2025 Fall Strategy Session Recap

Thank you to the over 75 attendees of our annual Fall Strategy Session last week on the beautiful coast of southern Maine! It was an action packed three days.

It started with the Managing Director and Resort Manager of SEA Member and luxury resort Cliff House Maine hosting us for a property tour and poolside lunch. Over lunch, attendees heard from one of Cliff House's Italian H-2B workers.

The first general session was Wednesday. It included a comprehensive overview of our cap relief strategy that was highlighted by a panel with Peter Petrina and Caroline Wren on our Trump administration engagement strategy.

On Wednesday evening, Stage Neck Owner Peter Foster hosted a lobster bake at his beautiful hotel. He made sure to note that these were authentic Maine lobsters and not the Canadian lobsters passed off as Maine lobsters that we had the previous night!

During the Thursday morning session, we discussed Federal Agency case studies and provided tips and tricks to avoid NODs, RFEs and RFIs. The morning concluded with a compliance seminar which was well received given today's heightened enforcement environment.  

NEW BOARD CHAIR: At the annual board meeting, the board named Peter Petrina as the new Chair and Grand Hotel President David Jurcak as the new Vice-Chair. Kiawah Island Golf Resort President Roger Warren will remain on the board and will serve on the executive committee with Petrina, Jurcak, Secretary Lori Whitten and Treasurer James Judkins.

Roger Warren hands over the reins to Peter Petrina

We are extremely grateful for Roger's service to SEA and tireless support of our mission. In his three years as board chairman, SEA's revenue and membership increased by over 40%. He brought a new level of credibility and professionalism to SEA which cemented SEA as the leading H-2B advocacy organization. Thank you, Roger!

Although SEA has been led by an employer since its inception (Michael Wood and Roger Warren), extenuating circumstances call for exceptions. Petrina is the filing agent for four properties in the Trump portfolio: The Mar-a-Lago Club, Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, Trump Jupiter and Trump International West Palm Beach. Given how critical the Trump administration's support of our short-term and permanent cap relief options is, Petrina is the perfect man to lead us through the remainder of Trump's presidency. Petrina started as a club general manager before starting Petrina Group International in 2000. Welcome aboard, Peter!

FUNDRAISER FOR SENATOR COLLINS: The week concluded with a fundraiser for Senator Collins at the Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway Park. Hosted by SEA members and Massachusetts residents Tom and Sheri Donahue, we took in a crisply played 4-1 win for the Yankees.  

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins reiterated her support for the program and for Congressman Harris' H-2B CSE amendment. She hit it off with Stephen Carr, owner of Stephen Carr Property Services of York, ME. They must have talked for 45 minutes. In fact, she was having such a good time her husband had a tough time getting her to leave!

But we are still roughly $40,000 short of our goal, 39 more $1,000 donations or 78 more $500 donations. Collins deserves our support. These events are a critical component of our broader strategy to obtain both short-term and permanent cap relief. Thank you!

DONATE

$1,000 Donors
Joe Drake, JFD Landscaping
Terry Forrester, Labor Consultants International
Ethan Hagie, Superior Golf Maintenance
Mitchell Horney, Triple H Services
Jim Judkins, JKJ Workforce Agency
Owen Wadsworth, Red Mountain Resource
Anique Watson, Action Visa Assistance

$500 Donors
Robin Asher, Aquidneck Country Club
Francisco Estrada, Rapid Landscaping
Peter Petrina, Petrina Group International
Bill Weeks, Weeks Landscape Management

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