6 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters • Fall 2022 CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE In my final Chairman’s Message column of the year, I want to thank you for engaging with PRLA and your communities to help us change the conversation around our industry. Workforce development has been the focus of my tenure and will continue to be a priority of PRLA in 2023 and beyond. We’ve talked about how critical it is for us to engage students to build up the future of our workforce. This is the long-game but it’s one I think we must remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting. This fall, PRLA and the PRLA Educational Foundation hosted a workshop for middle and high school students from Central Pennsylvania. Students participated in hands-on cooking and pastry demonstrations, learned about fine-dining etiquette, and spoke with industry leaders across multiple sectors on career pathways. It was an exciting and engaging experience for the students who participated, and we hope to replicate its success in locations around the state. This edition of the magazine focuses on legislative affairs. Our elected officials are another crucial audience when comes to changing the conversation around our industry. The decisions they make in Harrisburg can directly impact our ability to run our businesses. It’s critically important that they understand how we are an industry of first jobs, second chances, and career pathways. Our PAC continues to be an instrumental tool in supporting legislators who support our industry and understand its value as an economic driver. If you have not yet contributed to the PRLA PAC, I encourage you to do so today. Another facet of legislative and government affairs is building our relationships with the state agencies that can help us achieve our workforce development goals. Whether it is collaborating with the Department of Education on secondary education or the Department of Labor & Industry on workforce development boards. These relationships will only help us advance our industry. While our work is on-going, I’m proud of our achievements in 2022 and appreciative of your engagement and support. I’m also incredibly grateful to the professional PRLA team for the hard work they perform day in and day out to advance and support our industry. Our members get stuff done and I look forward to seeing what 2023 brings PRLA and our industry under the leadership of incoming chair, Cynthia Smith. • Tom Neely THOMAS A. STRAUSS INC. LANCASTER CHAPTER Changing the Conversation “Our PAC continues to be an instrumental tool in supporting legislators who support our industry and understand its value as an economic driver.”
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