Episode 311: 04-09-15
Go Green with Magnum Energy Solutions
Don Weidenfeld, Managing Member at Magnum Energy Solutions explains how to save up to 40% on your commercial real estate operating expenses and take that right to the bottom line.
Tax Credits for Green Energy
Julio Gonzalez is CEO of Engineered Tax Services, one of the only qualified professional engineering firms that has a staff comprised of its own licensed engineers, to include LEED Accredited Professionals, and tax experts ranging from CPAs to a former senior IRS executive.
We discuss how to help pay for Magnum Energy Solutions’ energy saving installation with tax savings.
Depression and Hispanic Seniors
UHealth guest Dr. Daniel Jimenez talks about the role of exercise in alleviating depression among Hispanic seniors.
Miami Marlins Opening Day
Jim regales us with his account of opening day at Miami Marlins Stadium.
Episode 311: 04-09-15 (To download, right-click and select “Save Link As”.)
Transcription:
James Fried: Aright! As we start Episode 311 here today, we’re going to talk about Go Green with New Wave Energy Solutions, how you can get the government to pay you to go green and help you save money. Our UHealth special guest is going to be Dr. Daniel Jimenez. He’s going to talk about seniors, Hispanic seniors and exercise and the impact that has on depression. Should be really good. And then I’m going to talk about my experiences at the Marlins opening day, next week show, to give you a little tease. Emerge Miami and early years’ crowd funding. It’s going to be awesome. And now you can tell why I do this! It’s because I love it! The market was down, but I’m way up! Dee, take it away! We’ll be right back with Energy Solutions, Don Weidenfeld, Julio Gonzalez and me, back after this!
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
James Fried: First half of the show is all dedicated to Go Green, a new wave of Energy Solutions, how the government will pay you to go green and I think by the end of this segment, you’ll see that not only can you save money to the bottom line, but it might even cost you a little less than you think. And you may even take some dollars and put them in your pocket. I want to welcome Don Weidenfeld. He’s the Managing Member of Magnum Energy Solutions. You’ve heard him on the show before. We’re going to talk about how he can save up to 40% on your commercial real estate operating expenses by working with Don. And I’m going to be, before I forget, say hi five to Billy in the back over there. He’s with Julio Gonzalez. He’s the CEO of the Engineered Tax Services, ETS. It’s one of the only qualified professional engineering firms that have staff, a staff comprised of its own licensed engineers. They include LEED Accredited Professionals, they also have tax experts ranging from CPAs to a former senior IRS executive. So after Don tells you how you’re going to save money, Julio is going to tell you how you’re going to pay for it. Hey, Don, Julio! Welcome to the show!
Don Weidenfeld: Thank you very much, Jim. We appreciate the invitation.
Julio Gonzalez: Yeah, thanks Jim for letting us be here.
James Fried: Oh, it’s my absolute pleasure. Don, let’s start with you. Tell us a little bit about what’s going on at Magnum. You’ve got some really cool new supplies, new products out there and some cool new clients too.
Don Weidenfeld: Yes, a lot of new clients. It’s a lot of business coming in from all across the country. We’ve actually gotten a number of utilities to subsidize our installations and our products. And they’re paying approximately 90% on the West Coast in California. We’re getting business in Arizona as well as New York and Florida and most of the other states in the country.
James Fried: Now, I know there’s like a bond program out in the California called Pace Bonds. Are they available here in Florida or people paying cash or, I guess I’m stepping on Julio’s toes, so we’re going to get to that in a minute, but how about the Bonds, Don?
Don Weidenfeld: Actually, its funding is originated in California to supply funding to all the contractors for energy savings products and they have now instituted Pace in the state of Florida. They’re starting down here in South Dade and moving up through Palm Beach, Broward County and Palm Beach, up through St. Lucie County.
James Fried: Now Don, we talked that you can save somebody 40% on their commercial real estate operating expenses. You know, on a cap rate basis, that adds up to a whole bunch of value you guys create. How do you do that?
Don Weidenfeld: Well Jim, it’s actually a relatively simple concept if you have the right technology that can handle it. We have two bidirectional, two-way thermostats that speak wirelessly and battery-lessly to an occupancy sensor. The occupancy sensor takes your body temperature and takes your motion. And when you step out of a room, it adjusts your thermostat to a predetermined setback, to let’s say, 78 degrees when nobody’s occupied. That reduction in usage of your HVAC reduces your energy consumption by between 25 and 40%.
James Fried: You’re out to ruin my day when I stay at the hotel. I leave, snap it down to 65 and come back, and the water’s dripping of the window.
Don Weidenfeld: Yes. That’s us. We’re the ones who are raining on your parade. But the owners are very happy with us and they love the fact that they’re not air-conditioning a room when nobody’s there.
James Fried: Well, you know what I really love about it is the fact that it’s all USA made in America. Yes?
Don Weidenfeld: Yes. Correct. Every product we have is made in Ohio, made in the USA. We’re bringing manufacturing back to the US and our company, we take a lot of pride in that.
James Fried: Well, I know somebody else who takes a lot of pride in what they do and that’s Julio. Now Julio, Don told us how he can come in and install his energy saving equipment to somebody’s commercial real estate. And then, I guess, you take over from there.
Julio Gonzalez: I do. We really help with getting lower payback or quicker payback. The way we do that is the Federal Government created an energy tax policy in 2006. And basically, since then it allows property owners and investors to upgrade their energy efficiencies in their building and be rewarded from a tax perspective. The tax benefit range is from 60 cents to $1.80 per square foot, and it’s based on how energy efficient the property is made or converted to. So it can be a tremendous tax benefit for anyone that’s improving their building through energy efficiency.
James Fried: Well, wait a minute now. I added that up. Don, sounds like I’m maybe getting something for free form you.
Don Weidenfeld: Yeah. Jim, it’s actually a pretty interesting story. We took one of Julio’s personally owned buildings. It was one of his smaller ones, 10.000 square foot building. We’re getting it $1.80 a foot in tax credit and our installation, entire installation cost was less than $1 a foot. So the US government paid over 100% of the installation costs and for the products. Julio got to put some money in his pocket.
James Fried: Now, that’s all legal. Right, Julio?
Julio Gonzalez: Yeah, it’s been legal since 2006 and it was really designed by the Federal Government to enhance energy efficiency in the United States so we could start bringing down our energy consumption. It’s a worthwhile bill. Unfortunately, most people don’t take advantage of it.
James Fried: Why not?
Julio Gonzalez: Simply because it’s a tax benefit, but it has to be done by a licensed engineer. So the issue is that most tax firms or CPA firms that work with their property investors form a tax perspective don’t typically have a licensed engineering staff. So I think a lot of times it just gets missed. But it is definitely a great reward for making your building energy efficient and it’s one that obviously creates the payback much quicker. It’s something that people have to take advantage of. I appreciate you allowing us to be here to make the awareness more throughout the country.
James Fried: Oh, it’s my pleasure. You do mention the country. So this is a US tax program that somebody in Florida, somebody in the state of Washington, somebody in Maine, somebody in southern California, they can all take advantage of this?
Julio Gonzalez: It’s a federal tax benefit, available to any of the United States territories. Again, it’s a phenomenal program because, like you said, if Don’s putting something in for under $2 a square foot and we’re getting $1.80 tax benefit for them, also we supplement the benefit by getting a tax benefit for the inefficient energy assets coming out cause there’s a remaining tax value that we can write off. When you combine the two tax programs, basically, you can upgrade your building at very little or no cost. And obviously, from Don’s perspective, when you lower the energy, your building becomes more valuable.
James Fried: I had an accounting class or two, and so stop me if I’m wrong, we’re talking about sum cost and we’re talking about appreciation here?
Julio Gonzalez: We are. So basically, in the United States…
James Fried: Wooo! High five to me!
Julio Gonzalez: Basically, in the United States, when you make improvements to the building, you have to write those off over a 39-year period. Basically, what we’re doing with this $1.80 is getting that tax benefit upfront for the client and also remember, there’s a value remaining typically in the systems that are coming out of service. So we get to write off the remaining benefit of that as well, when you combine those two, it can be $3-4 a square foot in tax benefits.
James Fried: Well, that’s where it comes in that you can put some significant dollars in your pocket and still help America stay great then. Now Don, tell us a little bit about how these products are designed. You brought a bunch of rocket scientists over? What’s going on with that?
Don Weidenfeld: Actually, we have a lot of engineers that work for us. One specifically, which is why you’re bringing that up, we brought somebody in from Germany who built the German missile defense system. He now writes our software and everything we have is 256-bit encrypted so we are certified to stand on the GSA US government’s network because it is wireless, everybody in the past were worried about the security features. We have no security issues, whatsoever. Our retrofits are easy because of the battery-less and wireless and our engineers keep us with the greatest products in America.
James Fried: Let me get this straight then. I got a hotel room, I want to put your products in or something like ours, some people come in, they drill holes, they bang around, you come in and do a stick and go?
Don Weidenfeld: Yes, exactly. The only thing that’s actually wired in is a thermostat. The thermostats, every space has a thermostat in it, there preexisting wires of fiber wires, we remove those, we put in our bidirectional two-way thermostats. Those communicate through the occupancy and window door that we just stick on with two-sided tape in and out of it in any room in about 11-12 mins.
James Fried: So not only the person up in the front desk see this, but the person at the home office can see this. It sounds to me like you got this, and pardon the pun, wired for sound.
Don Weidenfeld: That is correct.
James Fried: Well, on my very bad pun, we’re going to take a break, we’re going to come back with Don and Julio. They’re going to continue to tell us how they can help us save money and take advantage of the government programs that are really available to you and have been for almost 10 years now. We’ll be back after this. Big Dee, it is all yours!
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
James Fried: Alright! We’re talking about saving you money when you go green. We’ve got Don Weidenfeld, he’s Managing Member of Magnum Energy Solutions. We’ve got Julio Gonzalez, and we found out that his firm is aptly named because it’s Engineered Tax Solutions. And in the back Billy is giving Big Dee instructions. Billy’s waving. Big Dee instructions. Big Dee, do not listen to Billy. He’s an Engineered Tax Services guy, not a radio guy. I thought you were going to say something, Dee. He never says anything. I’ve been trying for three months to get him to say something. Anyway Don, we’re back and we’re going to start with you. Don, so we’ve been talking about this stuff as made in America and we’ve been talking about that it can save 40% on the bottom line for commercial real estate operating expenses, we talked about how Julio can help people get that stuff paid for, put money in their pocket when they get the other old stuff out of service. Don, you we’re making a great point when we were off air. Roll!
Don Weidenfeld: One of the additional benefits, when you’re looking at the real estate, your income state and one of the areas that you have no control over is the amount of energy in your energy cost structure. If you’re able to reduce that energy cost by 25-40%, it literally raises your net operating income in the property and makes your property more valuable. Especially in a 6 to 8 to 10 cap-rate-type market. Anything that you put into the property to reduce that energy, literally translates right to the bottom line.
James Fried: Wow. First of all Don, I got to tell you, you’ve got a voice for radio, dude.
Don Weidenfeld: Thank you very much, Jim. I appreciate that.
James Fried: And Julio, Don is kind of tipping me off on something that we’re going to talk about more offline tomorrow. It sounds to me like once everybody’s done with this, they really need to do some kind of tax appeal because now their values are starting to fluctuate and it seems to me they need to have somebody help them deal with that too. So we’ll talk about that on another show. But Julio, now Don’s got the guy, he’s all teed up, he’s starting to want to use Don’s services. What comes next from ETS?
Julio Gonzalez: Basically, what we do is, we take the specifications of the building, we model it and basically we have to show a certain savings percentage. And once we do that, we issue the certificate that goes to the client and they file that with their tax return. It’s really a simple process.
James Fried: Now, you need to be licensed or certified or authorized to create one of those certificates, pass a board certification, something like that?
Julio Gonzalez: Yeah, the IRS code specifically dictates that on this tax benefit, it has to be certified by a licensed engineer or contractor. And basically what we’re required to do is model the systems, show the savings based on a standard by the IRS, and once we achieve those, we then can issue the certificates as the licensed engineer.
James Fried: So if an accounting firm doesn’t have a licensed engineer on staff or a close relationship with one, this isn’t something they necessarily would focus on?
Julio Gonzalez: That’s correct. We provide this service to many CPA firms across the country and we’re typically working with them to help identify opportunities within their clients base and also use it as a way to promote new clients as well. It can work really well for the CPA firms because consulting is where it’s most important for their clients. And obviously most clients over the last 10 years have done something to their buildings, whether it’s new lighting, new energy controls, HVAC system…
James Fried: Hopefully, they got that permitted too.
Julio Gonzalez: Hopefully they did, right?
Don Weidenfeld: His engineers will let you know about that.
Julio Gonzalez: Right.
James Fried: Julio, it sounds to me like some of your biggest referral sources are CPAs.
Julio Gonzalez: I would say it’s a big part of our referral source or CPA firms. Obviously, we work with them and their client to see what the tax benefits will be and obviously let them take advantage of it. I would say a good percentage of our business comes from CPAs and then also most of our business as well comes from large real estate firms.
James Fried: I’m starting to get confused here about what’s the chicken and what’s the egg. I got to believe that sometimes Julio’s going to bring Don in to help him with his, I’ll just call it scheme in the good sense of the word, his proposal for how to reduce somebody’s energy costs. And Don, it seems to me like you could bring Julio in to help you close a deal.
Don Weidenfeld: Yes. 100%, Jim. That’s 100% accurate. Our businesses work in tandem and Jim actually introduced us and…
James Fried: You’re outing me, Don. I’m supposed be like this silent hand behind all the good stuff.
Don Weidenfeld: No, no. One of the best introductions I’ve ever had. Julio is a fantastic person and we have clients all over the country that are installing energy management, energy efficiency products from Magnum and we can actually go back to them now and bring them the tax credits and put more money in their pocket just as the relationships that we have. In addition to that, we can bring Julio into the… Engineered Tax Services into the new businesses that we’re talking to. We currently have, we’re speaking to a time share resort company that has 22,000 rooms in total.
James Fried: Wow! That’s a couple of dollars.
Don Weidenfeld: It’s a couple of dollars and ITS can really come in there and give the tax credit that can pay for all of our products. I can refer him business, he can refer us business.
James Fried: Don, you mentioned it’s a time share. What other types of firms do you find are most helped by your products? I guess everybody is helped, but who are the people that stand to benefit the most? Who’s the 40% and the 20%?
Don Weidenfeld: Yes. It actually, we can handle any vertical, any real estate vertical out there, but the two best verticals we have are hotels and universities. Time shares are another one. It’s actually three. That being said, the reason being is those where the owners pay the electric bills and the tenants in most cases will push the thermostats as low as they can and then they leave for the day or what not, because they don’t pay the electric bill. So who are we helping? We’re helping those owners that have to pay that and it’s right to their bottom line.
James Fried: I have another one. Hospitals!
Don Weidenfeld: Yes. Absolutely.
James Fried: Hospitals. I need to get you with UHealth. Remind me after this, we’re getting everybody together with UHealth. My wife will make it happen cause she’s the real person that they love at UHealth. Me, I’m just their service provider here on the radio, actually, they love me to, but I can’t. I got headsets on, they’re going to explode with my head getting so big today. Julio, do you do a lot of work for quasi-public agencies like hospitals?
Julio Gonzalez: We do. On the non-profit side, the public entities, the tax benefit goes actually to Don. So the government basically, when they did this federal tax benefit said that in the bill, basically if you’re a private real estate investor, you get the tax benefit. If you’re the designer on a public building, that tax benefit goes back to Don. Don stands to make some great benefits from the public work that he does.
James Fried: Well, that’s great! I’m sure that Don realizes that and drives a lot of that money back through his donations. I know, now I’m not going to out you on this, but Don is, I’m sure, and I know Julio is too, very, two very philanthropic guys. We’ll be doing tables at the Lauren’s kids event next year, guys. I can promise you that.
Julio Gonzalez: Wonderful.
Don Weidenfeld: 100%.
James Fried: Oh! That’s so great. Honey, write that down. My wife always listens to this stuff. She’s the best. And high five to you honey. I love you. Now, we’ve got 2mins left, so Don tell people how they can get in touch with you. You got about a minute to do that and we’ll wrap with Julio cause he’s our special guest.
Don Weidenfeld: Okay. Magnum Energy Solutions. I will give you my personal direct number. The number is 561-702-9000.
James Fried: Hold on. You got to go slower with the numbers because we have a lot of Jets fans that listen.
Don Weidenfeld: Jimmy never cease to amaze me. I’ll get that dig in there.
James Fried: I had to.
Don Weidenfeld: 561-702-9000.
James Fried: Even their new coach can write that down. How about, what’s your website, dude?
Don Weidenfeld: www.magnumenergysolutions.com.
James Fried: Thank you. The Jets fans appreciate it. Now Julio, how do people find Engineered Tax Services on the Internet? We’ll get you some social media going soon and also on the telephone.
Julio Gonzalez: Okay. So go to www.engineeredtaxservices.com and by phone 561-253-6640.
James Fried: You’re great. I won’t mention that you’re involved officially with the NFL and the thing about the Jets. I won’t be able to say to Julio, but Julio’s got a lot of interest in the NFL. He’s a really big guy up at the NFL as well. I want to thank. Now Billy, did you drive the guys down? Yes! Billy did the driving so you guys can keep it all the way up, make lots of people lots of money, save them lots of money, make America a stronger place and help us keep green. I want to thank Don Weidenfeld from Magnum Energy Solutions and Julio Gonzalez from Engineered Tax Services. Guys, we got to come back and have some more fun! Billy, will you drive? He says he will. Dee, you’re going to take us out. We’ll be back right after this. We’re going to talk with the UHealth doctors and we’re going to find out about the impact of exercise on depression in senior Hispanics. Oh my Gosh, I got it all out right! Dee, it’s all yours!
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
James Fried: Alright! We are back and the UHealth, that’s the University Miami Health System, they bring us the brightest minds and the best care here in South Florida. And UHealth is big. It includes more than 300 specialty doctors, dozens of locations from Miami to Palm Beach gardens and now UHealth is in Plantation. What sets UHealth apart is the comprehensive approach they bring to healthcare. You may have many different things that are wrong with you, different health issues, but the doctors that take care of you, do they talk to each other or cross reference your symptoms and medications to make sure your care is second to none? In UHealth they do it. And I want to tell you about a special doctor at UHealth, Judi Woolger who is always on my wife’s PCP. And Judi goes the extra mile for my wife. She’s available to her 24/7, texting and everything else. I want to give a high five and a thank you because when my wife is in the hospital because of her end stage kidney disease, Judi’s there at 7AM when she opens her eyes to make sure my wife is getting the best care that she can. And by the way, one other thing that happened in the UHealth family this month, this week, that wasn’t too positive. We want to give a high five to Dr. Fred Brand, Dr. Frederick Brand who passed away unfortunately this weekend. He kept many famous people looking young and beautiful, no more than my wife. He used to come in and sing her songs while he was working on her. Dr. Fred Brand, what a treasure for this community that we lost. It’s unfortunate that us, the UHealth family, has lost just such a great doctor like Frederick Brand. But we’ve got people like Judi Woolger who take care of them. And I want to tell you, if you want to learn more, you can discover how to break your medicine, your UHealth can work for you. Call 305-243-4000, then you’ll get treated like a star too. Visit uhealthdiscovery.com to learn more today! Alright, we’ve got Dr. Daniel Jimenez. We’re going to talk about exercise and depression among Hispanic seniors. Dr. Jimenez, welcome to the show!
Daniel Jimenez: Thanks for having me, Jim.
James Fried: It’s my pleasure. I didn’t want to short sale you. You’re another one of the key reasons why UHealth is a great place to go for treatment. Tell me a little bit about your study on Hispanic seniors and how they fight depression and how that coincides with exercise.
Daniel Jimenez: Well, I currently have a study looking at using exercise to prevent anxiety and depression in older Hispanics. But, it’s not just Hispanic seniors that can benefit from exercise, it’s any older adult really, and anyone that is suffering from any sort of mental illness can really benefit from engaging in a regular exercise routine.
James Fried: Well I know that I’m not so all the time. And when I exercise, it always makes me feel good. Is that cause it releases things like, what is it, dopamine and endorphins and stuff like that?
Daniel Jimenez: Right. There is a release of serotonin that’s involved, there’s a little bit of dopamine that’s involved as well and the endorphins for sure. But it’s also a sense of accomplishment. So just form your own personal feeling. You feel like you’ve done something, you’ve been productive, you feel much more confident. With exercise also comes a… you lose weight, you feel better, you physically feel better and so all that contributes to a positive and healthy outlook in life.
James Fried: Well Dr. Jimenez, I’m looking at a photo right here on some of the PR material. It looks like you exercise all the time. You’re a good looking guy there, bud.
Daniel Jimenez: Thank you very much.
James Fried: Now listen. You’re studying specifically Hispanics, so there must be some things that are specific to Hispanics. Maybe some barriers to why they might reach out, maybe they have different percentages of things like cardiovascular disease or obesity. What are some of these factors and how do they figure into what you’re doing with your study?
Daniel Jimenez: Right. The part of the reason I focused on older Hispanics, besides the fact that I am Hispanic, was because we were finding that the prevalence rates of depression and anxiety were actually higher in this population, in the older Hispanic population than in the older majority whites. And the service, in terms of engaging in mental health services, was much, much lower in this population. And what we also were finding was the way they were conceptualizing the problems that they were experiencing were much more physically based. So the treatments that we have available, which are effective in terms of using talk therapy or medication, just weren’t lining up with their perception of what was going on. And so I saw this lack and there was this need and I designed this study. When I was trying to roll it out at the beginning when I was in the planning stages of it, I interviewed some focus groups and things like that, I talked to folks. They all agreed that it was a very good idea, it was something that they would enjoy doing, that they would actually very much, that the community needed. So I went and had fought for a federal grant through the National Institute of Mental Health and then I got funded.
James Fried: Wow. That’s a great story. We just read something in the UHealth 2min read earlier before you came on about Dr. Brand. God rest his soul, he always used to sing to my wife beautiful things and help her feel good. Maybe he was masking depression. He used to sing, start spreading the news to her and he was 65. Robin Williams was older. It seems to me like this age group has got some depression and if they exercise, my gosh, it seems like, like you said, they can start feeling better about themselves and hopefully that helps even save one life.
Daniel Jimenez: Right. Exactly. A lot of attention has been paid to the suicide of these very prominent, very important people in our society. And what’s been overlooked by that act is the fact that they were suffering, suffering so much that they decided to take their lives. So what we need to do is we need to make sure that that doesn’t happen. One way that we can do that is actually to look at how can we prevent depression, what can we do in order to minimize the effect of when people feel depressed. Because oftentimes when people go and seek services and they go and actually seek mental health services, the water is just way above their heads. They’re drowning in this stuff. If we can target, if we can take even one step further back from that, the problems becomes much more manageable and we can actually intervene at a very important and pivotal time in their lives. And yes, absolutely, we can. If they did start exercising, in my opinion, if they were involved in regular exercise, I think a lot of their problems would have been mitigated because, like you were saying, Dr. Brand when he would sing, he probably was masking some of that pain he was experiencing and Robin Williams for sure. I’m a firm believer that the mind and the body are one and the same, there’s no difference. If we can kill two birds with one stone, if we get the body right, we can get the mind right. And exercise surely enough does that.
James Fried: Well gosh, Dr. Dee, how much more time we have on this segment? I just want to make sure I give the Dr. his due. Dr., we got 3 more minutes. First of all, I want to thank you for bringing this topic up and allowing me to discuss Dr. Brand and some of the other famous people, but in every family, there’s somebody who may not be so famous, but they still may be struggling with the effects of the depression that comes on as they enter into that next phase in their life. How do they find you? How do they get in touch with you? Are there still spots in your study that people can get in?
Daniel Jimenez: Absolutely. Absolutely. They can call me. I’m at 305-355-9063.
James Fried: Great. I didn’t even have to ask you to go slow for the Jets fans so I appreciated that.
Daniel Jimenez: I heard that. And so definitely call me or you can email me and at d as in Daniel, e as in Edward, j and number…
James Fried: Like Jimenez.
Daniel Jimenez: Right. The number 18.
James Fried: Lucky 18!
Daniel Jimenez: @miami.edu. (dej18@med.miami.edu)
James Fried: Okay. Again cause we broke it up a lot. That was d as in David, e as in Edward, j as in Jimenez @med.miami.edu. The phone number again was 305-355-9063. I know it’s important that we get the word out. Dr. Jimenez, I want to thank you for coming on today and shedding on a topic that a lot of people have to address, but don’t really think it applies to them. Everybody needs to have the strength and the belief in themselves early to look into this before, like you said, the water goes over their head. Mental health is a very big, untreated problem here in the United States and here in South Florida. Dr. Jimenez, I want to thank you for taking the initiative to shine that light on that dark place.
Daniel Jimenez: Alright. Thank you for allowing me to shine the light.
James Fried: It’s my pleasure. Keep on smiling. I love this picture.
Daniel Jimenez: Thank you.
James Fried: It’s my pleasure. We’ll be right back after this. I’m going to talk about my experiences on opening day at the Marlins Ballpark. You will not want to miss this, folks! We’ll be back after this!
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
James Fried: Alright. We’re back and I was fiddling around with the disk because what I really wanted to play and should’ve played was center field, but I’ll remember that next time when I editorialize about the Marlins. So let’s talk about opening day this year, 2015 Marlins park and the guy I went with is, that’s right, you guessed it! Larry Zinn. Larry, high five for joining me at opening day. Larry drove his fancy, fabulous Jaguar. Oh my God, it was great. I loved it. It came up, it drove up, what a gorgeous car. The only thing better looking than the car were the two guys that were in it. And I took my secret route. All you folks that got stuck in traffic, I’m not telling you what my secret route is, cause then it wouldn’t be secret anymore. Suffice it to say, if it took you an hour, it took me 5 minutes. We had a great time, we made great memories. High five to David Samson for spending the fact the window, the roof was open. I got to tell you though, Larry and I were sitting in the stands, we saw the the big cloud come up and I said to Larry ‘You think it’s going to rain’, he goes, ‘Well Jim, I grew up here, you grew up here. We both know that if it rains, the wind starts to blow’. The wind started to blow and then ‘Hey Jim, you know that if it’s going to rain, the temperature’s going to drop’. My God, the temperature just started to drop. And then I said ‘Hey look Larry, over on Brickell, you can see the rain over on that brown/beige building over there. And by the way, if it comes over across the American flag on Victoria hospital, we own that deal’. He goes ‘Yeah, I know Jim. And yeah, it looks like it’s going to rain’. He said ‘How fast do they close the roof’, I go ‘Apparently not fast enough’. And so I said ‘But it won’t rain on us cause we’re still under the overhang’. Well, it didn’t rain on us the first half of the rain storm, but after it sort of passed a little bit, it did kind of get on us. My gosh, we were a couple of sissies. We ran right up the ramp, got out, walked around and in fact, we didn’t even make it around the ballpark esplanade there on the veranda. I forget what they call it there, that level, that particular level. And before we can get around from my seat’s directly behind home plate, as I’d like to say, we can call balls and strikes for my seats. We got halfway around, we’re looking around like it’s the batter’s eye and they’re saying ‘Play ball’. And now he still got to get halfway around the stadium. It was like the shortest rain delay it had ever been in the history of the Marlins probably. But we made great memories. I can tell you that I barely remember last opening day. I do remember the first opening day because I was waving cars into a parking lot that one of my clients owns right by the ballpark that we’ve got under contract for sales. Sorry everybody that’s been calling. And we created great memories this time. I will never forget my time at the ballpark with Larry Zinn. And then what else happened? Well, when we were walking around during the rain delay, there was Billy the Marlin, my man. High five! Billy the Marlin! We had the best time with Billy the Marlin who I’ve known as Billy the Marlin for many, many years. Actually, I saw him when Julio invited me to out to his fancy digs at the polo club. Again Julio, I know your listening on the way back up to West Palm. Thank you so much for the invite to the polo club. And the best part about going was the fact that you had seats right on that lake so we stayed cool the whole time. So great location for Julio. Again, thanks to Julio and Don for coming and guys, we’ll all go… Oh, Don’t going with me to my sweet nights! And we’ll have more sweet night at the Marlins, but let’s get back to opening day. So I’m starting to see people get into it. I’m starting to reunite opening day to opening day with other season ticket holders. That’s right! The people that sit around me, I’m recognizing them. For instance I gave a high five to Gary, who sat right in front of me with his two sons and his lovely wife Diane. I’ve known them for a long time. Gary’s been sitting in front of me at the opening day, each opening day, so I know Gary’s got those seats. And so he and all the other folks that have been sitting around me like my buddy Howard who sits behind me, we had the best time. And I want to say a high five to Ray for coming out too. They’re making it a family affair. They’re starting to get that energy together where it’s really positive. The game? Hey, the results of the game, it comes and goes, there’s 160 of those games. You remember the highlights, you remember the Jose Fernandez home run. You remember, and I got to just mention it, Dee Gordon slipping on his face after he dropped the perfect bun. So you got to go out and you got to have fun. It’s just absolutely a great time. I want to say a special thanks to John Albert from the Marlins for coming by my seat and giving us goodie bags! He brought us the greatest goodie bags. Larry got a goodie bag, and in his goodie bag he got Henderson Alvarez ball. I got in my goodie bag, a Adeiny Hechavarria. That’s okay, guys. I don’t call the ball game, so I don’t get the names right all the time, the way they pronounce them. But Adeiny, he was the greatest! In fact, I got to meet him when I went to session ticket holder batting practice with my good friend Jason. And Jason’s initials are J.A.K. and that’s exactly what he did. He jacked the ball right out of the infield. So high five to Jason for that! At least he got it in the air. I couldn’t get it off the ground, but Adeiny was there, we talked to him before the game, I mean before the session ticket holder batting practice. It was great! The point I’m trying to make is that it doesn’t matter if it rained on opening day and the roof was open and that people got wet. And by the way, when we got back to our seats, all the peanut shells that were there were dry. In other words, it never really rained on anybody, at least on our seats. Some of the place did get wet, but where we were sitting it really didn’t. We got to walk around, we got to experience the ballpark. My wife is already all over me about what day is she going in. Honey, I got you the Saturday night games. You’re going to go with me on Saturday night. My wife, she loves to go on Saturday night. We have a tradition. We go, we sit down, we watch Giancarlo Stanton hit his homerun on his first inning, which by the way happened both times I’ve taken her for some reason, so my wife has got to come with me more often! Then we get up, we walk around the ballpark to get a little exercise, we stop and taste Miami and I get some merikitas and a beer, she gets merikitas and water. And then, cause she’s my wife and she’s the greatest, she goes and waits in line and gets some pizza for us, I go back and sit in my seat. So we all get back, we all sit together in the sixth inning, Giancarlo Stanton comes back again and drives in some more runs. Then when it’s the ninth inning, I go ‘Honey’, she goes ‘We’re going to stay and see the end. I want to see Cishek get the save’. That’s right, she even knows how to say the guy’s name, even though it’s kind of spelled funny. And we go, we have a great time! Dee, how much time do I have left? Oh, my gosh! And that’s why we love going to the Marlins games. We love the music they play on the show. I’m always dancing back here. The Miami Marlins, they’re here, they’re our team. We’re going to embrace them, rain or shine. And that’s the way we do it here on Fried on Business. Oh, yeah! And a shout out also to my man Tommy from the Marlins. I want to thank our sponsors, Kind Snacks. Kind Snacks, I was on the phone with them today. The things that they do behind the scenes for philanthropies across the country are amazing. High five and hugs to Kind Snacks! Of course, South Florida Business and Wealth Magazine, the CCIMs, Terek Maddox, UHealth, Warren Henry Automotive, the NFL Alumni Association, the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Marlins, SocialMedia305, Lauren’s Kids, Aztec Group. My gosh, I’ve got so many great sponsors! Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Florida, UHealth at the University of Miami, and of course, I want to thank you, our listeners! Because without you, I wouldn’t have a show. And why do I have a show? Cause gosh darn, I love to do it! Dee, don’t I? Dee’s already given me the high five back. He’s nodding and smiling. I want you to join our community, give us feedback, comments, tell us who you want to hear from. Magnum’s a sponsor too. @friedonbusiness, @jimfried, that’s my Twitter stuff. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, website… The hits keep coming on the website! Don’t stop! You can hear all the old shows at the website. It’s www.friedonbusiness.com. This is Jim Fried. For Fried on Business, look for us at 8AM next Thursday! We’re going to have eMerge Miami and we’re going to have EarlyShares talking about crowd funding. It’s going to be awesome! Remember, this is not a rehearsal. This is your life. The person that wants to do something, finds a way. The other finds an excuse. Now, go out there and make it happen! Thank you, thank you … thank you so much.
