3 minute read
GM Update
GENERAL MANAGER
Dear MGC Members,
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Joseph “JJ” Wagner, CCM, CCE
The staff and I sincerely hope your experiences this summer were exceeded, and many great memories were made. It’s been a very busy summer and I have important information to pass on to you as we head into our fall season.
Personnel – Many of you know that our Food and Beverage Director, Jared Grubor, has accepted a new position at Minnesota Valley CC. I have had several interviews for his replacement, and I hope to name our new staff member soon. Colleen Bakker, our Controller who was hired in December is also leaving MGC at the end of September. She has done an amazing job replacing our former long-time Controller Lisa Kvigne. We wish Colleen the very best for her future. I’ll keep you posted on the search for our new Controller. Travis, our Maintenance Manager, has moved to Duluth with his daughter and will be missed – he was a great asset to all departments at MGC. Travis hired an assistant during the summer, Rob Hodges, who will be taking over the department. We are in good hands with Rob. Having changes within our key staff positions gives us an opportunity at the Club to update job descriptions, which in turn makes our staff more productive and accountable, so we look forward to onboarding engaging new employees. At this time of year, we are also saying goodbye to many wonderful staff as they return to school and we look forward to their return next year.
Employee Holiday Bonus – In previous years, a communication has been sent for members to donate what they can for the MGC Staff Holiday Bonus. Traditionally at private Clubs, a dollar amount is set,
and a communication is sent in early October giving members the opportunity to increase or decrease the suggested amount or opt out altogether. The Board has unanimously approved the suggested donation per membership of $150 for the Employee Holiday Fund for 2022. Participation is easy – if members don’t opt out, the charge will be automatic, and the Club will have a nice balance to award a Holiday Bonus to our hardworking employees. I estimate this format will greatly increase our bonus pool for this year, at a very important time since employee retention is critical. Please watch for a communication from me and the Board in early October.
Pulse Survey – Many of you have already received a 10-question quick survey from me in the past couple of months. Your feedback helps us identify ways in which we can improve our services and enhance your experience. I email approximately 15 members each Monday or Tuesday (randomly selected by an office staff member) who visited the Club the week before. These surveys continue to help me, the staff, committees, and Board to better serve you. They include questions on F&B, golf experience, golf course conditions, pool, etc. and it only takes a few minutes. The overall results have been encouraging but always have helpful information on ways we can improve. One suggestion received is that Grill staff is sometimes looking at their cell phones too often. We have enforced this rule with staff and have seen an improvement. The suggestion was also made to return some “old” menu favorites like Quesadillas and a steak sandwich. We recently added those items to the menu. Another suggestion was to improve our tequila offerings - like Codigo. Codigo has been ordered and will be offered at the bar. Your comments are invaluable -- please keep them coming … this is Your Club!
Lobsterfest – Last week I had fun polling the membership on which night they’d prefer coming to our October Lobsterfest. I received a nice response and great excitement about the event. At press time, the two dates are actually pretty close … I’ll send a follow-up soon. Thank you all for your responses.
On behalf of our entire MGC team, thank you for all your support and we look forward to seeing you at the Club soon.
Joseph “JJ” Wagner
