Five Takeaways from Fall TRA + TRF Board of Directors Meeting

Five Takeaways from Fall TRA + TRF Board of Directors Meeting

GALVESTON, TEXAS - The September 2024 Texas Restaurant Association and Texas Restaurant Foundation Board Meetings wrapped on Tuesday, September 17. Featuring over 125 board members, emeriti, past presidents, and partners, the board meetings included in-depth advocacy planning sessions-incorporating break out groups to gather feedback from our members, educational sessions from industry leaders, valuable networking time, and a visit from Texas State Senator Mayes Middleton, who represents Galveston. Just as important, both boards came away from the meetings with strong plans to continue the organization's growth into next year.

Top 5 Takeaways from the September 2024 TRA and TRF Board Meetings:

1. The industry faces critical advocacy opportunities on the horizon that underscore the adage: If you aren't at the table, you're probably on the menu. Texas legislators will begin filing thousands of bills for consideration in the next legislative session starting this November. We are working hard now to ensure we are prepared with the advocacy fundraising we'll need to stop and fix bad legislation and pass good legislation to benefit the entire industry. We are also gearing up with our partners at National for a tax debate in 2025 that will decide the fate of several key provisions for our industry including EBITDA, 100% bonus depreciation, and more.
   
   
2. As industry veteran Mark Brezinski shared, foodservice businesses must stay innovative by remembering the 4 C's: courage, curiosity, conviction, and capital. It's easy to get too conservative, especially during challenging times like we face today with our inflationary economy. But Mark shared example after example of restaurant concepts that were overtaken because their competitors had the courage to innovate. Mark encouraged all restaurant companies to have someone at the leadership table from the beginning who isn't afraid to push the envelope so that innovation becomes interwoven into your brand.
   
   
3. The TRA is excited to announce two new partners to bring value to our members: Tab Commerce and EZCater. Our friends at Tab Commerce shared exciting news about our partnership to launch the official corporate card of the TRA. This partnership will give our members access to a cashback card that unlocks a suite of easy-to-use spending controls all while benefiting the Texas Restaurant Foundation. We also shared that we're excited to bring on our latest partner, EZCater. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more information to come soon about this member benefit.
   
   
4. The Texas Restaurant Foundation has made incredible gains this year, designing programs for several different groups with untapped workforce potential. Our Foundation Director Heather Pickett has worked closely with her committee and board leaders to develop workforce training programs-often from scratch-to launch new initiatives that will benefit our industry. Whether it's justice-involved individuals, youth leaving foster care, individuals with intellectual disabilities, or veterans, the theme is consistent: we want to partner with strategic community partners to leverage our industry knowledge and build a program that will work, leading to lasting, fulfilling careers in our industry, which is a home to all.
   
   
5. With economic headwinds projected to last through 2025, we are doubling down on our mission-critical activities all throughout the state. Some of our themes for the TRA this year have been focus and prioritization. Much like we're suggesting to our members who are facing tough economic pressures, we're looking inward to see how we can be more efficient while consistently delivering on customer service. For us, that means ensuring the entire TRA/TRF team is focused on growing our membership in terms of numbers and engagement; supporting members with valuable products, services, events, and education; and delivering advocacy wins at the local, state, and federal levels.

ABOUT THE TEXAS RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION
Formed in 1937, the Texas Restaurant Association serves as the advocate and indispensable resource for the foodservice industry in Texas. As a leading business association, the TRA represents the state's $106 billion restaurant industry, which encompasses upwards of 57,000 locations and a workforce of over 1.4 million employees. Along with the Texas Restaurant Foundation, the workforce development arm of the TRA, the association proudly continues to protect, advance, and educate a growing industry as the TRA enters its 87th year. For more information, please visit www.txrestaurant.org.

ABOUT THE TEXAS RESTAURANT FOUNDATION 
Established in 1994 by the Texas Restaurant Association, the Texas Restaurant Foundation (TRF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a strong professional foodservice workforce in Texas. Leveraging the latest skills, tools and certifications, the TRF creates pathways of opportunity for one of the state's largest and most diverse industries. The organization's flagship program is Texas ProStart, an industry-based, two-year high school culinary arts and restaurant management program that reaches more than 27,000 students across over 250 high schools in Texas. The TRF also supports restaurants in times of crisis; for example, in 2020, the TRF established the TX Restaurant Relief Fund to raise and distribute more than $3.5 million to support over 800 independent restaurants and their employees through the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, please visit www.txrestaurant.org/foundation.

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