89 – Why DC Matters to Your Business

Businesses of every size and why contractors need a stronger voice in federal policy discussions. They break down how government regulation, labor policy, immigration reform, workforce development, and project labor agreements (PLAs) influence the construction industry, business growth, and taxpayer costs. The conversation also highlights ABC’s upcoming Legislative Conference in Washington and the importance of contractors engaging directly with lawmakers to advocate for merit shop construction, economic growth, and practical business policies.

Main discussion topics:

► Federal regulations affecting construction companies

► Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and taxpayer impact

► Immigration policy and skilled workforce shortages

► Workforce development and apprenticeship programs

► Why contractors should engage in government advocacy

► ABC Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

► Leadership, small business challenges, and economic policy

As usual, the conversation zigzags into multiple tangents, touching on a variety of interesting pop culture and political topics.
  
The full audiovisual version of this episode is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qmRe-SRmGAU 

“The Obvious Podcast” is a production of ABC Florida East Coast Chapter. Unless otherwise stated, all content reflects the opinions of the guests and hosts.

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Transcript

Sonny Maken 0:10

All right, everyone, welcome to the Obvious Podcast. This is episode number 89. My name is Sonny Maken. I'm the COO at ABC Florida East Coast.

Peter Dyga 0:20

And I'm Peter Dyga, president and CEO at the ABC Florida East Coast.

Sonny Maken 0:24

You are listening or watching the Obvious Podcast, where all opinions expressed are our own unless we say otherwise.

Peter Dyga 0:30

Love the show. We ask you to subscribe on any major podcast platform or watch us in action on YouTube, follow the Obvious Podcast on Instagram, X and True Social, and now on TikTok. All the links you need are in the show notes. Reach out to us anytime at theobvious@abceastflorida.com. And if you're enjoying the ride, we ask you to help others find us by leaving a review wherever you listen. Happy Friday, Sonny. All right. Here we are again.

Sonny Maken 0:59

Here we are. Um episode number 89. So do you remember when we were in the 50s? No.

Peter Dyga 1:06

Um I don't remember what I had for dinner last year. Yeah. Well, unfortunately.

Sonny Maken 1:10

I hope that doesn't reflect poorly on my gives you a lot of credibility as a podcast host. Uh we were discussing holy cow, like 100 is coming up. And I cannot believe this is 89.

Peter Dyga 1:22

Yeah.

Sonny Maken 1:22

Right? So uh feedback has been phenomenal. And it hasn't all been milk and honey. People are upset. Um, especially the um the young young folks on TikTok. By the way, I saw the greatest meme. It's like a historical painting. And the lady says, uh, have you been on my TikTok? And he says, Why don't why can't you just call it a watch like everybody else?

Peter Dyga 1:48

Oh Lord. It is funny, these generational differences, right?

Sonny Maken 1:53

Yeah, yeah. Uh somebody was talking about actually one of my kids was talking about how Gen Z, like the latest one, it's like they re rediscover old truths and then they present it as something brand new that they have just discovered. Um, C.S. Lewis calls it the chronological snobbery of our times. I love that. You know, and it always cracks me up because they were like, hey guys, have you discovered books? Like it's amazing. It's like it's like so different than reading on a Kindle. Discovered logic, reasoning. So today's episode is called Why DC Matters to Your Business. And so, uh, as you know, we have an unbelievably busy calendar here at ABC. Things happening, my gosh, like m every every week there's multiple things happening. And so um and our whole purpose in existence is to really protect and grow the construction industry, right?

Peter Dyga 2:47

Which by the way, I was uh we were paid a in some excite conversation I had recently a very um heavy compliment on our events. Oh, yeah. And how it compares to the other options that are available out there. Sometimes if you you know, they say in social media if you watch it, you can be really get depressed about you know your life and your this great food and these great trips and that everybody, you know. If you just follow social media, you might think you know, that um I don't know, there's a lot going on or that uh anybody rivals ABC in terms of the quantity or quality of events we have. And I was just reminded by a member that that's just simply not true. That uh and we we've kind of we we believe that, you know. And again, we work very hard at trying to keep it fresh too, and uh, you know, so but in any event, and we've talked in the past about our team, Amy and Megan, and how great they are, and yeah. Anyway. So anyway, just wanted to throw that out there because you remember the complimentation. So well, uh yes, but I don't want to say it specifically. It was a kind of direct comparison to what they've experienced.

Sonny Maken 3:48

Okay. To to some other organization. Yeah, I get that. And it's like, you know, it's like real estate. In real estate, I don't know a few years ago when photography got really good, and they started put people started using these professional photographers to take pictures of houses, and you were like, wow, this place looks amazing on Zillow. And then you go, and then you look at this and you're like, what kind of crap hole is this? Really? It's kind of like dating, you know, the online dating.

Peter Dyga 4:14

Well, that's a whole different like I'm not touching that one. Well, I haven't done that in the eons, but I understand, you know, you'd be a fooled or tricked.

Sonny Maken 4:24

Let's just stick to the real estate comparison. But like I think events and how organizations present themselves online, it's it's such a different experience than sort of the reality of it all. And I think when you experience that, like I know uh you were just in uh the keys for our fishing tournament, which was a huge hit. I happen to not be there because I was in the incredible, scintillating, very sexy capital of Tallahassee, Florida for my daughter's graduation, which was great, by the way. And then you were in the keys. Four years of investment pays off. It's great. Well, she's still looking for a job, so we'll find out. But we had a we had a great time. And then, you know, the feedback that I received from random emails and texts was this how great about the fishing tournament. About the fishing tournament. Um, how great the fishing tournament was.

Peter Dyga 5:15

Yeah, largest ever. Largest ever grows. And uh has been for a while, according to the guides that tell us it's the largest tournament in the keys, so which is pretty cool. That's very cool. And it keeps growing, which is which is great. Very you know, pro-family event, which we don't do a lot, yeah, you know, because you know, a lot of things sustainable.

Sonny Maken 5:34

Well we're a pro we're a pro-family organization.

Peter Dyga 5:36

Absolutely. So yep.

Sonny Maken 5:37

But our events are I mean, you're right, and I'm glad that, you know, and it's been when you do it.

Peter Dyga 5:44

You know, when in associate in the association world, if uh you know your members are leading, you know, with uh either that high-level strategic planning or you know, this the thing that kind of s sets us apart, um and then they're committed, you know, which were kind of there's a kind of a connection to the whole DC matters to your business? Is that the um the fishing committee does an amazing job. They've developed they've developed uh an amazing and if you're a fisherman person, I was gonna say fisherman.

Sonny Maken 6:12

I is fisherwoman a term? That's not a term, right?

Peter Dyga 6:15

I don't know.

Sonny Maken 6:15

All right. If you're a fisher if you're a fisher person and you want to join.

Peter Dyga 6:19

You know who the first company to do the woke thing was? No idea. Do you ever remember the uh Ace Hardware commercial? Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man. Oh, they changed it to folks. Oh, this is like a decade or two ago. Oh, a long time ago. Yeah, somebody Google that. Okay when Ace changed from this is Ace is the place for the helpful hardware man. They were way ahead of their times. And that kind of rolled off your tongue. And I don't know that any woman, I don't know, I can't speak but for a woman, but would you be offended? Ace is the place for the helpful hardware person. I mean, I wouldn't, but you know, but it just doesn't roll off the tongue the way Ace is the place for the helpful hardware person. No, they just folks 89. See, they're way ahead of their times. That was way before and they were like the first. It was like the you know, the are they still in business? Don't people go to like Home Depot or Lowe's? They are hanging on, which I'm glad they are. You know, little independent hardware stores.

Sonny Maken 7:08

So anyway, let's talk about what we're famous for on the show, detours. Let's talk about our uh upcoming ABC National Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. And that's a lot of words, but the whole point is why does DC matter for your business and why you should attend and what happens there and why it's important and what we talk about. So I thought we can get into that, talk to our members and our audience about that. That's an event coming up in June.

Peter Dyga 7:37

We do two kind of days on the hill.

Sonny Maken 7:38

Yep.

Peter Dyga 7:39

All right, because we do one on the state level and then Washington level. In fact, all our leadership is expected to attend one of those. Either DC or Tallahassee. Either DC or Tallahassee. So and they are different, uh, you know, in terms of the you know, and there's there's a lot of truth in um I think the pace of change is a little more real at the state level than at the federal level. As it should be. You know. Well, that's a good that's a great point. You know, by design, some might say. But still, they're both very valuable. They both impact your business, and we wanted to spend a little time about how DC impacts your business. So right? Uh 100%. So how does DC impact our members' business, honey?

Sonny Maken 8:18

Oh policy. So construction is one of the most regulated fields in this country, right?

Peter Dyga 8:25

Yes, my predecessor Dan Shaw used to say that a lot. Yeah. Pick that up from him. Most regulated nuclear. But he pronounced nuclear the way most people do. I love how George Bush used to pronounce nuclear. I can't even do it. Nuclear. What did he say?

Sonny Maken 8:40

Nukelear. Anyway. Uh and then he used to pronounce um Kabul, which is the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, which always used to crack me up. You know. Kabul. Kamala. Kam Kamala.

Peter Dyga 8:55

Kamal.

Sonny Maken 8:55

Fool me. Remember when he got completely clustered by the fool me once? Fool me once line? He goes.

Peter Dyga 9:02

There's a mole turning intimidating. I know it's intimidated from me intimidating.

Sonny Maken 9:19

He's just gonna wrap it up because he couldn't remember it.

Peter Dyga 9:22

So anyway, I miss George Bush. I was looking at the um the agenda for LEGCON. So when really what we want to do is invite you, ABC member or not, uh, you don't have to be an ABC member to attend. Come on up with us. Yep. Uh it's a great time actually lobbying, going uh office to office and uh seeing a number of the congressmen and senators themselves. In some cases, we do see staff, which you can't um downplay. A lot of staffs play a very important role. Critical uh might be as important or more important to make sure you convey, you know, the um uh the message that we have to them as it is the congressman or the senator. So but um I saw the list also of which is one of the coolest things about attending. Uh we usually have some really spectacular guests in Washington, uh leaders, you know, that you probably would recognize from TV. So it's kind of cool to be there and to to hear from those folks. I think we got uh Henry Mack, you know, is now the workforce development or apprenticeship, I think, advice. Uh I think it's the Deputy Secretary of Labor. Deputy Secretary of Labor who's gonna be there. Um uh a few other, you know, really critical uh I think I might have seen Rubio on that list. And I don't know. Well last year Mike Johnson stopped by, yeah.

Sonny Maken 10:35

Speaker of the house, and the guy from Fox News. Yeah.

Peter Dyga 10:38

Um so anyway, it's it's a spectacular time. Um we usually have a nice meal or two. Um I know we're that happens no matter where we are. So well, that's for sure, but Washington's a great place for some good food. Anyway, it's a great time of uh of camaraderie and to be more specific, how DC impacts our business, issues like obviously immigration and the future of this country in terms of our immigration policy uh is going to be a big conversation. I think that's something I saw on the agenda as well, a kind of a conversation with um one of the leading uh congressional members who's um had some creative ideas, you know, about immigration, which we we and our leadership has tried to get included an idea of like, for example, if you're uh uh enrolled in a registered apprenticeship program, maybe we ought to tie that to uh work authorization in the country.

Sonny Maken 11:30

And your status.

Peter Dyga 11:30

I mean, if you're enrolled in a registered program that's uh advancing your skills and and as an apprentice, you're working, so you don't have to worry about them being a burden on any kind of a welfare system. It uh for us it seemed like a great tie. You know, because we're always looking for ways of, you know, anyway, tying and and these are challenges our industry faces, right? Absolutely. Input input pricing andor availability, whether it's materials or labor. Yep. So anyway, a whole host of other issues.

Sonny Maken 11:59

The other big thing we talk about in DC, which will come up this year as well, will be the PLA issue, right? That's something that hasn't really gone away. And it's it's uh it's such a huge tax on taxpayers because it drives up the cost of every public project there is that's very eve that's in any way federally funded, if it's partially federal federally funded or fully federally funded, it's it's gonna it's gonna have an impact.

Peter Dyga 12:22

Yep, and we've done past show, I think, on more specifically this issue, so look for that if you want to know more. Uh this has been a uh you know, a back and forth. Um that's bad. Didn't put my phone on. Do not disinterpret almost as bad as if you're in church and that happens. Um but not quite. Well, we don't compare this to church. Well, you know, gonna be a good idea. About how usually it's a volley back and forth, right? Uh between executive orders and uh actually this year or within it's been actually ongoing for a while, is uh ABC has been involved in a lawsuit uh to try to get because we're tired of the ping-pong back and forth. And if we could actually get a court, you know, to determine that it's illegal or unconstitutional, then we wouldn't have to worry about these executive orders going back and forth as as Democrats and Republicans get elected. There's some bad news on that front recently, which is a very good thing.

Sonny Maken 13:10

But before you get into that, bad news about the PLA, I think that's a very critical point about why DC matters to your business and why this conference matters, is because the kind of way this this is now shapen up, shaked up, shaken out over the last few uh few administrations, it's all uh executive orders. So your guy gets in, things are great, your guy gets out, things are terrible. Then your guy gets in, things are great. That's really no way to run a business, it's really no way to run a country. But that's kind of where we are. And it's sort of the, you know, there's a reason why Congress has a 7% approval rating. By the way, I would love to meet those 7%. I'm assuming they're family members of the congressional people. Like if you think Congress is doing a great job, I really want to have a conversation with you. Like, what land are you from, right?

Peter Dyga 13:56

And so I mean it's gotta be more than seven percent, like uh getting some kind of uh government assistance, you know. So why is it even higher than that?

Sonny Maken 14:03

That's a good question.

Peter Dyga 14:04

Even those people are frustrated. Even those people are frustrated because they're we're paying a little more attention to that.

Sonny Maken 14:11

Yeah. So it's just it's it's so interesting to me how uh Congress consistently fails at that. But this is why we go up there and we talk to our legislatures, and the whole idea is that this is critically important for your business. Yeah. And you might think, I have a small business, I don't do any public projects. Listen, the macro impact of federal policy, it's profound. It is absolutely profound because it affects all sorts of things, things you haven't even thought about and things that we haven't even thought about.

Peter Dyga 14:38

So quite frankly, the the small businesses uh I think they they value uh your thoughts and the struggles that you face, and you know, um even more so than uh in my opinion. I mean, they really do, I think. So in any event, getting there and conveying uh the challenges that you face and uh the issues that the federal government or obstacles that they may or may not put in your way is uh is important. So when we provide at least this one opportunity, and we do it by the way, several other times a year, not necessarily as a nation. Because uh in June uh 10th, which is the legislative conference, uh on the 9th are also some breakout sessions and our national board meeting and uh you know free enterprise alliance reception and whatnot. But the the core is uh if you're there for the full day on the 10th, uh that's when we'll be doing most of our visits. Um we come from around the country, so you're gonna be there with ABC members from all over the country. So and then a few other times a year, you know, yourself or John or TJ or sometimes myself uh might go up to DC um, you know, for additional visits.

Sonny Maken 15:41

I mean, that's why we exist. I mean, this is not like we only communicate with these people once or twice a year.

Peter Dyga 15:46

Right.

Sonny Maken 15:47

We exist that because we're always fighting for our industry. Um, I'm actually going up there next week. But the whole idea is that for them to hear from you, it's obviously ABC is very effective. ABC does a great job communicating what matters to you, but from the for them to hear from you carries even more weight. Absolutely. Right. And it's an important thing that you come to this, you attend, and you let your voice be heard because again, we do a great job. I'm I'm not saying they don't understand our issues, they understand our issues, but it's it just has a even more of an impact to have our members there, to have our leadership there.

Peter Dyga 16:20

So we invite you to sign up. You can go to abc.org, which is our national uh uh parent company's uh website. Uh they'll have on there in their events navigation tab uh information on the legislative conference that you can sign up for. Um you don't we'll be together, you know, during all the meetings as a group. You never have to worry about we talk a lot about this for Tallahassee as well. You know, some people are like, I don't know anything about that. And you know, you don't need to, um, you know, because and I assure you by the the first meeting or two, you'll you'll be chiming right in. And uh so last year we had our young professionals join us, right? Which let's let's talk about that. We do. I mean, again, we're so blessed, aren't we? I mean, that our leadership supports this, that uh we as uh management put these things in front of them, but we're able to actually support our YPs going to either Tallahassee or Washington. So I think we've already got four that are signed up. Uh you know, so all I think we pay for the registration. And we take care of the hotel as well. Yeah, right. So all they got to do is fly up there. Fly up there. So but yeah, you were about to talk about that. Yeah.

Sonny Maken 17:25

Last year we had a one thing, we had a bunch of new YPs in their meetings, and I remember I was in uh I was because we go in small groups, we break up the groups. And I remember last year, you know, the YPs were quiet in the first meeting and in the second meeting, but by the third meeting they were chiming in, they were talking to the staff and the legislatures, sharing their concerns, their company's concerns. And it was cool. By the end of the day, they were experts, right? Like they were like, okay, there's an issue. Let's talk about PLAs, let's talk about this, let's talk about that. And it was very cool to sort of sort of without witness their transformation from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. So there's nothing for you to be concerned about. There's, you know, you're not gonna be sitting there alone in a room with a congressman that's gonna uh which sounds scary now that I say it out loud. But you'll have a good time and you'll really find it to be uh informative.

Peter Dyga 18:10

Yeah. Uh exploration. If you've never been, we invite you. We'd love to have you come up. Uh I think you'd find it very rewarding, as you would Tallahassee, come to both if you can. Uh it's not too late to register, abc.org. Um, we sure would love to have you. And uh you really are, you know, uh uh the the glue that holds this whole thing together in terms of our membership uh being in front of these elected officials and sharing your challenges as a business owner. So I think they really value hearing from you.

Sonny Maken 18:40

Um yeah, I'm telling you, they're gonna be surprised you hear this, but that's the end of our episode.

Peter Dyga 18:44

What flew by, right? Go to abc.org. We'd love to have you at LeggeCon.

Sonny Maken 18:49

So and if that's sort of intimidating to you, just email the show, we'll walk you through it. The obvious at abceflorida.com.

Peter Dyga 18:58

Help make our government better. Yeah, you can do it. We can do it together. Yeah. So did you know AARP used to have that? Is that bad that I mentioned? They used to have a great uh American Association of Retired. They used to have a great uh campaign about if it was easy, anybody could do it. All right. That's true. And um the same kind of holds true for ABC in terms of Washington and Tallahassee. So if it was easy, anybody could do it. It's not easy, but with your help, it will be easier. Anyway, we'd love to have you.

Sonny Maken 19:26

Thank you for joining us on this Friday. Have a great weekend, and we will have another episode for you uh next week.

Peter Dyga 19:33

All right, and for comments, uh send us an email at theobvious@abceastflorida.com. Until next Friday. Ciao.