November 2016 NICA News
Featuring Member’s Voice with Frank Boeck, D & F Enterprises, Daniel McLean, Almond Garten, Carmel Dyer-Pittroff, The Original Australian Battered Potatoes, Todd Lavigne, Awesome Apple Crisp, and Theresa Johnson, All American Restaurant & Grill, Thoughts from a CCE withLarry McConnell, CCE, McConnell Concessions, Concessionaire Spotlight with Tom Frazee, Frazee's Concessions, President's Message with Paulette Keene, Director's Voice with Joe Potillo, Jr., Card's Corner with Michelle Card, Executive Director, and much more!
Featuring Member’s Voice with Frank Boeck, D & F Enterprises, Daniel McLean, Almond Garten, Carmel Dyer-Pittroff, The Original Australian Battered Potatoes,
Todd Lavigne, Awesome Apple Crisp, and Theresa Johnson, All American Restaurant & Grill, Thoughts from a CCE withLarry McConnell, CCE, McConnell Concessions, Concessionaire Spotlight with Tom Frazee, Frazee's Concessions, President's Message with Paulette Keene, Director's Voice with Joe Potillo, Jr., Card's Corner with Michelle Card, Executive Director, and much more!
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card’s corner<br />
Michelle Card, Executive Director<br />
One of the toughest<br />
challenges in the seasonal<br />
amusement industry is<br />
labor. One of our sister<br />
organizations, OABA, has<br />
taken the lead in the mobile<br />
amusement industry and<br />
has been crucial to the<br />
continued development,<br />
sustainability, and growth of<br />
the H-2B, non-agricultural<br />
visa program for the past 15 years.<br />
Many Concessionaires, Carnivals, and<br />
independent ride owners continue to utilize the<br />
H-2B nonimmigrant legal visa program that<br />
permits employers to temporarily hire foreign<br />
nationals for some 8-10 months, under close<br />
scrutiny by the Federal Department of Labor.<br />
The employment must satisfy business needs,<br />
such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need,<br />
peak load need, or intermittent need. Some 5,000<br />
H-2B foreign guest workers participate in this visa<br />
program. Our government caps this program at<br />
66,000 visas, however, thanks to OABA’s lobbying<br />
Congress, along with other seasonal industries<br />
participating in this industry, seasonal workers<br />
who had worked in any of the past three years,<br />
could return and not be counted towards the cap.<br />
This is critical as our economy improves and<br />
there is more demand for this seasonal workforce<br />
and to grow our small, family owned, seasonal<br />
E.J. Dean, OABA 1st Vice Chair, Michael Wood, OABA<br />
trustee, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Bob<br />
Johnson, OABA President and CEO, and Michelle Card,<br />
Executive Director<br />
businesses, and serve our Fairs.<br />
To answer the existing labor challenge and<br />
lobby Congress to continue the returning worker<br />
exemption, as <strong>NICA</strong>’s new Executive Director, I<br />
recently joined OABA’s President and CEO Bob<br />
Johnson in Washington, D.C. as a guest at an<br />
OABA sponsored fundraiser for Kevin McCarthy,<br />
House Majority Leader. This fundraiser was<br />
to support Leader McCarthy’s long standing<br />
championing of the H-2B program and lobbying<br />
for the returning worker exemption. The House<br />
will once again consider the returning worker<br />
exemption as they deal with funding the federal<br />
government for the fiscal 2017 year. ▲<br />
Do you have any experiences with labor or<br />
opinions on the subject that you would like to<br />
share? Contact us today at (813) 438-8926 or<br />
communications@nicainc.org ▲<br />
HIDDEN OBJECT<br />
Contest!<br />
Find the Turkey Leg<br />
Somewhere within this issue of <strong>NICA</strong> <strong>News</strong> is a lost turkey leg<br />
from dinner. If you locate it, you can win a Gift Card worth $25!<br />
So... What if you Find it?<br />
Well, lucky reader, tell us where you found it by entering online at www.nicainc.org/pages/hiddenobject<br />
You may also call the <strong>NICA</strong> Office at (813) 438-8926 or send us a letter with the page number,<br />
general page location, your name, address, and phone number to <strong>NICA</strong>, Hidden Object Contest,<br />
1043 E. Brandon Blvd., Brandon, FL 33511. Member entries must be sent in by <strong>November</strong> 30, <strong>2016</strong>.<br />
Happy Searching this Month! The Next Winner Could Even be You!<br />
<strong>November</strong> <strong>2016</strong> <strong>NICA</strong> <strong>News</strong> 7
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