For most of his 29 years in the restaurant industry, Roy Getz paid dues to the Ohio Restaurant Association but wasn’t really involved. Now he’s engaging lawmakers, inviting them to his restaurants and showing what it takes to run a restaurant.
Getz, a partner in RCO Limited, which operates six Raising Cane's restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, attributes his change of heart to his son -- and the National Restaurant Association Public Affairs Conference.
The day his son told him to stop complaining and do something about public policy that affects the restaurant industry, Getz saw a newsletter article about the Public Affairs Conference. He signed up and came to Washington this April with several hundred restaurateurs from nearly every state.
Getz joined his colleagues from the Ohio Restaurant Association and visited their lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Their first stop was to Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), who engaged him in a candid, energetic exchange on menu labeling. “I was immediately immersed in the situation,” he said. “I became a ‘lobbyist.’”
In his visits, he learned that Congressmen and women and their aides were willing to listen to the restaurateurs whether or not they agreed with them.
Throughout the conference, Getz says he was struck by passion of the attendees and how powerful the conference was. But he says he realized it could be much stronger with “the power of people like me, who are really passionate about the issues but have been dormant and silent for years.”
He went back to Columbus and resolved to get more involved.
Last month, he brought Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) to one of his restaurants. The Congressman talked to guests in the dining room and questioned Getz and the kitchen staff. He wanted to understand the process of the kitchen and how the business worked, Getz says. Getz explained that each of his restaurants employs 35 people, plus four managers.
Now, he’s looking at ways to do more. He’s planning a small-scale get-out-the-vote effort to encourage more employees and managers to vote. He also wants to figure out how he can help raise money for the state restaurant association and NRA and recruit more restaurateurs to the conference.
“Let the NRA help you understand what is going on in Washington, and how you can help,” he says.
Register online or find out more about the next Public Affairs Conference, set for March 22 and 23, 2011.
