Ep.19_Bob Kraft IIUSA Tenure and PAC Involvement

On this episode, Bob Kraft provided his thoughts on his past role with IIUSA,  his current involvement as President Emeritus, and his new role in the Political Action Committee. 

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
On today's episode of investing the American Dream

(00:03):
podcast, we have featured guest,Bob Kraft, former IU se
President speaking on his tenurewith Ira USA, and his current
ventures with the politicalaction committee called the
pack.
Let's get into it.

(00:30):
So Bob, thank you for being heretoday with Peter and I, we
really appreciate you taking thetime to do this podcast with us.
So I know we have a variety oftopics we wanted to touch on
today. But I think I'm going tolead with your tenure at AI USA.
So I know it's no secret thatyou have had a tremendous and
productive tenure during yourtime as AI USA President. But

(00:54):
can you tell us how you feelabout your leadership? And how
that influenced the direction ofIR USA as an organization? And
what would you say were some ofthe key initiatives and
accomplishments during thattime? Yeah, that's a lot. Dress
I, you know, probably in termsof my impact on the industry, I

(01:17):
really need to give a lot ofcredit to the Board of
Directors, I inherited a reallystrong board. And then over the
six years that I was president,some new members came on, but we
had stability, and we had areally, really quality committed
group to the industry. My job asPresident was to pretty much try

(01:38):
and orchestrate coordinate,build consensus within the
board. And that means listeninga lot. We had some really good
strong voices on the board. Andyou know, as a result of a lot,
we spent a lot of time anddialogue, making sure that the
decisions that were made by theboard of directors would

(02:00):
positively impact the industrylong term. So I was blessed to
really have a quality group ofboard members in terms of maybe
some of the things we did thatwere significant, I take great
pride, the changes that weremade by the Board of Directors,
beginning with the executivedirector, Aaron Grau was new a

(02:21):
year into my tenure there. Andwe also made a change with our
lobbying group out ofWashington, DC, we had been
doing the same thing for years,spending a lot of money
on our efforts with a particularfirm, and we just weren't seeing
the benefits of the money spent.
So we made a change therebrought in a new PR group who

(02:44):
really did a terrific jobthrough all this. So those were
probably the two mostsignificant things along with
maybe the third thing wasstabilizing the staff. And I
USA, and I must say that theagain, the Board of Directors,
the officer group was prettymuch intact the whole six years

(03:07):
and outstanding individuals. Soyou know, it was it was fun. We
had a lot of tough challenges,with the legislation, the up and
down, up and down back andforth. Expiration in the
program, but we kind of justhung in there and looked at the
long term potential, theindustry and the good that the

(03:27):
industry does, really for theworld. Yeah. So Bob, since
retiring from your role, as IUSA President, I know that
you've mentioned you've had someother initiatives that you're a
part of, such as an including toyour role as president emeritus
Avaya, USA, could you pleaseexplain what this role entails

(03:50):
and how it continues to connectyou with the organization, as
well as how has your transitionto President Emeritus allowed
you to contribute to Ira USA andthe EB five industry in a
different capacity? Yeah, Ithink one of the things the
Association did when itestablished his bylaws back at
his foundation, little over 16years ago was establish,

(04:14):
provision that if you served aspresident of the association,
you would then be given emeritusstatus, which meant that you
just stay active with the board.
I do not have a vote on theboard. But I participate in all
the board meetings. And I'mthere for the current president

(04:38):
to seek counsel or if he wantsto bounce ideas off me which I
did my predecessor DavidAnderson, and Steven Lael, Lael,
Yale lor. Were the priorpresidents before me and I would
talk to them on occasion, gettheir insight because they'd sat
in the chair so it's a littledifferent role.

(05:00):
Unless you serve in it, tryingto coordinate all the different
factions within the industry,you know, it takes a lot of
dialogue, thought,good conversation and most
importantly, experience thatothers have had before you. So I
hope to be able to provide thatto our new president and also to

(05:20):
the board of directors. And itkeeps me active in the
association, which I am going tobe very active going forward.
Well, good. So, you know, kindof talking about committees, I
heard a rumor, that you're alsopart of something like a secret
society, that I USA has apolitical action committee

(05:46):
called PAC. I know, we can onlytalk high level on this. But
could you elaborate on what thePAC does, and its significance
for the EB five industry? Yeah,I kind of like that secret.
I hadn't thought of those terms.
And, and, but but that's kind ofinteresting, maybe that'll make
it even more people join becausethey want, you know, special

(06:09):
handshake, the whole thing. Butin all seriousness, the
political action committee wasformed by the board authorized
by the board of directors and anestablished in order to
consolidate funds from peoplewho are interested in the
industry, and then be be able toearmark those funds or gift them

(06:29):
in support of candidates thatare in concert with our vision
for the industry.
And it gives I USA, much moreclout or leverage within
Washington in the past,prior to the PAC, all of us
would make contributionsindividually. So I would make a

(06:51):
contribution to a congressman ora senator was from Bob Kraft.
And then we, you know, say onactive and president of Iowa,
USA, but it didn't within theoffices of those candidates are
those representatives and havethe same impact. As you know,
you got the I USA PACcontributing, right, we can

(07:13):
contribute more money. So thePAC is fairly common. All
industries have them. And it'sjust part of the system of
fundraising. You know, it's alegal nonprofit entity. It
allows individuals who wouldlike to support IU essays,
vision and initiatives with thegovernment to contribute

(07:36):
financially. We can'taggressively or openly solicit
contributions, but we can askpeople to sign a willing to be
solicited and talk to document avery simple form. That gives us
the ability to explain exactlywhat the political action

(07:57):
committee is going to do withfunds that are donated, we had a
goal to raise a certain amountof money by the spring,
actually, by the end of theyear, and we surpass it in the
spring. And we've doubled thatgoal. So it's off to a good
start, I feel really good aboutit. It makes us more of a player
in DC, which is important. It'sall about visibility.

(08:23):
Having the politicians know, IUSA spreading the word because
even though within our industry,I USA is the preeminent voice
and well respected and theeducational provider and the
lobbying group within the hallsof Congress. Yeah, you know,

(08:43):
we're not a big organization.
We're not like the AmericanChamber of Commerce or, you
know, some of the other industrytrade groups. So it's important
to elevate our visibility inWashington, DC. And that's what
this really allows us to do. SoI agreed to serve as chairman,
pack and I'm in that role, wehave a board of directors for

(09:06):
the PAC and we have a thirdparty administrator out of
Florida, that's all they reallydo is manage funds for PACs. To
make sure you're legallycompliant. You know,
everything's tight. The thefinancial reporting goes back to
the board of directors of AIUSA, to make sure that money is

(09:26):
spent properly. And we haveactual board authorization when
the PAC board Yeah, if we'regoing to make a contribution to
a candidate, it's discussedopenly and then voted on. So
there's a real good governanceset up within the pack to
protect the investors money, andof course, to be aligned with us

(09:47):
as objectives to you know, movethe legislation into a permanent
state. And when it expires in2026 in there, there are a
number of other things initiallyclubs that the association would
like to see happen. So Bob, withthat in mind, can you share any
successful instances where thePACs advocacy efforts made a

(10:09):
positive impact on the EB fiveprogram? And do you see the EB
five program evolving in thefuture with the PAC contributing
to its evolution? Well, I, youknow, the PAC was established in
January of this year. So, youknow, just getting started. I
will say, though, that we'vemade a number of contributions

(10:31):
already to various offices,congressmen and senators,
and had meetings with thoseofficers as a result of it. With
those offices. We also had ameeting, which we've never had
before with the White House, oh,wow, just within the last month.
And I am pretty sure it had alot to do with the fact that we

(10:54):
have formed this pack. And that,you know, we're gaining more
visibility within Washington.
And of course, immigration is areally hot issue. In my mind,
investment, immigration,it should not be controversial.
I mean, the people that come tothe United States from overseas,
they invest a significant amountof money, they create 10

(11:15):
American jobs. They're vettedlike no other category. And, you
know, it's a really good thingfor communities around the
country. And I think, throughIowa, USA efforts, since its
inception, and especially thelast eight years, there's more
of a recognition of the impact,economic impact social impact

(11:39):
that EB five has had on thecountry, we've done a really
good job outreach with theNational Governors Association,
the mayor's Association,nationally, we've been very
aggressive, just reaching out toother constituencies that we
hadn't before. And that's partof the new lobbying effort with

(11:59):
a groupout of Washington that we hired
who's done a really, really goodjob on that. And we just started
thinking differently about itsix, six years or so ago, as to
how to have more of an impact,have more lines in the water, if
you will, and raise ourvisibility in the packs part of
that strategy just to, you know,keep aggressively pushing

(12:21):
forward the message Americanjobs, economic development,
people are very successful, theyinvest in other things, when
they come here, education, theybuy homes, cars, etc, etc. Plus,
they're very, very well vettedbetter than category. So why not
expand the programming morevisas available, get behind

(12:43):
that, and perhaps take some ofthe integrity measures that we
introduced in the newlegislation and the IRS a year
and a half ago into otherimmigration categories. Because
it really, it's a, it's a, it'sa really well written law. It's
something that forced all of usto get maybe a little better. In

(13:06):
some cases, now, we felt firstpathway partners, we were
already doing all those things.
So but it's something thateverybody should be doing. And
it's going to eliminate a lot ofheartburn for investors, the bad
press that we've had, becausethere's some people that were
either bad actors, or theyreally didn't know how complex

(13:28):
the program was, I think therewas some of that where people
got into it, because theythought it was an easy way to
run raise money. Money wasn'tavailable for all their sources.
And Jesus EB five program looksinteresting, they jump in, but
they really didn't know whatthey're jumping into. And then
as a result,major problems so this is made
it much more difficult to getinto the business, which is

(13:50):
really a good thing. And we'veseen a number of regional
centers exit, the industry wouldcall them marginal, very
marginal, and, you know, if notnon existent players, but they
kind of muddied the water alittle bit didn't reduce the
number drastically, drastically.

(14:11):
And that's, that's actually agood thing. So, you know, the
people that thought it was easy,and they just get into it and
kind of throw their line in thewater.
wreck and they didn't know whatthey're doing. Recognize that,
you know, maybe this is morecomplicated. And it is it is,
and it's critically importantthat the investors be protected

(14:34):
and that the people operating inthe industry are fully in
compliant with US law. And andkind of understand the damage
that's done if you really don'tknow what you're doing. I mean,
it's not for it's not amateurhour. Yeah, and I think that
goes back to not only theintegrity of the program, but I
guess kind of going back to likeFPP and the track record.

(14:58):
You know, I wanted to kind ofshift focus to
FPPS involvement with theindustry. And obviously FPP has
100% success rate in securingpermanent green cards for
investors.
You know, I'd love your thoughtslike what does this take? What
does it take to get a successfultrack record like this helping
investors immigrate to theUnited States? And I know,

(15:19):
Manuel, who just spoke on thislast week, he talked about
investing and doing project duediligence. So how do you feel
that all ties in? Well, fromfrom the very beginning, I think
a big advantage we might havehad was the background of the
management group. In my case,I'm not an attorney. I wasn't a

(15:45):
developer. You know, I was fromcorporate business world, I
worked for publicly tradedcorporations. At senior level
I've been on the board ofinternational accompanies.
And so fairly solid experience.
And in like all business people,if you have any kind of
longevity in business, you seethe good, the bad, the ugly, and

(16:07):
everybody makes mistakes, youlearn from those mistakes, but
that experience really benefitsyou going forward. So when I
started looking at the business,I thought there was an
opportunity there, ifquality corporate governance
standards were brought to theindustry, we made sure that we
were partnered with really gooddevelopers and attorneys, and

(16:31):
construction companies, etc,etc. So I spent probably two and
a half years doing nothing butresearching the industry looking
at it, you know, and then wemade sure that we had the best
attorneys in the country thatwere knowledgeable about EB
five. So the attorneys we chosewere two attorneys that were

(16:52):
actually involved in theoriginal law that which was
written in 1990. And had beenwith the program since that
time, so they knew it inside.
Now, they are recognized asworld renowned experts, and EB
five, and they did a very goodjob of guiding us, you know,

(17:14):
with all the offering documentsand making sure we understood
the program its complexities,and put together solid, legal
documents to protect theinvestor, then the due
diligence, part of it wascritical for the projects
themselves. So we looked atprojects that had failed, we
looked at projects that wereconservative, that weren't over

(17:37):
leveraged that were obviouslyqualified from a TA standpoint
and met all the governmentstandards, but we went through a
lot of different projects, youknow, to find the right ones,
and,and we had, we had good success,
we've had good success. So Ifeel real proud about that. But
I mean, it's like, likeanything, fundamentals, making

(17:58):
sure you're checking all theboxes, blocking and tackling,
just doing the basic things, thehard work, and it takes time,
you have to be patient. Andthere are a lot of projects that
look really interesting. Butthen if you kind of dug into
them, you you peel back thelayers a little bit and find out

(18:19):
that maybethe people behind the project
and had other issues in thepast. And so part of it is
finding people that haveperformed over the over the
years. Yeah, and you know, trackrecord says everything. So in
our case, we were really focusedon making sure that investor got
what they wanted. And that, youknow, we established the track

(18:45):
record, done. So there's an oldsaying, Go slow to go fast. And
so it means just do it right, bepatient, and then over time,
your success will accelerate.
But if you don't take your timeand get right in the very

(19:06):
beginning, you're gonna crashand burn. So I've always
believed in that and we've neverovercommitted on projects taken
on too big a project.
And, you know, it's worked outfor us. So now that we've talked
a little bit about what brings asuccessful project together, I
think it's time to shift focusto our most recent investment

(19:29):
opportunity, Tallis, which islocated on the best remaining
parcel of land in the CoachellaValley, and includes the silver
rock Golf Resort montage andPendry amenities. And it is also
currently under construction.
Could you explain how Tallisfeatures some incredible EB five
benefits for foreign investorscurrently comparing different EB
five projects? Yeah, it's a it'sa really, really awesome

(19:51):
project. I mean, it touches allthe bases it's in a single
census tract. ItTa. So they're set aside for
that.
The developer Robert Green isvery successful is in
California, which is a statethat's highly desirable and

(20:14):
highly known with foreigninvestors. It is a project that
fits beautifully in theCoachella Valley in that Palm
Springs look into area, therehasn't been new hotel
construction for decades there.
And that is a huge touristdestination. And I've been going
out there over the years. AndI've always enjoyed it. But I

(20:36):
was always surprised that thereweren't newer, higher quality
hotel accommodations there. Soin the Robert Greene company saw
that they grabbed the land,purchased the land long time
ago, and this thing's been inthe works for a long time. And
it is just a spectacular venue.

(20:58):
It's in a great location in thejob creation on it is already
completed the job of theinvestor and all was well that's
good for the investor. So theinvestors are going to have
their job creation, and they'realready done. Yeah, well, and
you have two high quality hotelsthat have never been together

(21:18):
before the montage in theplenary is, as you mentioned,
Peter, I mean, it's just, it'sjust unbelievable. And then the
condominiums that are availablethere, and they're selling those
out already. So you're veryexcited about it. And to me,
it's it's the best projectthat's on the market right now.
Yeah. And I would encourage allthose who would like to see some

(21:41):
of the project site flyovers togo check out our YouTube or our
social media pages, that firstpathway. And you can see more of
the ongoing construction there.
So Bob, you know, as always,Peter, and I really appreciate
having you here on the show withus. And we appreciate you

(22:02):
sharing the new ventures you'reworking on. And thanks for
letting the cat out of the bagon the pack.
Do you have?
Do you have any closing thoughtsfor our listeners or anything
additional you'd like to share?
Yeah, I just like to thankeverybody that has supported us
in the past. And it's, it's beena lot of fun. For me, the I

(22:24):
always enjoyed internationalbusiness. That was one of the
things I was able to do in mycorporate life prior to getting
an EB five going on 17 yearsnow. But
so we have the internationalaspect of it, obviously, because
people are coming from overseasand in learning about the

(22:46):
different cultures and differentcountries and the issues that
they may be dealing with andtheir dreams and what they see
as an opportunity in America, inbringing that all together. And
helping them reach their, theirtheir dreams, reach their goals,
is just the most satisfyingthing I've done in my long

(23:08):
business career. So and then thequality of the economic
development we've had in many,many different cities and around
the country. Plus all the peoplein the industry, they're very
bright. They're veryinteresting. They're very
they're just fascinating peoplebecause they share the same love

(23:29):
for the overseas investors andin a very, very smart. And so
it's been a privilege to definethis industry is kind of the
last hurrah in my career. I'm atthe end of the that PP and I've
got years to go yet, but it'sbeen the best part of my
business life. So I appreciatethe opportunity to talk about

(23:54):
what's going on in my changeyour ship and the secret
society. Yes.
Well, thanks again, Bob. Iappreciate you joining us today.
And again, if anyone has anyadditional questions, they can
reach out to us directly at WWWdot first pathway.com Thanks,
Bob. Thanks, Peter.

(24:21):
If you would like to learn moreabout immigration through
investment and how first pathwaypartners can assist you in
achieving the American Dream bysuccessfully navigating the EB
five visa process, then pleasecontact them directly online at
www dot first pathway.com