that and of course they want more money to fund the programs and that kind of thing. So you know it's a never-ending process, gotcha.
Speaker 1:So but really the big, you know, most of the activity in Washington right now, as we talked about in the past, is more on the regulatory side. The past is more on the regulatory side and it's typically true of any administration that's entered their fourth year. It tends to be pretty vigorous activity when it comes to regulatory work and this administration is no exception. So we have regulations coming out of the Department of Labor that have been finalized that are going into effect July 1st, specifically on overtime, increasing the overtime threshold. So that goes into effect on July 1st. But there's some I think there's six lawsuits, four or six lawsuits that have already been filed to try to delay that implementation date.
Speaker 1:So what they did was they kind of staggered it out. So July 1st, the first tranche of the increase from the $35,000 in change, the threshold is now up to $48,000, and then it goes up to $60,000 on January 1st. So what we've done as an organization is we've had webcasts and obviously we've put out written information as well to try to help clubs get ready for making those changes. Because essentially what they need to do is go through all of their employees, what their status is, whether they're exempt or non-exempt, whether they have managerial responsibilities, whether they meet the duties test for overtime exemption, all of those things really kind of a checklist that clubs need to go through or any employer needs to go through to make sure that their employees are classified correctly. But where we've gotten now, with the overtime threshold being increased by so much, is it's almost a de facto single test. So it's almost like the duties test doesn't matter anymore. And you know you have to make more than $61,000 in order to be considered exempt, which is, you know, problematic for some particular areas of the country. You know some states already have thresholds that are higher than that, but you know one size doesn't necessarily fit all, so it's going to be more problematicHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations.
Speaker 1:They just sent over a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget to I think what they're trying to do is determine whether or not they have the authority to actually issue a regulation specific to heat protocols and regulating exposure to heat, whether it's indoors or outdoors. So it's a little bit unusual in the process. But we're tracking that. We've already weighed in with OSHA on that last year or the year before and we've just cautioned them to not be overly rigid in terms of any protocols that they might issue or regulations they might issue and just create an environment where employers and employees can work together to solve the issue, as opposed to having rigid guidelines. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that they took our advice, because they put out a framework that kind of gave a window into some of their thinking and unfortunately they're getting into.
Speaker 1:You know, if the temperature is predicted to be, you know, above X degrees that day, then it's a heat warning and then you have to do all these other things.
Speaker 1:So it's it's very much a. It looks like they're going down that road of creating a rigid standard and it's the temperatures I've kind of had a little bit of fun with it, but it's not. It's not really funny, but the temperatures they're talking about are, like you know, at 80 degrees it would be a high heat warning. Well, I mean, if you look at the Department of Energy and EPA's website, they tell you to keep your thermostat at 78 degrees and keep it up and keep it at 80 degrees while you're sleeping. Well, you know how can it be a dangerous environment at 80 degrees if the temperature is predicted to be 80 degrees, when the same federal government is encouraging people to set the thermostats just two degrees lower? You know, I understand there's degrees, but I'm not sure the two degrees is really going to make that much of a difference. And so we get into these ridiculous kind of arguments, and so we get into these ridiculous kind of arguments and again, it sort of emphasizes my point that if you create that rigidity you create ridiculousness.
Speaker 1:And you know. The fact is that people react differently to heat. You might react differently to 95 degrees and you know, humid like it is right now than I do. You know I happen to love it when it's hot and humid like it is right now than I do. I happen to love it when it's hot and humid. And so people react differently and you need to have the flexibility in order to react.
Speaker 2:So what does that mean exactly? So when they're saying like, oh, at 80 degrees there might be like a warning, it's like with like some of this framework, what would some of that pan out to? What can be some of the I don want to say consequences, but what? What would be some?
Speaker 1:of yeah, so they, they would do. Um. So osha kind of breaks things up into three different categories. One is administrative controls, which is essentially your scheduling um, you know how you schedule people and the types of work they do. There's other things like engineering controls, which would be more, as it sort of implies, mechanical. Or you know technologies that you could use to mitigate any particular risks. So you know, but the agency over the last 10, 12 years, has really tried to move away from the administrative controls and really getting into the engineering controls.
Speaker 1:So it might mean things like people having the opportunity to leave an environment and go to an air conditioned area for a little bit. Or you know things like that that you know on the surface they don't sound all that big of a deal, but, um, you know, if you're out, um, you know, in the middle of a uh, you know, 200 acre golf course, um, you know, finding that that air conditioned space might be a little bit more difficult, um, but, uh, you know. My point to the agency when we weighed in was that you know clubs are doing a good job already and you know they. They do things like um planning. You know the heavier work in the earlier hours of the day so that it's not as hot Water breaks and shade breaks and all of those kinds of things are regular routine things that clubs do to make sure that their employers are kept safe. But again it gets into that rigidity. If you're prescribing certain things need to happen just because it reaches 82 degrees, then we're focused on all the wrong details. I think.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. No, thank you. Okay, now that makes total sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know that we necessarily talked about it last time we spoke, but the Federal Trade Commission has been kind of on a tear lately about so-called junk fees and it's been an administration initiative to rid the economy of junk fees. And I've checked in with the Federal Trade Commission because they typically don't have jurisdiction or haven't exerted jurisdiction over private clubs. But the definition they wrote as far as restaurant fees and hotel fees, I couldn't help but think that it would capture clubs in some way, shape, manner or form, and so I weighed in with them to seek a clarification as to whether or not that was their intent. But again, typically it's not a sector of the economy that they've traditionally regulated and the circumstances, I think, are very different than a traditional retail type of restaurant or a hotel or something like that where you go to check out and all of a sudden you've got all these fees. Hotel or something like that where you go to check out and all of a sudden you've got all these fees.
Speaker 1:You know, particularly with clubs, members know ahead of time that there's going to be fees associated with dining and all of those kinds of things and if they don't like them they have an opportunity to vote them out. So it's not like a traditional business environment where you're either you need to pay them or you don't get the service. Members of clubs typically do have recourse or a process by which they can have a discussion as a membership about what fees they pay and how they pay them, so that's something that we're keeping an eye on. We haven't heard a whole lot of developments on that recently, but yeah, we'll be reaching out to them again to get the clarification because they haven't given it yet.
Speaker 2:And when would that? I don't think we talked about it. I think it came up at conference. Okay, I think that's where maybe it came up. But what's the next steps for that? What's the timeline for the junk fees?
Speaker 1:that? What are? What's the timeline? Yeah, the junk fees. Well, I'm not sure you know, anytime a regulatory agency goes into that rulemaking process, it's kind of a black box, right. You know they sort of take the comments and then they go huddle and you know they send up the white smoke when they're done and they publish it. So they're in the process of, I guess you know, writing the actual regulation that they intend to publish. But I was just talking with my team last week about trying to get in with the FTC, you know, to go visit them and kind of check in and see where they're at. You know whether or not they kind of check in and see where they're at, whether or not they give us the information we need, at least we'll have an opportunity to weigh in again and tell them that they're, with respect to clubs at least they're barking up the wrong tree, anything else going on.
Speaker 2:You want to chime in on?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, outside of the government relations stuff, you know the National Club Association we have a whole slate of webcasts that are coming up management systems, which is really geared towards the board members and making sure that you have an up to date and modern performance management system for your general manager and your senior staff. So that's happening today, june 20th, and next we have coming up we have a webcast on club culture and why it's important to understand that and be in touch with it and tune with it. July 18th we have one on real estate tax assessments, something that we typically do once a year with Larry Hirsch, and then on the 25th of July, we have a webcast planned with respect to H-2Bs and looking ahead to 2025 and any sort of updates that are happening and what clubs need to do to prepare to be in that process for getting their H-2B applicants and workers in, and there's some opportunities that we're looking at to share there. And then, coming up in August, we have I'm really excited about this A friend of mine was the chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers.
Speaker 1:He's moved over to the National Restaurant Association and he is going to give us an update on sort of the state of the restaurant industry from an economic standpoint. And obviously there's corollaries you can pull from the club environment. Most every club has a restaurant or food and beverage component to it. So what are the things that are affecting people's desires to dine out and all of that kind of stuff? So I'm particularly excited about that and we'll be looking at other ways to kind of build that relationship with the National Restaurant Association and be able to glean a little bit of their expertise as it relates to the economy and those types of things.
Speaker 1:So we've got a good slate of webcasts coming up all the way through the beginning of August that I'm excited about and we'll continue to add to that roster. But yeah, and other than that, well, later on in August we'll be doing a webcast kind of getting ready for the elections, which I'm sure everybody's really excited about. But yeah, just keeping an eye on the political scene and what's happening there. Of course we have the first presidential debate coming up next week, a week from today actually and so that'll I'm sure affect some of the polling that's happening right now and kind of where that stands. But yeah, it's something I have always kept an eye on. Elections have consequences and you know, we want to make sure that we're on top of those going into it and are prepared to make adjustments as we need to.
Speaker 2:I like that. Thank you for all you're doing for us, absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's a joy, absolute joy, even dealing with Congress.
Speaker 2:Can you tell that to your face?
Speaker 1:No, I, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, right I think I had a straight face when I said it, but I can't remember. I probably not. Can we get an the call on that? So? But no, I you know from what I'm hearing from our members, you know things seem to be going pretty well. You know golf rounds are are still, you know, way up there and and which is great, and you know participation in clubs has remained strong, from what I hear, in terms of membership and waiting lists and that kind of thing. So you know we continue to have a good situation for private clubs around the country for the most part, and so that's, that's been a positive.
Speaker 2:I love it, mr Trauger, always a pleasure when our paths cross. Thanks for the update.
Speaker 1:Thanks for everything and can't wait for next time. Absolutely Look forward to it. Thanks, Danny.
Speaker 2:Hope you all enjoyed that episode. I know I love chatting with Joe Trauger and love him even more that he's a Green Day fan. Love it so good. If you want to learn a little bit more, head on over to nationalcluborg to learn more about the National Club Association and all they have going on, or to even join if you are not a member already. If you are awesome, probably met you at the NCA conference. But that's this episode. Hope you all enjoyed that. As always, a like, share, subscribe, a share with a friend, a colleague, somebody else in the industry, means the absolute world and costs nothing. I'm your host, denny Corby. That's this episode. Catch you all on the flippity flip.