Merchant Advocate

Profit margins are tight and hospitality business owners are always looking for ways to reduce expenses and add more to their bottom line. Merchant Advocate can help you navigate the complexities of accepting credit cards and has saved clients more than $300 million in excess fees. Merchant Advocate provides a FREE ANALYSIS on the health of your account and will:

✓ Negotiate lower rates
✓ Eliminate hidden fees
✓ Fix coding errors

Contact your dedicated CHLA representative, Howard Goldstein, at hgoldstein@merchantadvocate.com or 206-387-0189 with any questions or to get a free, no-commitment analysis today.

Active Shooter Preparedness

Active shooter incidents are often unpredictable and evolve quickly. In the midst of the chaos, anyone can play an integral role in mitigating the impacts of an active shooter incident. CHLA has compiled tools and resources to help you prepare for and respond to an active shooter incident.

Active Shooter Profile

An Active Shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims. Active shooter situations are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Typically, the immediate deployment of law enforcement is required to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to victims. Because active shooter situations are often over within 10 to 15 minutes, before law enforcement arrives on the scene, individuals must be prepared both mentally and physically to deal with an active shooter situation.

What You Can Do

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed an independent study course entitled Active Shooter: What You Can Do. This course was developed to provide the public with guidance on how to prepare for and respond to active shooter crisis situations.

Upon completion of Active Shooter: What You Can Do, employees and managers will be able to:

• Describe the actions to take when confronted with an active shooter and to assist responding law enforcement officials;
• Recognize potential workplace violence indicators;
• Describe actions to take to prevent and prepare for potential active shooter incidents; and
• Describe how to manage the consequences of an active shooter incident.

The online training is available through the Federal Emergency Management Agency Emergency Management Institute.

Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan

The Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan Guide supplements the Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan Video. Together, they create a virtual training tool designed to help develop an organization’s Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan.

The Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan Video describes the fundamental concepts of developing an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for an active shooter scenario. This instructive video guides viewers through important considerations of EAP development utilizing the first-hand perspectives of active shooter survivors, first responder personnel, and other subject matter experts who share their unique insight.

The Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan Template is a fillable form useful in documenting an organization’s Active Shooter Emergency Action Plan.

Pathway To Violence

The “Pathway to Violence” video provides information regarding the behavior indicators that assailants often demonstrate before a violent act. Behavior experts reference research conducted by Frederick Calhoun and Steve Weston’s on threat management and further describes the six progressive steps that may be observable by colleagues. The video also includes law enforcement expert interviews that discuss engagement strategies and recommended responses to someone potentially on a pathway to violence.

Download the printer-friendly Pathway to Violence fact sheet that explains warning signs that may lead to violence and what individuals can do to mitigate a potential incident.

“How To Respond” Resource Material

DHS has developed a series of materials to assist businesses, government offices, and schools in preparing for and responding to an active shooter. These resources include a detailed booklet, a desk reference guide, a reference poster, and a pocket-size reference card. DHS has also developed both a Recovery Guide, and an Incident Fact Sheet to assist your organization as you consider the recovery phase of an event. Visit their website to download the resources.

Constant Contact

CHLA members save 25% on email marketing solutions.

Constant Contact is the easy, effective and highly affordable way to get your message out. Retain current guests and attract new ones with scenic email newsletters and more. CHLA members receive a 25% discount for a 12 month prepay or a 20% discount for a 6 month prepay. 

ApproveForGood

CHLA members can save over 40% on the annual fee.

FrontStream empowers companies to give back to and connect more with local communities. ApproveForGood by FrontStream is a simple yet powerful, online donation and sponsorship management platform. Quickly respond to every requesting charity, gain visibility into which causes you are supporting, and track your donated dollars – all in one place. 

Contact Shawn Presley, Team Lead, Nonprofit Sales by phone at (800) 687-8505 Ext. 931, or via email at shawn.presley@frontstream.com to learn more.

ASCAP & BMI

Reduced fee contracts for music listening 

General Licensing Department – Broadcast Music, Inc. (877) 264-2136

American Society of Composers – Authors & Publishers (800) 505-4052

Class Action Settlements Available

The Payment Card Settlement is an historic antitrust class-action settlement that provides some relief for millions of U.S. businesses after years of paying allegedly inflated Visa and Mastercard interchange fees. 

Businesses that accepted Visa and/or Mastercard between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019 are encouraged to claim their share of this historic, court-approved $5.5 billion settlement.  

The claims period was recently extended and runs through August 30, 2024. 

This settlement is big. It’s real. And claiming your share is simple. 

• Business owners in the class were mailed claim forms in December. Claim forms are also available online at www.paymentcardsettlement.com.
• Submitting a claim can take as little as five minutes online or by mail.
• The easiest and quickest method is to scan the unique QR code on each form. It opens a secure page in the claims portal that is prefilled with your unique credentials. For class members where data is available, it will also prefill your interchange fees paid during the 15-year class period, to the extent the data is available.
• No-cost assistance is available from the claims administrator and Class Counsel.

Claim amounts for each class member will be calculated based upon a percentage of the interchange fees they paid during the Class Period as well as a variety of other factors, including the total number of valid claims received. Claim amounts will be calculated and processed following the close of the claims period. 

Go to www.paymentcardsettlement.com for more information including a FAQ. For questions that can’t be answered by the settlement website, contact the claims administrator at info@PaymentCardSettlement.com or 1-800-625-6440.

Hospitality Compensation Data from Salary.com

CHLA members are entitled to exclusive discounts including: 55% discount on the participant price of the Salary.com Hospitality Survey and up to 60% off Salary.com’s Pay Gap Overview. Click here for more information. 

Please use the discount code CHLA55 during checkout for your CHLA member discount.

HotStats Hospitality Intelligence

CHLA members who sign up will receive complimentary benchmarking reports for contributing data.

HotStats is a hotel operational profit and loss data benchmarking company. Their reports measure your hotels performance against your competition across a select number of metrics. They allow you to identify areas of under performance and outperformance in order to make educated decisions about the P&L that can impact your bottom line. Email askus@hotstats.com to get started. 

Hotel Employee Rate – The Global Hotel Employee Travel Program

CHLA Members Receive Free Access to the Hotel Employee Rate Travel Program

Hotel Employee Rate is a global hotel employee travel platform allowing hotel employees all over the world the ability to travel at hotel employee rates. To join, hotels in the program contribute a minimal amount of their inventory over their low demand periods at hotel employee rates. In exchange, the hotels’ employees gain access to hotel employee rates/preferred rates at a worldwide portfolio of hotels and resorts in over 100 countries. CHLA hotel members receive complimentary access to the Hotel Employee Rate Travel Program (a $500- 1,000 value per hotel). CHLA member hotels receive preferred membership benefits when enrolling into the Program including complimentary enrollment for the first year, and a 50% discount for any renewal year.  To learn more, please email chla@hotelemployeerate.com and visit www.hotelemployeerate.com.

Property Tax Appeal Services

CHLA Members Receive a Complimentary Assessment

CHLA has partnered with property tax experts, Kroll, to provide appeal services to members that seek to have their property tax assessments analyzed. Are you aware that the appeal deadline is November 30 for most counties in California?

CHLA members are encouraged to contact Kroll to receive a complimentary property tax assessment review. Kroll provides services on a success basis only, meaning that payment is only made if Kroll identifies and achieves assessment reductions and after you’ve received either a refund or reduced tax liability. Do not miss your window to appeal your hotel’s property taxes.

Lending Solutions and Tip Tax Credit

New lending solutions that get you the capital your business needs.

66% That’s the percentage of small business owners who have said they keep coming up short on funds, unable to take their business to the next level. 

Maybe you applied for ERC funds and are still waiting to get them back to your bank account. Or maybe you’ve received ERC funds, and it’s just not enough to bridge the gap.

Or maybe you didn’t qualify for COVID relief at all.

Adesso gets it. That’s why they’re stepping in to help.

Our partner Adesso Capital is now offering lending solutions that get you the money you need. Adesso’s easy-to-use lending network connects you 1:1 with financial experts who will work diligently to find you the best solution that gets you preferred rates that fit your business.

Whether you need:

• Business term loans
• Equipment financing
• Merchant cash advances
• SBA loans
• Lines of credit 

Adesso can make it happen!

Did you know your employees’ tips can get you money back from the IRS?

With Tip Tax Credit by Adesso, employers can get tax credits for tips your employees earn. Since it’s not a loan or grant, there are no restrictions on how you can use it to grow your business.

Here’s what you need to know about this valuable program:

• The FICA Tip Credit is a federal tax credit available to employers who have employees who receive tips as a significant part of their income. FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, which includes Social Security and Medicare taxes. The credit allows employers to claim a portion of the FICA taxes paid on employees’ tips as a credit against their own tax liability.
• If your business is tip-driven, tips are reported by your employees, and FICA taxes have been paid on those reported tips, your business may qualify.

Ready to learn more? Visit our Adesso partner page today to get started with Tip Tax Credit.

Source1 Purchasing – Purchasing with Power

BUYING YOU CAN BELIEVE IN

Source1 Purchasing offers you direct products, detailed analytics, and an evaluation of supplier performance to maximize your spending and help manage costs. Our specialists assist you with budget-minded tactics for continued operational improvement and measurable bottom-line results. Source1 pays cash back to hoteliers on 165,000 items from over 350 manufacturers, including HD Supply, American Hotel Register, A-1 Textiles, Cintas, Office Depot, Grainger, S&D Coffee and more. As a special benefit for CHLA and CABBI members, there is no cost to join the Source1 program, and they never charge you any fees.

Earn Cash Back on all your commonly purchased items!

Drastically lower supplies and F&B purchases while increasing quality and service. This is collective buying power!

Source1 Purchasing makes it simple to collect cash back rebates on items you buy every day. Source1 pays cash back to hoteliers on 165,000 items from over 350 manufacturing suppliers, including HD Supply, American Hotel Register, A-1 Textiles, Cintas, Office Depot, Grainger, S&D Coffee and more. Click here to view a list of suppliers.

This CHLA member program is easy to join and literally costs nothing. There is no cost to join and they never charge you any fees. As a Source1 user, you will have access to $9.5 billion in purchasing power that would not otherwise be available, saving you money.  Click here for more information on this program.

Start receiving your rebates – sign up today!

Sign Up