August 27, 2023 • 19 mins
Hi This is Brad Weisman - Click Here to Send Me a Text Message
Are you ready to demystify the role of a government affairs consultant? Jack Gombach, from McNeese Strategic Solutions Group, is set to unravel this intricate web for us. He'll take us on an enlightening tour, revealing how his team assists clients in navigating the complex grant space, liaising with elected officials and agencies, and showcasing the positive impact their endeavors have on communities. It's a dynamic world where no two days are alike and client engagement is key to success.
But there's more, Jack's journey from Upstate New York to Albright College and his transition from political consulting to McNeese is a tale worth hearing. His firsthand experiences and astute insights into campaign strategies offer a unique perspective on the importance of understanding your audience and creating a meaningful impact. Prepare to be inspired as Jack shares anecdotes of bipartisan collaboration to pass beneficial community legislation. #realestateandyou #government #jackgombach #bradweisman
We know self tanners. We love self tanners. To us, self-tanner for men are a necessary part of life. You see a pale dude on the street and he looks like a fish out of water. It's a real problem, bro. But this exact passion for self-tanner is why Bro Glo is so rad.
---
Welcome to The Brad Weisman Show, where we dive into the world of real estate, real life, and everything in between with your host, Brad Weisman! 🎙️ Join us for candid conversations, laughter, and a fresh take on the real world. Get ready to explore the ups and downs of life with a side of humor. From property to personality, we've got it all covered. Tune in, laugh along, and let's get real! 🏡🌟 #TheBradWeismanShow #RealEstateRealLife
Credits - The music for my podcast was written and performed by Jeff Miller.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, this is Brad Wiseman.
You're listening to Real Estateand you, we are back in the
studio, or should I say down inthe dungeon, right, you go.
It's kind of like a dungeondown here.
There's no windows, no, nothing, but somehow we end up down
here.
So, uh, we have a guest heretoday that I'm very, very
curious about uh having on here,because I have to say I don't
(00:21):
know a whole lot about his, whathe does, but I see him a lot.
His name is Jack Gombach and,um, he's a government affairs
consultant for McNeese StrategicSolutions Group, mssg.
It almost sounds like thatthing.
You're not supposed to eat MSG,right?
You're just out of next dressto it, is that right?
Hey, thanks for being here, man, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, thanks for thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Oh, no problem, man, this is great.
I see you around a lot.
You're always around openingsof things, government things, uh
, you know fundraisers, allthese things.
So what?
Tell me what a governmentaffairs consultant is?
Yeah Well, let's talk about thefirm first, yeah, let's talk
about the firm.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So, uh, mssg is part of the law firm McNeese uh
Lawson Eric Harrisburg okay, Ihave offices in Ohio, pittsburgh
, harrisburg.
Lancaster big company Devon andum down in Maryland.
Wow, so our team is comprisedof about oh we keep adding more
(01:27):
um about a dozen or soprofessionals, um, all with
different backgrounds, allrelated back to government
affairs, and they really startedthis to better serve clients
Gotcha, and over the yearsthat's really expanded to its
own sort of standalone entitysupporting everybody from the
(01:47):
small nonprofit to some of thebig massive corporate players uh
, running around in Harrisburg.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And when you say supporting, you mean supporting
them in a way that you arebringing them to the political
arena, or bringing politics, oror helping the politicians see
that they need something.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah, so it's.
It's really about helping theway I see it is helping our
clients.
Okay, um, engage and workbetter and more effectively with
government.
Okay, and that can mean that'snot easy.
It's not easy, and it's noteasy in today's environment.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Um but the because Republicans, democrats, hate
each other.
Is that?
Why Is that?
Could that be the reason whyit's it's tough to do?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You know a little bit , you know a little bit, but,
but what's great is our clientshave great stories to tell, yeah
, and our job is actually easybecause what we're doing is
telling their stories and andworking with agencies and
elected officials to helpunderstand the impact of these
organizations in their communityand why they need support.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, why, they need support.
So how, how long does it taketo convince a politician that
what to do or how to help yourclients?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So it really kind of depends on the client.
And then what are we reallyworking towards?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So like a nonprofit would be like grants.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, so we do some work with nonprofits, helping
them navigate the grant spaceand working with the agency.
So we really sit down with ourclients and really try to get an
understanding of the work thatthey do and really try to get a
feel for their impact and reallymake that case to the agency
the length of the official.
This is how your support andtax dollars is going to support
(03:31):
their mission, theirorganization and really have an
impact.
And it's also about continuedsupport, right, so making sure
that they don't just help oneyear, but multiple years.
Now, when you say support, thatmeans money.
It can mean a bunch ofdifferent things.
So it can mean money.
It can just mean letters,letters, right, letters, a lot
in support of projects.
(03:51):
But yeah, brass tax, it's money, yeah that's right.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
It's helping them get access to capital.
Amazing, amazing.
So are you effective at this?
I mean, do you think you'regood at this?
I know I am, you know you areVery good.
He's very confident, veryconfident.
I love that.
So a day to day thing would bemeeting with your clients and
saying, what can I help you with, what can I do?
And then you go find the placesto find.
(04:16):
Like Grant, you're gonna gofind the money from some type of
a government program orsomething like that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, so our days as a team start early so we have a
very team focused approach.
So we all have clients thatwe're responsible for.
But it feels like first thingin the morning very early, we
all get on a quick huddle and wejust talk about all right, what
do we have this week, what dowe need help with, what are our
goals, and we kind of have thatand then from there it's all
bets are off.
Yeah, it's okay, we have aclient and they are looking to
(04:45):
secure X Grant whatever Grant itbecomes working with the client
to get us information,testimonials, stories,
scheduling, tours.
So bring in elected officialsdown from Harrisburg and tour
these facilities.
And then something that we'restarting to do now getting ready
for the legislative session inthe fall, getting our clients to
Harrisburg.
Got it, so I'm getting themthere and making the pitch on
(05:06):
their home turf.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
So is it better to get the client in front of them
directly instead of just you?
Always Right, it's likeanything right.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
They're the best storyteller, yeah, and I find in
those instances it's reallygood because their passion
really goes through Absolutelyand they're able to really tell
stories and get engaged and talkabout their mission and their
impact and the lives thatthey're changing.
So I'm very excited and veryhonored to kind of be part of
that process and to help them,cause it really is a privilege
(05:37):
to work with some of theseorganizations.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
What's the most challenging part of your job?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
The most challenging part is probably the most
exciting part for me, and that'severy day is different.
And just because you have aplan at the start of your day
doesn't mean it's gonna be, youknow, something's not gonna
happen.
So, and what's the quote?
Everyone has a plan untilthey're punched in the face.
So that happens a lot.
Oh, I don't know about that one.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
That's a new one.
I think they got Mike Tyson.
I don't think getting punchedin the face is fun.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Oh, if you're Mike.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Tyson.
Yeah, mike Tyson.
Yeah, that's true, they'll justbite your ear off that.
I mean, yeah, that's whathappens.
So, yeah, so that's thechallenging part then.
So what is what do you love todo with your job?
What's the best part?
I mean, you're at every socialevent.
In fact, you kind of remind me,do you remember Mike opaque?
Obviously.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I mean, I'm opaque.
I swear, Hugo, you don'tremember him, do you?
Yeah, he was a politician herelocally who was in politics for
a very long time.
I had the privilege of knowinghim and meeting him and being in
his office up in Harrisburg andobviously he's passed since
then.
But I swear I used to say thatthere was a clone of the guy
because I would go to one event,go to another event and he was
(06:38):
there before I got to the nextevent.
I'd be like how does he do this?
I mean, I never understood howhe was probably the best
politician that I've ever met.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
There's some of those politicians who just have it
down to an art.
Yeah, they know when to leaveevents.
They know when to show up, theyknow.
Yeah, he would sneak out andthen sneak back into another one
.
Yeah, they know all theentrances and exits and how to
get in and out.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It's incredible.
So that's giving him acompliment.
You know he was an amazing guy,so I kind of see you doing that
.
You're a lot of differentplaces and that's part of your
job.
You're schmoozing, you'remaking relationships, you're
networking, you're buildingrapport constantly, right?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah, and that's a big part of it, and I think the
other part is there's so muchgoing on in our community to be
excited about that.
I want to be at these events,right?
I?
want to be at these functionsand support people when they're
starting their dreams, andthat's really what those ribbon
cuttings and things are.
It's people taking all theseplans and their savings starting
their dreams, and I want to besupportive and be a resource as
(07:35):
much as I can, and whetherthat's professionally through
the firm and helping them, youknow, get access to capital to
grow their business, or justshowing up and buying a cup of
coffee or something and being apatron.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Have you ever thought about doing and I don't know if
this is what you did before ornot have you ever thought about
like being on a campaign, likeactually helping somebody get
voted in?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, so that was most of my career.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That was most of your career Because you had your own
company.
It was a political consultingfirm right, so is that that's
what you?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
did yeah.
So we did politics and managedcandidates pretty much at every
stage.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So you manage candidates.
Though, when you say managecandidates, that's kind of funny
, because you know, I think theRepublican debate that was on a
couple, you know, weeks ago,whatever it was, they needed
some management.
There was yelling andeverything else.
Now would you, if you were in asituation like that, would you
be backstage and then tellingthem hey, you're a little harsh,
or you're not doing so well orit's not being received well?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Debates are interesting and so yeah, we
would.
You were around with debatesand something.
I was very active in a lot ofdebates.
There's a lot of negotiationthat goes into debates
especially behind the scenes,behind the scenes, before we
even get to that right, there'sa lot of prep and there's a lot
of getting ready and there's alot of negotiations.
Speaking time who speaks first?
Who's even allowed to be in theroom during the debate?
Who's allowed to be in the room?
(08:55):
Oh, that's a huge thing.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Interesting, like the audience.
How many?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
guests, yeah all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Wow.
Well, you know what's funnyabout that?
And this is where I love thisshow, because we can go off on
different tangents and things,because I'm very curious.
But what's interesting aboutthat?
They always say know youraudience.
So if you know who's in youraudience, you can you know what
you're playing to yeah, look.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
so the strategy right is you want as many of your
people in the room during thedebate as possible.
So every time you give a zinger, all your people go nuts and
from the audience watching allyou hear are cheers and whatever
.
So they people often don't knowwho's.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
They think everybody supports the person.
Yeah, so it's an optics thing,it's a dance, so you think you
would ever get back into thatagain, or no?
Do you like that?
That sounds fun, so it is fun.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
It sounds a lot more fun than what you're doing now,
just so you know.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I'm just being completely honest, jack, maybe
you know yeah so they're, youknow.
He's like, he's like amazing,he's like I can't believe.
He just said that.
Yeah, sorry so.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I love politics.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, so do I I loved for many reasons.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, but you know, for me politics was always a
means to an end, right?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
The end should always be governing.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, you get a little fun antics, but it's all
about governing and doing theright thing Absolutely.
So I ran candidates pretty muchat every level, so I did some
statewide work some local stuffI did was involved in some
projects nationally which werereally cool.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And was really getting to a point where I had
to kind of decide, okay, this isno longer just like a little
fun hobby where I make somemoney on the side it's, am I
gonna take this to the nextlevel?
And just sort of found myselfin a different position in life
and said I'm gonna go back toPennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Well, that's what you said too.
You came here from New York,right Upstate New York we're
gonna call that Upstate New Yorkand you got here.
You were gonna go somewhereelse and you ended up at
Albright.
Yeah, so Like, how does a guyfrom New York end up at Albright
?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So during that whole point of looking at colleges and
friends are applying, I was allabout Drew University and I was
gonna apply to Drew.
I was gonna get into Drew, thatwas the plan.
So I met with my guidancecounselor and he said, jack, you
gotta apply for more schools.
And I said why?
Like cause?
In case you get turned down.
Right, they didn't even crossmy mind.
That wasn't even a positive.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So you're that positive, that's good.
You have a good positive,that's right.
You're in one direction, that'sit.
Yeah, good for you.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
And then I get do it for me.
Yep, let's print down a list ofcolleges and let's find one
that fits Right.
So he prints out this list ofschools and I look at the list
and I'm like Al Albright reading.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
It was the first one cause it starts with an A.
It was right up there.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
This is why the companies will say ABC Roofing,
it's because years ago you gothrough the phone work.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
It was the first thing.
That's hilarious.
That's hilarious and I was likethis one.
This looks good.
This reading, yeah reading.
I think, it's on the Monopolyboard right.
Let's go there.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Oh, that's great.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
So end up getting waitlisted at Drew, get accepted
into Albright and we're in thekitchen and my dad's like I
guess we gotta go take a tour.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
I'm like yeah, I think we do, Since they accepted
you in the other places.
He's waiting and it was.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I was kind of like so we go down there and I take one
step on campus.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And I mean I felt at home.
It was amazing.
I loved my courses, I loved theprofessors.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
It's a good school.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I met all my friends there and it just it was right.
It was the right place, righttime, and I love the college.
I'm still a strong advocate forit.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, yeah, good for you.
And then you met your you'renot white at the time wife, but
you met your wife then.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah.
So we met at Albright, didn'tstart dating until after college
, and then one thing led toanother and now we're married
and we're getting ready tohoneymoon and all that.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Oh cool, that's awesome man, very cool.
So let's go back into thegovernment stuff, all right.
So where do you see this goingfor yourself?
Like, do you think you're gonnastay in this realm now that
you're with the MSSG?
I mean, do you think this iswhat your plan is to do, or do
you have aspirations to dosomething that's even more than
that?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
So for me it's all about impact and doing the most
good.
And I ran for County Treasurera couple of years ago, really
saw that office and I still do.
It was a very important underthe radar office in County
government, very passionateabout finances and making sure
that things are running smoothly, yeah so, and then before that
(13:35):
I was the council president,west Reading.
Yeah.
So for me it's just aboutimpact right and doing the most
good and serving the most people.
I will say, since that race,since running for county
treasurer, I've taken a morebroad view of what that means.
And if you would talk to me acouple of years ago, I would
have said you know, the ultimateform of service is public
service and being an electedofficial right Because you are,
(13:56):
you know, you have earned thetrust of the public and they are
elevating you to this positionto serve the greater community.
Now I'm taking a much more,because of my work with MSSG, a
more broad view of what doesthat look like?
What does service look like?
What does impact look like?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Okay, so run for something else again at some
point.
I'll never rule it out Okay.
Typical political answer?
Yeah, typical.
Oh my God, I'll never rule itout that's just such a but you
know, and I've had offers andI'm not going to say it here
Maybe we should do Z-A-Ball.
Are you going to run for anykind of office again?
(14:33):
We'll do that later, but but soseriously you might do it again
yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, I loved running .
Running countywide was amazing.
It's a huge county, it's verydiverse county Very much and I
really enjoyed just having veryfrank and honest conversations
with people in Hamburg and then,you know, the next hour later
we're down in Coomer, so justkind of zipping around talking
to people.
But I'm really enjoying whatI'm doing.
(14:58):
Good, I'm being able to helpnonprofits and companies and
people think differently aboutgovernment.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Everybody's very jaded and they're not able to
say no, no, like we can get thisdone.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
This is not impossible.
It's not the movies, it's notlike we can do this.
Yeah, being able to help themtell their stories is important.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So you're you're seeing the good side of politics
.
You allow what we see, you know, in in the public is obviously
through the lens of the media.
Yeah, and we see always the badparts of politics.
So you're saying that when youget into the inner workings and
you're in Harrisburg or you're,you're actually in the ditches
up there.
It's not as people actually doget along, they actually do work
(15:39):
together.
Yeah, which is a good thing tohear.
You know, it's something that'sreally good to hear, because we
all think it's doom and gloomin Harrisburg or in Washington
or whatever.
So you're saying it's not likethat always.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think people like to fixate on the
bad, the doom, the gloom and itssales, and it's you know, I
think it's very in vogue rightTo when people talk about the
city, talk about all the badstuff.
Yeah, yeah, unfortunately, thatovershadows a lot of the good
that's going on.
And I tell people, you know oneof the first things in the
session of the of the new year,republicans and Democrats came
(16:12):
together to support legislationto make it easier for breast
cancer screening, right, andnobody talks about that.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
That was like one of the first thing, they're like
we're going to get this done.
Yeah, it's a win for everybody.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
It's a win for.
And there's so many storieslike that where them saying,
nope, this is a good idea, we'regoing to come together, we're
going to fix it, we're going toget it done, and we just need to
tell more of that and focusmore on that.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Yeah, Well, I think the media, the meat it doesn't
sell.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It doesn't.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
It doesn't sell, it doesn't make it TV it doesn't
get you worked up, it doesn'tgive you your blood pressure
going.
You know that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
But I think everyone has these ideas that it's like,
you know, house of cars orwhatever, and that's really not
what it's like.
Yeah, you know, these are very,for the most part, right, very
smart people.
Yeah, you know there's alwayssomething, and don't you think
they're?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
all there to do that.
They all think where that, nomatter what side you're on, you
feel your ideas are what's bestfor the American people and for
the people in that you represent.
Nobody really wants things togo wrong, so it's one of those
things that I just think it'sjust.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
We all have a different opinion on how to get
to a certain place, yeah, and Ithink look for the most part,
and there are definitely peoplethere that should not be there
that are selfish and absolutelyin it for the wrong reasons,
just like in every business.
Yeah, but I think on the whole,on the majority, people wake up
and say what's the best thing Ican do to help our community
(17:28):
our country and you know you'llbe able to tell pretty quickly
who's who and the right reasons.
They show their they show whothey are.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, yeah, man, amazing.
Hey, I want to thank you forcoming out.
We're actually already at timewhich is amazing that went quick
.
It was fast, really quick.
Yeah, I just want to say thankyou for coming out, thanks for
answering my questions, and willyou come back Absolutely when
you have other things to talkabout, other things that you
want to?
You're getting into.
There's so much.
There's so much.
I know there is.
You gave me all kinds of things, but the show is only about 18
(17:56):
and 19 minutes, so we got to getgoing so, but thank you so much
for coming out.
Here's Jack Gombach.
You're with McNeese StrategicSolutions Group, mssg, and if
they would want to get in touchwith you, if they have questions
about what you do, how would weget in touch with you?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
LinkedIn email just go to the MSSG website.
All of our contact informationis there.
Get a better feel for who weare.
Yeah, Cause you're on Facebook,You're everywhere.
You're everywhere Just on thestreet, you know yeah, exactly,
he's everywhere.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
He really is Like just like Michael Bake was
Amazing, unbelievable.
All right, there you have it.
Some government fairs stuffthere.
That was actually fun.
I think I stuck them on acouple of things there, some
questions you weren't ready for,but that's all right.
All right, that's about it.
We'll see you next Thursday at7pm.
Thanks for listening.
Hello, this is Brad Wiseman.
You're listening to Real Estateand you, we are back in the
studio, or should I say down inthe dungeon, right, you go.
It's kind of like a dungeondown here.
There's no windows, no, nothing, but somehow we end up down
here.
So, uh, we have a guest heretoday that I'm very, very
curious about uh having on here,because I have to say I don't
(00:21):
know a whole lot about his, whathe does, but I see him a lot.
His name is Jack Gombach and,um, he's a government affairs
consultant for McNeese StrategicSolutions Group, mssg.
It almost sounds like thatthing.
You're not supposed to eat MSG,right?
You're just out of next dressto it, is that right?
Hey, thanks for being here, man, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, thanks for thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Oh, no problem, man, this is great.
I see you around a lot.
You're always around openingsof things, government things, uh
, you know fundraisers, allthese things.
So what?
Tell me what a governmentaffairs consultant is?
Yeah Well, let's talk about thefirm first, yeah, let's talk
about the firm.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So, uh, mssg is part of the law firm McNeese uh
Lawson Eric Harrisburg okay, Ihave offices in Ohio, pittsburgh
, harrisburg.
Lancaster big company Devon andum down in Maryland.
Wow, so our team is comprisedof about oh we keep adding more
(01:27):
um about a dozen or soprofessionals, um, all with
different backgrounds, allrelated back to government
affairs, and they really startedthis to better serve clients
Gotcha, and over the yearsthat's really expanded to its
own sort of standalone entitysupporting everybody from the
(01:47):
small nonprofit to some of thebig massive corporate players uh
, running around in Harrisburg.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And when you say supporting, you mean supporting
them in a way that you arebringing them to the political
arena, or bringing politics, oror helping the politicians see
that they need something.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah, so it's.
It's really about helping theway I see it is helping our
clients.
Okay, um, engage and workbetter and more effectively with
government.
Okay, and that can mean that'snot easy.
It's not easy, and it's noteasy in today's environment.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Um but the because Republicans, democrats, hate
each other.
Is that?
Why Is that?
Could that be the reason whyit's it's tough to do?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
You know a little bit , you know a little bit, but,
but what's great is our clientshave great stories to tell, yeah
, and our job is actually easybecause what we're doing is
telling their stories and andworking with agencies and
elected officials to helpunderstand the impact of these
organizations in their communityand why they need support.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Yeah, why, they need support.
So how, how long does it taketo convince a politician that
what to do or how to help yourclients?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So it really kind of depends on the client.
And then what are we reallyworking towards?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So like a nonprofit would be like grants.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, so we do some work with nonprofits, helping
them navigate the grant spaceand working with the agency.
So we really sit down with ourclients and really try to get an
understanding of the work thatthey do and really try to get a
feel for their impact and reallymake that case to the agency
the length of the official.
This is how your support andtax dollars is going to support
(03:31):
their mission, theirorganization and really have an
impact.
And it's also about continuedsupport, right, so making sure
that they don't just help oneyear, but multiple years.
Now, when you say support, thatmeans money.
It can mean a bunch ofdifferent things.
So it can mean money.
It can just mean letters,letters, right, letters, a lot
in support of projects.
(03:51):
But yeah, brass tax, it's money, yeah that's right.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
It's helping them get access to capital.
Amazing, amazing.
So are you effective at this?
I mean, do you think you'regood at this?
I know I am, you know you areVery good.
He's very confident, veryconfident.
I love that.
So a day to day thing would bemeeting with your clients and
saying, what can I help you with, what can I do?
And then you go find the placesto find.
(04:16):
Like Grant, you're gonna gofind the money from some type of
a government program orsomething like that.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah, so our days as a team start early so we have a
very team focused approach.
So we all have clients thatwe're responsible for.
But it feels like first thingin the morning very early, we
all get on a quick huddle and wejust talk about all right, what
do we have this week, what dowe need help with, what are our
goals, and we kind of have thatand then from there it's all
bets are off.
Yeah, it's okay, we have aclient and they are looking to
(04:45):
secure X Grant whatever Grant itbecomes working with the client
to get us information,testimonials, stories,
scheduling, tours.
So bring in elected officialsdown from Harrisburg and tour
these facilities.
And then something that we'restarting to do now getting ready
for the legislative session inthe fall, getting our clients to
Harrisburg.
Got it, so I'm getting themthere and making the pitch on
(05:06):
their home turf.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
So is it better to get the client in front of them
directly instead of just you?
Always Right, it's likeanything right.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
They're the best storyteller, yeah, and I find in
those instances it's reallygood because their passion
really goes through Absolutelyand they're able to really tell
stories and get engaged and talkabout their mission and their
impact and the lives thatthey're changing.
So I'm very excited and veryhonored to kind of be part of
that process and to help them,cause it really is a privilege
(05:37):
to work with some of theseorganizations.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
What's the most challenging part of your job?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
The most challenging part is probably the most
exciting part for me, and that'severy day is different.
And just because you have aplan at the start of your day
doesn't mean it's gonna be, youknow, something's not gonna
happen.
So, and what's the quote?
Everyone has a plan untilthey're punched in the face.
So that happens a lot.
Oh, I don't know about that one.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
That's a new one.
I think they got Mike Tyson.
I don't think getting punchedin the face is fun.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Oh, if you're Mike.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Tyson.
Yeah, mike Tyson.
Yeah, that's true, they'll justbite your ear off that.
I mean, yeah, that's whathappens.
So, yeah, so that's thechallenging part then.
So what is what do you love todo with your job?
What's the best part?
I mean, you're at every socialevent.
In fact, you kind of remind me,do you remember Mike opaque?
Obviously.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I mean, I'm opaque.
I swear, Hugo, you don'tremember him, do you?
Yeah, he was a politician herelocally who was in politics for
a very long time.
I had the privilege of knowinghim and meeting him and being in
his office up in Harrisburg andobviously he's passed since
then.
But I swear I used to say thatthere was a clone of the guy
because I would go to one event,go to another event and he was
(06:38):
there before I got to the nextevent.
I'd be like how does he do this?
I mean, I never understood howhe was probably the best
politician that I've ever met.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
There's some of those politicians who just have it
down to an art.
Yeah, they know when to leaveevents.
They know when to show up, theyknow.
Yeah, he would sneak out andthen sneak back into another one
.
Yeah, they know all theentrances and exits and how to
get in and out.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It's incredible.
So that's giving him acompliment.
You know he was an amazing guy,so I kind of see you doing that
.
You're a lot of differentplaces and that's part of your
job.
You're schmoozing, you'remaking relationships, you're
networking, you're buildingrapport constantly, right?
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah, and that's a big part of it, and I think the
other part is there's so muchgoing on in our community to be
excited about that.
I want to be at these events,right?
I?
want to be at these functionsand support people when they're
starting their dreams, andthat's really what those ribbon
cuttings and things are.
It's people taking all theseplans and their savings starting
their dreams, and I want to besupportive and be a resource as
(07:35):
much as I can, and whetherthat's professionally through
the firm and helping them, youknow, get access to capital to
grow their business, or justshowing up and buying a cup of
coffee or something and being apatron.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Have you ever thought about doing and I don't know if
this is what you did before ornot have you ever thought about
like being on a campaign, likeactually helping somebody get
voted in?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, so that was most of my career.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That was most of your career Because you had your own
company.
It was a political consultingfirm right, so is that that's
what you?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
did yeah.
So we did politics and managedcandidates pretty much at every
stage.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So you manage candidates.
Though, when you say managecandidates, that's kind of funny
, because you know, I think theRepublican debate that was on a
couple, you know, weeks ago,whatever it was, they needed
some management.
There was yelling andeverything else.
Now would you, if you were in asituation like that, would you
be backstage and then tellingthem hey, you're a little harsh,
or you're not doing so well orit's not being received well?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Debates are interesting and so yeah, we
would.
You were around with debatesand something.
I was very active in a lot ofdebates.
There's a lot of negotiationthat goes into debates
especially behind the scenes,behind the scenes, before we
even get to that right, there'sa lot of prep and there's a lot
of getting ready and there's alot of negotiations.
Speaking time who speaks first?
Who's even allowed to be in theroom during the debate?
Who's allowed to be in the room?
(08:55):
Oh, that's a huge thing.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Interesting, like the audience.
How many?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
guests, yeah all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Wow.
Well, you know what's funnyabout that?
And this is where I love thisshow, because we can go off on
different tangents and things,because I'm very curious.
But what's interesting aboutthat?
They always say know youraudience.
So if you know who's in youraudience, you can you know what
you're playing to yeah, look.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
so the strategy right is you want as many of your
people in the room during thedebate as possible.
So every time you give a zinger, all your people go nuts and
from the audience watching allyou hear are cheers and whatever
.
So they people often don't knowwho's.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
They think everybody supports the person.
Yeah, so it's an optics thing,it's a dance, so you think you
would ever get back into thatagain, or no?
Do you like that?
That sounds fun, so it is fun.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
It sounds a lot more fun than what you're doing now,
just so you know.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I'm just being completely honest, jack, maybe
you know yeah so they're, youknow.
He's like, he's like amazing,he's like I can't believe.
He just said that.
Yeah, sorry so.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I love politics.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, so do I I loved for many reasons.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, but you know, for me politics was always a
means to an end, right?
Speaker 1 (10:03):
The end should always be governing.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, you get a little fun antics, but it's all
about governing and doing theright thing Absolutely.
So I ran candidates pretty muchat every level, so I did some
statewide work some local stuffI did was involved in some
projects nationally which werereally cool.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And was really getting to a point where I had
to kind of decide, okay, this isno longer just like a little
fun hobby where I make somemoney on the side it's, am I
gonna take this to the nextlevel?
And just sort of found myselfin a different position in life
and said I'm gonna go back toPennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Well, that's what you said too.
You came here from New York,right Upstate New York we're
gonna call that Upstate New Yorkand you got here.
You were gonna go somewhereelse and you ended up at
Albright.
Yeah, so Like, how does a guyfrom New York end up at Albright
?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So during that whole point of looking at colleges and
friends are applying, I was allabout Drew University and I was
gonna apply to Drew.
I was gonna get into Drew, thatwas the plan.
So I met with my guidancecounselor and he said, jack, you
gotta apply for more schools.
And I said why?
Like cause?
In case you get turned down.
Right, they didn't even crossmy mind.
That wasn't even a positive.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So you're that positive, that's good.
You have a good positive,that's right.
You're in one direction, that'sit.
Yeah, good for you.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
And then I get do it for me.
Yep, let's print down a list ofcolleges and let's find one
that fits Right.
So he prints out this list ofschools and I look at the list
and I'm like Al Albright reading.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
It was the first one cause it starts with an A.
It was right up there.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
This is why the companies will say ABC Roofing,
it's because years ago you gothrough the phone work.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
It was the first thing.
That's hilarious.
That's hilarious and I was likethis one.
This looks good.
This reading, yeah reading.
I think, it's on the Monopolyboard right.
Let's go there.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Oh, that's great.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
So end up getting waitlisted at Drew, get accepted
into Albright and we're in thekitchen and my dad's like I
guess we gotta go take a tour.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
I'm like yeah, I think we do, Since they accepted
you in the other places.
He's waiting and it was.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I was kind of like so we go down there and I take one
step on campus.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And I mean I felt at home.
It was amazing.
I loved my courses, I loved theprofessors.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
It's a good school.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I met all my friends there and it just it was right.
It was the right place, righttime, and I love the college.
I'm still a strong advocate forit.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, yeah, good for you.
And then you met your you'renot white at the time wife, but
you met your wife then.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah.
So we met at Albright, didn'tstart dating until after college
, and then one thing led toanother and now we're married
and we're getting ready tohoneymoon and all that.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Oh cool, that's awesome man, very cool.
So let's go back into thegovernment stuff, all right.
So where do you see this goingfor yourself?
Like, do you think you're gonnastay in this realm now that
you're with the MSSG?
I mean, do you think this iswhat your plan is to do, or do
you have aspirations to dosomething that's even more than
that?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
So for me it's all about impact and doing the most
good.
And I ran for County Treasurera couple of years ago, really
saw that office and I still do.
It was a very important underthe radar office in County
government, very passionateabout finances and making sure
that things are running smoothly, yeah so, and then before that
(13:35):
I was the council president,west Reading.
Yeah.
So for me it's just aboutimpact right and doing the most
good and serving the most people.
I will say, since that race,since running for county
treasurer, I've taken a morebroad view of what that means.
And if you would talk to me acouple of years ago, I would
have said you know, the ultimateform of service is public
service and being an electedofficial right Because you are,
(13:56):
you know, you have earned thetrust of the public and they are
elevating you to this positionto serve the greater community.
Now I'm taking a much more,because of my work with MSSG, a
more broad view of what doesthat look like?
What does service look like?
What does impact look like?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Okay, so run for something else again at some
point.
I'll never rule it out Okay.
Typical political answer?
Yeah, typical.
Oh my God, I'll never rule itout that's just such a but you
know, and I've had offers andI'm not going to say it here
Maybe we should do Z-A-Ball.
Are you going to run for anykind of office again?
(14:33):
We'll do that later, but but soseriously you might do it again
yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, I loved running .
Running countywide was amazing.
It's a huge county, it's verydiverse county Very much and I
really enjoyed just having veryfrank and honest conversations
with people in Hamburg and then,you know, the next hour later
we're down in Coomer, so justkind of zipping around talking
to people.
But I'm really enjoying whatI'm doing.
(14:58):
Good, I'm being able to helpnonprofits and companies and
people think differently aboutgovernment.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Everybody's very jaded and they're not able to
say no, no, like we can get thisdone.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
This is not impossible.
It's not the movies, it's notlike we can do this.
Yeah, being able to help themtell their stories is important.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So you're you're seeing the good side of politics
.
You allow what we see, you know, in in the public is obviously
through the lens of the media.
Yeah, and we see always the badparts of politics.
So you're saying that when youget into the inner workings and
you're in Harrisburg or you're,you're actually in the ditches
up there.
It's not as people actually doget along, they actually do work
(15:39):
together.
Yeah, which is a good thing tohear.
You know, it's something that'sreally good to hear, because we
all think it's doom and gloomin Harrisburg or in Washington
or whatever.
So you're saying it's not likethat always.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, I mean, I think people like to fixate on the
bad, the doom, the gloom and itssales, and it's you know, I
think it's very in vogue rightTo when people talk about the
city, talk about all the badstuff.
Yeah, yeah, unfortunately, thatovershadows a lot of the good
that's going on.
And I tell people, you know oneof the first things in the
session of the of the new year,republicans and Democrats came
(16:12):
together to support legislationto make it easier for breast
cancer screening, right, andnobody talks about that.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
That was like one of the first thing, they're like
we're going to get this done.
Yeah, it's a win for everybody.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
It's a win for.
And there's so many storieslike that where them saying,
nope, this is a good idea, we'regoing to come together, we're
going to fix it, we're going toget it done, and we just need to
tell more of that and focusmore on that.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Yeah, Well, I think the media, the meat it doesn't
sell.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
It doesn't.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
It doesn't sell, it doesn't make it TV it doesn't
get you worked up, it doesn'tgive you your blood pressure
going.
You know that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
But I think everyone has these ideas that it's like,
you know, house of cars orwhatever, and that's really not
what it's like.
Yeah, you know, these are very,for the most part, right, very
smart people.
Yeah, you know there's alwayssomething, and don't you think
they're?
Speaker 1 (16:53):
all there to do that.
They all think where that, nomatter what side you're on, you
feel your ideas are what's bestfor the American people and for
the people in that you represent.
Nobody really wants things togo wrong, so it's one of those
things that I just think it'sjust.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
We all have a different opinion on how to get
to a certain place, yeah, and Ithink look for the most part,
and there are definitely peoplethere that should not be there
that are selfish and absolutelyin it for the wrong reasons,
just like in every business.
Yeah, but I think on the whole,on the majority, people wake up
and say what's the best thing Ican do to help our community
(17:28):
our country and you know you'llbe able to tell pretty quickly
who's who and the right reasons.
They show their they show whothey are.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Yeah, yeah, man, amazing.
Hey, I want to thank you forcoming out.
We're actually already at timewhich is amazing that went quick
.
It was fast, really quick.
Yeah, I just want to say thankyou for coming out, thanks for
answering my questions, and willyou come back Absolutely when
you have other things to talkabout, other things that you
want to?
You're getting into.
There's so much.
There's so much.
I know there is.
You gave me all kinds of things, but the show is only about 18
(17:56):
and 19 minutes, so we got to getgoing so, but thank you so much
for coming out.
Here's Jack Gombach.
You're with McNeese StrategicSolutions Group, mssg, and if
they would want to get in touchwith you, if they have questions
about what you do, how would weget in touch with you?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
LinkedIn email just go to the MSSG website.
All of our contact informationis there.
Get a better feel for who weare.
Yeah, Cause you're on Facebook,You're everywhere.
You're everywhere Just on thestreet, you know yeah, exactly,
he's everywhere.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
He really is Like just like Michael Bake was
Amazing, unbelievable.
All right, there you have it.
Some government fairs stuffthere.
That was actually fun.
I think I stuck them on acouple of things there, some
questions you weren't ready for,but that's all right.
All right, that's about it.
We'll see you next Thursday at7pm.
Thanks for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.