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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

New VICA Chair Hopes To Bring Fresh Perspective

Newly elected chair of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association, Daymond Rice says 2010 will be a landmark year for advocacy at the organization. At 36 years old, he serves as director of public affairs and government relations for the large grocery chain Vons, where he has worked for the past seven years. In charge of all the charitable giving, media relations and government relations for the Vons division of Safeway, Rice advocates on behalf of Vons on government issues relating to land use, the environment, energy and transportation among others, in more than 148 cities. His role at Vons, which includes helping promote legislation that allows the company to sell groceries in the quickest most cost effective way possible, will enable him to further enhance VICA’s advocacy efforts, he believes. VICA, he says, will benefit from the multitude of government relationships he has developed over the years, including those that came as a result of his five years at the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, where he also worked in the government relations arena. As chair of VICA, Rice replaces Greg Lippe, whose two-year term saw an increase of 14 percent in membership for the organization. Lippe, who at the time was managing partner at the accounting firm Lippe, Hellie, Hoffer & Allison, has been characterized as one of the most visible chairs the organization has ever had. “I probably invested a minimum of ten hours per week to VICA, it’s a demanding job if you do it right. You just don’t sleep a lot,” Lippe said. Question: Why did Vons join VICA in 2006? Answer: At the time we wanted to raise our profile in the community. We thought we were doing a lot of good work in terms of philanthropy, but we wanted to be more engaged in macro policy conversations that the city was having. For instance we have one of the largest private trucking fleets in the state, so it made sense that we would be engaged in transportation issues. We have a statewide energy bill, I believe it’s about $1 million a day, because if you walk into a store and what is not air conditioned, is chilled or it’s frozen, so we’re very engaged in energy issues. We were looking for a voice, or a vehicle that would allow us to be engaged, and when you’re a little new to it, and it’s a bit daunting, and you’re not sure how to connect the dots, VICA was one of those organizations we identified that could facilitate the introductions we needed, and could help us tailor our message so it was clear in terms of the things that were important to us as a business. Q: Why did you accept the role of chairman? A: First let me say it’s a huge honor. The fact that our membership, and our nominating committee considered putting their trust in me for this is a huge honor and I am very humbled by that and I cannot overstate that. I’m thrilled. I think that there are things that we have done at Safeway and Vons that can add another layer of sophistication to our advocacy efforts at VICA, so I think that I can add value as chair of the board. I want to further position VICA as that big consensus builder who is at the table on all the big issues that come before us in Los Angeles County. We are credible negotiators and I want to build upon that credibility. I think I have tools that can help allow that. Q: What tools do you bring to the table? A: This is a huge opportunity for me personally, it’s a great opportunity for the company I represent and I believe it will be a great opportunity for VICA to have a different perspective at the helm… Clearly I’m one of the few chairs in recent history that represents a fortune 50 company so there are unique experiences that we have that I think are applicable. The relationships that I have been able to develop, on both the Republican and Democratic side that are very strong because of any number of initiatives we’ve taken here at Vons and Safeway I’m going to be able to carry those relationships with me to my new position as chair and I think it will be helpful in advancing VICA’s agenda. I have an opportunity, because of this vast geography I represent, to have served and still serve on the boards of other advocacy organizations, and there are some best practices that I intend to steal and implement at VICA. Q: What boards do you serve in? A: In 2010 I will also serve on the Orange County Business Council Board. From a philanthropic side, I serve on the board of the San Diego Food Bank. In Nevada, I will serve as vice chair of the retail association. And there’s another one yet to be confirmed. Q: What best practices do you intend to steal from them? A: Well, there are some things I am very clear on and one of the programs I would like to implement at VICA relates to research function. I’ve seen some of the best advocacy organizations don’t just simply advocate a position but they are able to generate data on macro-topics to help form those positions. The best business advocacy organizations have an in-house research function and that’s something that I intend to create at VICA. Q: What would be the benefits of this in-house research function? A: As you can imagine in politics there can be ulterior motives that drive legislation or ulterior agendas. If we are trying to come up with good public policy that benefits the good of everyone, you do need credible data to help arrive at whether or not an ordinance or statewide legislation is needed. If it is needed because there’s a problem, what is the problem? And what are the avenues that may allow us to fix the problem? Having data that supports a legislative position is a much stronger position to be in than to just say ‘I think X,Y, Z” because the X,Y, Z part is left to political interpretation or political agendas and I’m always concerned about that. So if we are to be a credible organization, which we are, but if we are to advance to another level, I think having this research component can only strengthen our ability to do our job. Q: That sounds costly. A: Raising money is obviously key to any organization, as chair of the board that’s going to be something that is clearly under my purview. I think we have the potential to do this in a very cost-effective fashion. I don’t think it’s quite the 800 pound financial gorilla that it may appear to be, I think there are ways to do it. We already have an infrastructure in place to make this happen with some of our partners in the Valley. Q: What do you hope to accomplish as chair? A: There are two equal goals: increase our presence at the legislative level and further grow the membership. The larger we are, the more businesses we represent, the more powerful a voice we are. That’s clear in any organization. Q: How do you plan to do this? A: I think growth and advocacy are connected. I think we can grow our membership through the action we take in the advocacy side. I think a good work product speaks for itself and I think that’s why we’ve had a 14 percent net gain in membership over the last 24 months while many other business associations have seen a membership decrease. I don’t need to talk about us being a leader when our work product speaks for itself. Q: How are you going to balance your responsibilities here with the new demands at VICA? A: I’m fortunate to have a role here where there’s an expectation that I will be working with external publics. So I’m allowed the autonomy to do what is in the best interest of Vons to advance our agenda. I have a wonderful relationship with my boss, he never doubts for one minute that I have our company’s best interest at heart so it is a very easy sell for me when I ask him, ‘I’ve been presented with the opportunity to serve as chair what do you think about that?’ It is unequivocal approval. Q: So you’re prepared to invest the time? A: I am clearly prepared, as any chair should have thought this out and then made the decision, clearly I’ve had the conversation with my wife, we have a 19 month old at home and we have number two on the way in March, and I have great support from my family to do this. I have great support from my employers; they see my enthusiasm to lead this organization and, so what if I work a little harder? It’s OK, I like it. Q: How involved can we expect to see you in the San Fernando Valley business community as chair of VICA? A: Obviously Greg owns his own business and he has a great deal of time, but I would not have taken this job if I didn’t have the time or didn’t have the ability to be at a number of the events… gosh, I don’t know what I’ve missed lately in the last few months either, so I guess my record on that would have to speak for itself. But you can count on me to be a visible chair who will be highlighting VICA’s attributes to a number of different audiences and I will be actively working to recruit businesses that further reflect what I think is the changing face of the San Fernando Valley as well. Q: Which businesses will you go after? A: We will reach out to minority owned businesses, we will reach out to women owned businesses and we will develop a plan to further expand our membership based on that. If you look around the San Fernando Valley, does our membership represent the types of businesses that we all see? It certainly represents a portion. I would like to see it represent more. I want to see our membership and our board reflect the communities in which we serve and that means we need to do more to reach out to minority and women owned businesses and we intend to implement a strategy to do so. Q: How would you characterize your leadership style? A: In terms of decision making I think I am a thoughtful person; data tends to drive me to my conclusions. I think once I’ve formed my opinion I’m a very good advocate for that position. I like feedback. If you don’t like feedback this is the wrong job for you. I like consensus, we need to hear all the different points of view. I think I am very committed to business issues. Q: You work for a large corporation; do you think you might face the challenge of having to convince some that you are also there for small business? A: I think it’s a fair question because on face value people generally know me through my role here. I think what people need to understand is that – and I don’t think it takes very long for people to figure out that I am a strong advocate for small business –my wife founded, operates and runs a small business that she’s been able to grow, and if anyone has a spouse that runs their own business they know there’s no coming home and saying ‘oh honey that’s your business I work at Vons’, it’s a family business and you work on it together. A lot of my opinions as they relate to business come from what equates to family business. Going through payroll challenges, going through the credit line issues going through the standard employee challenges, a lot of my opinions are determined from that. There’s this moment in my mind, it was seven years ago, it was a Wednesday night, I remember very specifically because payroll was due on Friday and the payroll checks were going to bounce. It was only going to work if this one potential client showed up like they said they were going to show up and booked the type of significant order that they claimed they were going to book on that Thursday. And it worked. They did, and it got the business through a rough cash flow period and eventually helped right the ship. When you stare at the ceiling at two in the morning because you are riddled with stress – there is no worse feeling than an employer who thinks they are going to let down their employees by bouncing the payroll check. When you experience that you never forget it. I don’t doubt for one second if somebody wants to ask me, ‘do I care about small business?” I will convince them, I will persuade them that I do within 15 seconds. It is a passion of mine. I am fortunate enough to represent a very large company in the government relations aspect, but I also go through the trials and tribulations of a small business owner at home. That combined I think makes me unique among some of the folks who have had the job [of chair of VICA]. Q: What does your wife do? A: She’s in the rental business. She runs a company [headquartered in Monrovia] that about 90 percent of the business is related to weddings. Fortunately people are willing to cut back on many things but not on what they perceive as their special day so we are still doing well during these times, yet like any other small business, 2009 has been incredibly stressful, you’ve lost every credit line you had, it doesn’t matter if you’ve made every payment on time, or you’ve paid nothing less than the minimum, you’ve lost every cushion you had so you’ve had to operate in essence on a cash basis. Q: In terms of advocacy, what are the most important business issues you hope to tackle? A: Everything needs to be framed in the terms of ‘does it or does it not create jobs’ that solves everything. I think we’re seeing a number of things related to advocacy in 2010. Business tax reform will continue to be an issue. I think looking for opportunities to further streamline the process to secure permits – if you’re fortunate enough to have a credit line to be able to build something, let’s make that an easier process. In terms of the regulatory side, this is sort of the big unknown in my opinion right now. What regulations are we going to see come potentially from Sacramento that are going to have a dramatic impact on our members ability to stay afloat? In my mind right now flat is the new up, so if you’re flat in revenue you are doing great. How can we help them at least keep where they are, or are these regulations going to potentially only drive them one direction and that is down? We see a number of environmentally based regulations for example that I think the heart is in the right place, I think that people would generally agree that there is a value to reducing the carbon footprint. I still have yet to find the pro-pothole, pro-crime candidate, we’re all generally in favor of this utopia that we want to get to, it’s just the process by which to get there. In that process we need to ensure that we do not create further impediments or create new hurdles that impede job creation. Q: How valuable is it for a business to be part of VICA? A: From my perspective it’s necessary, that’s just how you conduct business in a legislative arena. If you want to move legislation that will allow you to operate quicker, cheaper faster, then it is your trade associations that are the vehicle to make that happen. I can’t imagine a world where Vons wasn’t involved in trade associations. Q: What about small businesses that might find membership too expensive? A: I understand, and I really get that. When I was at the Long Beach Chamber we had a lot of small business members over there and it is difficult for someone who wears the CEO, CFO, CMO hat in a four or five person business. How do government relations impact their bottom line? That is really the primary question. I think I was very successful then and I think I remain successful now, in explaining to the small business member how government relations impact their bottom line. I think I will be an effective salesman on behalf of VICA to grow the membership and I think when I’m able to provide some real life examples of how [government relations impacts small business], I think they will be intrigued and I think that will grow the membership. Q: What do you think about partnering with other trade associations, joining forces or building alliances? A: It happens all the time, it will continue to happen. I have great friends at the Chamber at CCA, the LABC, BizFed. Vons is a member of those associations; we have long since worked with them. There is clearly a value in building coalitions; we are often on the same page on a number of business issues. I think very highly of the other business organizations in town, they do great work. Each group seems to have its own unique take in terms of what issues are really driving their board and so I think it’s helpful. VICA, as any business organization, can only put so much on its plate and be effective at moving it, so potentially another group can join our efforts as we take the lead on something and conversely we might be able to just simply join their efforts as they take the lead on something else. So coalitions are vital. Q: What are your views on new technologies such as social networking tools? A: I was one of these people who personally avoided Facebook for the longest time because I thought ‘oh no, the last thing I need is another beast I need to feed’ but quite frankly that’s where the world is going. Now at Vons, we are creating our own Vons Foundation Facebook page to talk about some of the issues that we care about. But more importantly we [at VICA] have board members who are on the cutting edge of this technology and they are going to be vital to helping us create something that I think can be very new. I think we are still on the frontier in terms of how advocacy organizations best leverage the social networking side which I think can be key to grassroots communications to electeds, and it’s going to be an exciting year in terms utilizing those new technologies in a way that hasn’t been tried yet. We’re going to be building upon what we’ve done so far and looking for ways to make it a meaningful effective manner for our members to communicate with the elected community.

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