The $40K Letter Every Wildfire Contractor Fears (And How To Avoid It)

That sinking feeling when a state letter says you owe tens of thousands of dollars is not rare, it is the hidden tax on running a small business across state lines. We sit down with the Caputo Group to unpack why wildfire contractors and mobile EMS teams get hit so hard by multi-state payroll compliance, workers’ compensation requirements, HR law changes, and safety regulations. When the work is dangerous and time-sensitive, you should not be forced to choose between guessing and paying attorney rates just to understand basic admin.

You will also hear why being present at industry events like NWSA matters for education and advocacy, plus why transparency on cost and a non-pushy onboarding process can make or break trust. If you are tired of admin stealing time from training, operations, and growth, this conversation gives you a clear framework for evaluating payroll and HR outsourcing options. Subscribe, share this with a business owner who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest compliance question you want answered next.

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[00:00:00] When You Are Not Sure
[00:03:44] Multi State Rules And Surprise Bills
[00:06:22] What A PEO Actually Is
[00:15:52] PEO Versus Payroll Providers
[00:21:33] Why They Show Up At NWSA
[00:25:33] Transparency On Cost And Support
[00:31:51] Free Quotes And Final Takeaways

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

I find it priceless, honestly, because a lot of times we're operating and we're not a hundred percent sure. We're like, are we good to go here or work here? Or what is this letter? Do we actually owe that many thousands of dollars? Some of it's unbelievable, but it's just priceless to be able to kick you guys that shit and your experience is not uncommon, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Because you know, I I guarantee you everybody in the audience has had a moment where they're not quite sure. Should I call my lawyer? You know, and if I call my lawyer, he's gonna charge me anywhere between three and nine hundred dollars an hour. You know, and and if it's an HR person, let's say you've got middle management somewhere and there's someone who's responsible, they're one person in a vacuum. So they don't know. They'll they'll search on the internet, AI, super helpful, but you know, it's like going to WebMD, right? You're going to die.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

We are here with Justin Scott, and we won't forget Hunter there in the background. We just ran out of mics. Um, but you guys are with the Caputo group. Um we just got done with NWSA here in Reno, which is where we met you guys last year. So we appreciate you guys being here. Right on. Well, we're super happy to be here. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:49

It's great to be with you guys, right on. It was a long day. So this is yeah. Uh this one might be a little more for the business owners than the firefighters, because we'll let them tell us what they do, but it's definitely geared more towards the business owners.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

But yeah, what is the business owners out there so or potential business owners. The or potential business owners. Thank you very much. Uh so the Caputo group, uh, Hunter Caputo, our CEO right back there, family-owned business, third generation, 33 years in business. We handle all your needs and workers' compensation, payroll, benefits, and human resources. The idea is to put all that stuff under one umbrella, uh, economies of scale, get it off the small and medium business person's plate so you can focus on the business uh that you you know truly love. My guess is that neither of you guys or anybody who will potentially see this got into the business uh that they're in because they loved workers comp and they wanted to figure out how to comp your payroll. So that's what we do. Yeah. Justin, you want to augment that?

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Well, and I guess we're in a fire space. That's who we're talking to. So within this fire space, why we're relevant is um we are we share an ability to allow the companies to travel, um, to do what is asked of them to be on front lines and state to state and you know, national forest to national forest, wherever it happens to be. Excuse me. Um, and we are that that avenue to allow them the ability to go ahead and travel and make sure that they're able to go there, working within the strict regulations and guidelines that you guys obviously have to adhere to, and what we make sure you guys um are happy and and able and willing and don't have to look in the review mirror as much. So that's what we like to do.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yeah, you know, in this day of you know, big government, government gets bigger and bigger every year, you know, and and you know, the audience knows there's new regulations that come down from the feds and the contracts you take, the states that you go into, different payroll uh concepts, right, you know, different requirements um uh that had to be uh that have to be adhered to. And so the idea is, you know, when you're running a business, for example, like you guys run, and you you'll go from state to state, you know, you just don't have the time or the expertise to really understand what those specific jurisdictions require. And the problem is there are penalties, fines, and fees that go along with that, let alone potential litigation. So, you know, it from my perspective, it's unfair. You know, the the you we all have our views on and thoughts on government, but in my opinion, laying regulation on top of regulation, on top of ordinance, on top of law doesn't help the small or medium business medium business person to do what they need to do. It's kind of you know the the opposite of what the American dream is all about. We're supposed to build businesses and be able to do what we want to do. So yeah, you can't fight City Hall, right? So the question is, how can you be compliant? Right, and that's where we come in.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

And that was our biggest concern, I think, kind of meeting you guys last year at NWSA is we just didn't have the time to go state by state and see what the rules and regulations were, and we put it off and put it off, and then you know, you get letters and mail from each individual state that never ends for like, hey, you owe us thirty thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

No one teaches you this. There's no school on really being a business owner, and that hey, just because you didn't work in that state or the employee is not from that state doesn't mean you don't owe their home state money. No one told me that. And then I'm getting letters that I owe money from everywhere, and I'm like, dude, this can't be the way.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

There's very you know little appeal process, you know, and like you said, there's no way to know except the school of hard knocks. You know, and that's great. You know, there's nothing to be, you know, uh, you know, there's no substitute for experience. But the problem is this experience comes with a number of zeros after it, and anybody has a bandwidth, right? Some people have a longer, you know, road to run, some people have less, but it's just inherently unfair. And so where we step in, you know, I I'm an ex-lawyer and a corporate re-org guy, and I I believe in you know, working with companies to make them more efficient and and be able to not only you know become profitable and and meet the needs of the owners, but also service the communities that they serve. And so, you know, we're we're true believers in that. You know, the the uh the concept is called a a PEO, a professional employer organization. Um, and you know, the statistics are out there, they change every year, but approximately 15% of the national workforce now works under the PEO guidance, primarily because small and medium business owners, and frankly, even large business owners, if I'm not mistaken, Amazon uses uh a large portion of PEOs. I want to say Walmart does as well. And so even the big guys are getting into it. The concept of outsourcing this stuff, and I know outsourcing can be you know a dirty word a lot of times, but you know, when you say, I mean, put yourself, you know, not you guys, but you know, the our viewers, you know, put yourself in that position. You know, you know what you've got to do with payroll, you know what you've got to do with workers' comp. And you know, man, that doesn't have anything to do with the business that that you want to do, but you've only got so many hours in the day, and the buck stops with you, literally.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Yeah, and instead, you know, while our fire seasons already so busy and moving resources around, and then every two weeks you're running payroll, and that it just it takes so much out of it uh from what you want to focus on with your fire business.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Um Yeah, and then and then you bring in the safety factor, right? I mean, you you know, I always say you folks who are out there doing God's work, right? You're on the front line, these are inherently dangerous jobs, right? You know, from soup to nuts. And the the the need to figure out can I go into this state or should I have not gone into this state? Well, you know, you're looking at 20 feet of walls of flame around you, the math isn't right. Something's wrong there, you know? Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Well, and then to that, you know, obviously the risk factor goes well beyond just the actual fire. Think about, you know, what is how many business owners go belly up because of one or two things no working capital or secondarily, employee retention. So if you're losing employees, how much do you guys spend on training your workforce? Obviously, you guys have come with workforce that have a lot of let's call it accreditations, different um, you know, obviously aspects that you guys have they already had prior to you, but if you spend that money and that time training each of these individuals to then not be able to retain them and want to watch them walk out the door, um the defeat on that alone as a business owner, you're watching 60 plus thousand, maybe hundred thousand dollars just walking out the door because you couldn't retain them. So with a partnership like this, the retention levels are just elevated. You have these guys, they understand their position. We're making it very clear to them what you guys are asking of them by making sure you have the proper paperwork, documentation, employee handbooks, they understand their role prior to accepting the business, excuse me, the job. And the retention's gonna be there. You're gonna have these guys for a lot longer. Statistics show with PEOs.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

It's you know, it's a really good point. I mean, employee retention, working with a PEO, the national statistics. We like to think ours are a little bit above the Caputo group, uh a little bit above uh the national statistics, but employee engagement and employee retention is higher. The likelihood of employee-related litigation is lower. Profit margins across the board are higher. Your return on investment in an average year on human resource savings alone is about 27% on a national average. These are significant numbers. Yes. You know, and listen, your the the work that you do collectively in the space, uh whether it's uh EMS, whether it's uh wildfire, you know, the margins are good, but they're not that good. Right? So anything that can be done well that and they're getting worse. That's exactly right. You know, so anything that can be done, you know, I like to say we give the you know the the small business person, the medium business person an itch. You know, you claw some back, right? Because it's always take, take, take. Well, we're here to say we want some back for you guys.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

But with that, you know, we're definitely gonna give you back that peace of mind, but as your company, we want you guys to utilize us. So that's the other thing is that you know, you've made it mentioned before that you know, you you you didn't come into this to think about this and think that kind of stuff, what these letters are gonna say. Those letters will come, they'll still come, but it's gonna have you're gonna have someone to pass those along to. But then on top of that, you guys have these off seasons to where it's now it's time to really start to make sure that this season is as functional, as productive as possible. Um, we're gonna make sure, you know, all those I's are dotted, all those T's are crossed. But on top of that, you guys have this backing now where before it was who do we call? You know, Ghostbusters ain't here anymore. You know, we you got us now to kind of figure out. And for anyone, you know, I've definitely put people behind you that you know that you can trust with these large decisions.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Well, yeah, and it's you know, and it's a it's a great point. I mean, uh, I like to view it as a partnership. You know, we're now in partnership, you collectively, you know, uh uh you know, are in a partnership with someone who is partially legally and fiscally responsible in certain areas, so you're not going it alone anymore. Like Justin said, and it's a really important point. You know, it's not a magic wand, it's not a panacea, right? That the world doesn't all of a sudden you know turn blue, right? You know, kind of thing. However, when those letters come, when those issues arise, we're ready to prepare to deal with them. We've got a file, we've got answers, we can stand up, we've got lawyers, you know, kind of thing. So, you know, having a partner, you know, it's like you think about it as having a partner, you know, that handles only the really, really crappy stuff, you know. That's us. And we love it, you know, and we're true believers.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

That's my responsibility, my relationship.

SPEAKER_04 12:15

I find it priceless, honestly, because a lot of times we're operating and we're not a hundred percent sure. We're like, are we good to go here or work here? Or what what is this letter? Do we actually owe that many thousands of dollars because of some of it's unbelievable, but it's just priceless to be able to kick you guys that shit and your health, you know, is everything. Actually, the reason I got cancer is those fucking letters. I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Well, you know, listen, and you're probably the ink from all the pages. I'm serious.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

And your experience is not uncommon, right? Because, you know, I I guarantee you, you know, everybody in the audience has had a moment where they're not quite sure. Do I need to call my lawyer? Right? Forget about you know the specifics of going across you know state lines for workers' comp. But you know, just that in-house, even if you have an HR person, and we don't want you to terminate that person, we want to work with that person. But unless that person is skilled in multi-state human resource laws, you know, everybody has that moment where should I call my lawyer? You know, and if I call my lawyer, he's gonna charge me anywhere between three and nine hundred dollars an hour. You know, and and if it's an HR person, let's say you've got middle management somewhere and there's someone who's responsible, they're one person in a vacuum, right? So they don't know. They'll they'll search on the internet, AI, super helpful, but you know, it's like going to WebMD, right? You're going to die, right? You know, in WebMD, the answer is you're done, right? It's over, right? You know, and so it it provides that peace of mind because I've been in that position, you know, as a young lawyer when you're on your own and you're just not sure and you've got to make a decision, right? It can't wait. You know, HR, for example, you know, is all about compliance. Am I hiring people compliantly under federal, state, local law? Well, in a state like California, where I happen to live, those laws seem to change every time. I mean, Hunter, I don't know, whether seven, nine a year, you know, that that change, you know, or updated in some way. And so it's not a question of do I have competent people? Yeah, your people are competent, right? The problem is they're not a whole bunch of them together in a think tank, right? And the and the other aspect, just to put in a specific, you know, uh plug for the Caputo group, what we pride ourselves on is being a boutique firm that provides bespoke solutions. We're not cookie cutter, right? We're not going to push upon you, right? Hey, this is what you do. Yeah, there are certain standards we want to talk about, but then the real question is, what's up with your business? What's going on, what, what, what challenges are you facing? How can we help you address those challenges? So you're talking to, it's not like calling, I always pick on the cable companies. You know, you got a problem with the cable company, yeah. Good luck, right? We have humans, right? You answer the phone, you know everybody on your team, and more importantly, everybody on the team knows who you are, right? You're not some number or you know, faceless corporate name, right? You know, you're you're a Tyler and Brennan. Yeah, let's get those guys on, you know, that kind of thing. So those are things to consider. You know, whether you work with the Caputo group or you work, you know, outsource in some other way, and it's there's a big world out there. Um, but that's what we pride ourselves on. You know, we are for sure not the cheapest, we are for sure not the most expensive, but you know, the reason I personally got involved with the Caputo family was because of a deep sense that that family has sort of genetically ingrained in it. Hunter's father started the business, right? You know, from a and Hunter, correct me if I'm wrong on this, but you know, from a service mentality. How can I help people's businesses be better? And that's what attracted you know me to work with folks like Justin and you know the rest of our team.

SPEAKER_03 15:50

Yeah, that's great. Um for those that don't know uh or maybe still be confused, what would you say the main difference between a PEO and like a normal payroll company is, right? We used to use uh ADP or Wizzling or Paycom. Um what would be the difference? And then what would be each of yours, I'm interested, benefit best benefit for a company, but also for the employees?

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Like what what benefits did the hands down a PEO versus all the others? So what you're getting from a PEO is you're gonna have one central entity, they're gonna be able to answer everything that relates to an employee. So whatever you're doing with an employee, they're gonna be able to answer it. Um ADP, they're gonna handle parts of it. You know, you're gonna pay a service, it's gonna be less than what obviously a PEO would be, but you're gonna be getting those aspects the payroll, probably the taxes, state and federal, um, maybe a W-2 at the end of the year. So there that's one aspect. We're gonna go ahead and check that box as well. Then you're gonna also have to have what Scott mentioned, the HR firm, if that's in case you are gonna be hiring and firing. You need to have employee handbooks. That's another checkbox. All right, so now we're you know, one guy versus two. Then also, you know, your OSHA regs, all your safety, your compliance, all those things. So you're gonna have another company that's gonna come in and perform safety checks, whether it be at your business location, whether it be on your trucks, whether it be each of your, you know, however you guys are operating. In your case, it's a lot of mobile EMS. So at that point, there's another check. So there's three different companies right there. And then um, you know, the best portion of what this full circle ends up doing is that not only you guys have a name within the company, all your employees are now operating with us. They're mutually employed um with a PEO. So now we are fine, we're vested to them as well. So these employees, we want to make sure you guys sit at the top of that totem pole, but we do not want to make it so they don't feel like they have a place on that totem pole. They are part of it. And so they have their own portals, they have their own ability to get what they need, whether it be for their family, whether it be something that, you know, I need to pull a W-2 for taxes, I'm going to buy houses or something I can get, proof of you know, deposits. So we work as a large sum, a bunch of yeah, we're a holistic brand that will actually bring the full gamut to you guys that you don't have to call Indio for the paychecks, you don't have to call a HR rep that maybe has very little experience in this field. Um, you know, you're gonna have one number, and that's just especially a company that's looking to continue that upward mindset, growth mindset, you want to be calling one person, you don't have time, your phone's already ringing enough. I'm sure your emails are sitting there from many, many weeks ago or maybe week, I don't know how you guys are, but you got that stuff settled and done way faster.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yeah, I mean that you know well said. I mean, there are a lot of platforms out there, right? And one size does not fit all, right? If you are, you know, a central shop, right, that does you sell widgets, right, and you've got six people. You know, there are lots of great platforms out there. There's Bambi, and you know, I don't want to name the competition, you know who you are. But but, you know, and and a lot of the big guys, your ADPs, your paychecks, you know, they're getting into this more holistic approach of offering PEO services. Now they'll charge you more for it. And and literally, there's nothing wrong with that. You know, I I'm not a guy who beats up on competition. As a business owner, you know, you have a certain responsibility to go out to test and to prod and to ask questions and read contracts and understand the services that they're giving you, what we're giving you, anybody's giving you, and then what you really need. Um, but once again, you know, the the thing that always concerns me, especially in this space, in this business niche, is the needs are highly specialized and they're unique. So it's like you're using the cable company, you know, thing, you know, sort of, you know, yeah, I've got my standard package, but I really want to talk to somebody about the other packages you offer. Well, yeah, good luck, you know, kind of thing. Um, but to be fair, you know, the the the the the larger companies, you know, the ADP's paychecks, they they offer a myriad of services. And it's really what's most comfortable to you as a business owner and what reflects the needs of your business. And, you know, coming back to the employee thing, uh, which you know Justin touched on and we touched on earlier employee retention, you know, happy employees, right, stay with the company and they work better, right? They create uh uh a community, a family, right? And especially in the work that you do, where your lives are dependent on each other to a certain degree or maybe to a major degree. You want your brothers and sisters, right, to feel like brothers and sisters. So have their ability to have access to their information directly. I don't have to call my boss, I can hop online and find out exactly what you know my benefits are or how much pay time off I have, or or whatever questions they have. So they feel and they are part of. So, you know, like you know, as we're touching on, there's nothing wrong with other platforms. And some businesses, you know, are are you know can access these services, you know, just from their phone and whatnot. But you know, the highly specialized need and the ever-changing, you know, sea of regulations and laws um provide you know an opportunity for companies like ours that are niche specific, right, to really service those needs in in the most meaningful way.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

Question question back to you guys. Yes. Um, so why are you at NWSA right now? What's the what obviously your platform is one thing, and I I'm not diminishing that by any means, but why are you, as in companies, not not Minuteman themselves? Why why are we here for this conference? What is the what is the principle?

SPEAKER_03 21:56

I would say network and better the industry, right? To help each other out, we're all out there doing the same job. Um advocacy with the agent. Intention.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Advocacy with intention. Education. Understanding this industry, understanding that the changes that you guys are constantly being asked to comply with. That's why we're here. Not because we're trying to achieve just trying to get clients and not make them understand what we do. We too have to be informed on what changes you guys are getting. If we're not informed, we're not any better served for you. We have to understand what's coming down the pipeline. So with that, you know, that is something that we commit ourselves to our clients and our industries. We're not, you know, we're we're not this isn't our only industry. You know, we specialize in a lot of industries, construction, uh, we're in the cannabis space, we're in, we're in very we're in we're in spaces that you know most people don't travel because they don't know. Right. And we take that extra time to understand what our clients need and what the regulations are that affect their businesses. So, you know, with the amount of time that we've seen each other and spoke, and it's ultimately earned us your business and your trust, it's because we too know that the education and understanding your industry is imperative to making sure that you guys can go out and operate how you're supposed to. Paychecks, I don't think they're there the today. I don't know if they're gonna be there next time, but we take that.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Yeah, and and you know, and I think you you both said it well. I mean, you know, it's really ultimately about creating a sense of community, right? Because you know, at its core, community is really about people in whatever that community may be, right? Existing to help each other to better the overall. And and that's what it's about, and it's simple as terms, you know.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Um, so from my perspective, yeah, and every every vendor there was there to help each other, right? Yeah, we're all trying to put a something forward that might help us each advance and and get over that line a little quicker and and more efficiently.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Well, I you know, I say it in the cannabis space, you know, all the time. We are stronger together, yeah, you know, kind of thing. You know, the feds don't spend a lot of time worrying about things. We were just talking about this this DEA concept today and understanding about, you know, beginning to understand about the challenges for EMS service providers you know going over state lines with um uh medicine. Right. And so, you know, the DEA, I mean I I have no no idea what I'm talking about right now, but my sense is the DEA didn't purposely, you know, nefariously say, you know, it there's a lot of moving parts, and it was something that wasn't just thought out, perhaps.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

There's bigger fish to fry too. Like you think of the DEA wildland fires very low on their total care.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

But nonetheless, they're a federal agency passing laws that we have to live by. And so one of the things that we take seriously is, you know, how can we help bring light to that and and you know you know create a conversation around that to help them understand? Because I I don't believe that anybody in federal government per se, you know, has a an axe to you know to grind kind of thing, but they're humans, you know, and and we see it in the cannabis space all the time. In the state of California, I don't know what they were thinking. You know, when you know they legalized can, and I know we're off topic, but they you can cut this out. They legalized cannabis, but nobody had any idea where you can smoke it. Yeah, I mean, guys, really? Yeah, you know, my phone's always on. Call me.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

We're the lobbyists without the lobbyists. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

But I would say overall it's been nice. Um, you guys have made yourself more than available and transparent as to what you can and can't do and all the information. We've come to you guys with a ton of questions, and you guys are always there, which I'm not gonna name names, hasn't been the case with some of our previous payrolls. And even to go into cost, right? At the end of the day, we have to look at what are we spending versus income. You guys were crystal clear about what the expectation or you know cost is going to be, whereas we've had surprise ten thousand dollar bills, and we didn't even run a single check and because they're just sitting in there, like transparency is key.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Yeah, I mean, you know, a hunter and uh you know and his family and and the entire organization, you know, they they live at transparency. You know, I happen to be an over-communicator. It's impossible to take a meeting with me without knowing exactly what the story is, because I'm a believer in that. I'm a believer in creating relationships based on transparency. Um, and to your point, I should mention all quotes and consultations are free. There is no obligation. If you guys for whatever reason decided you didn't want to go with us, we'd still be friends, we'd still be thrilled to see you at conferences and whatnot. You know, yeah, we're for profit, right? We're not communists, but if we can't create that kind of relationship, what's the point?

SPEAKER_03 26:55

Right. And even with us, I think we had an early kind of quote from you guys, and it took us a few months to figure it out where we're gonna do it, pull the trigger, and and then you guys are ready to go. Warm and welcoming.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

And I I think that ultimately it was timing too. I think timing was in our an all of our corner. Um, you know, obviously there was a a lot of factors that pushed us away from having that opportunity early on because you know, deadlines and up against the wall. We love the idea of doing it when it's you guys are in the state where you want to start talking about this stuff. And fire season's not that time. Yeah, it is not that time.

SPEAKER_04 27:35

Right, exactly. Right. Yeah, it's been very helpful. You guys aren't pushy like some uh businesses we need to deal with, whether it's insurance or whatever, they're kind of pushy. But you guys have been onboarding on our time, which probably hasn't been your favorite.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

No it's it's the same song and dance, but on that time, you know, there are documents that will come and we will have to, you know, crack a little bit of a whip, but we'll do it with the purpose of understanding that yeah, you guys had those fines, you've seen those. We need to get ahead of this, we need to get ahead of it next time. Exactly. And we know the urgencies and those documents, and some of those documents aren't going to be as urgent, so we'll be able to push those aside.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

But yeah, and and having said that, you know, just directly to your point, Tyler, you know, we're here to serve. Yeah, yeah, right. We believe in that, you know, we sort of, like I said, keep using the term genetically, but you know, my purpose on the earth, right, you know, for me personally, is to be of service, right? And so I've aligned, you know, with this wonderful company, the Caputo Group, um, that, you know, has the same ethos. We're here to serve. And so it's on your timetable, not ours, you know, and and that's true for everyone.

SPEAKER_04 28:49

Yeah, well, I speaking for myself, probably for Brandon too, but I can already feel the stress load uh come off of our shoulders. Uh and we've we're just begun onboarding with you guys. So it's so nice to know that when I get some sort of administrative shit, I truly don't care about that much that I can pass it off. Pass it off.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

I love it.

SPEAKER_04 29:12

It's a great feeling.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

No, that's and that right is worth the price of admission. I agree. When we hear that kind of stuff, and it, you know, people really sort of begin to own that and feel that, yeah, right. That makes our speaking for myself, that makes my day, right? I know I've done my job, right? We've helped. My tumor is shrinking. Well, and listen, right on. That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 29:37

You know, I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. Yeah. I was gonna say this earlier, but like with all the compliance and admin and all that shit, like we don't spend embarrassingly so, but that much time on making better paramedics to do the job, like we're doing all this other shit all the time. And now you can.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

And that's the beauty of it. Or try to find future contracts or you know build your business, build your margins, right? Create better community in your in your company, and then ultimately in the in the folks that you serve with, right? The other EMS folks that you're gonna work, you know, it it just it's accretive, right? It gets better and better. And and you know, it's not like I said, it's not that the federal government or the state government or the local government, you know, they're you know, I live in California, we live to pass laws, but sorry. But you know, it's not that there's bad intention. There's people who are trying to do the right things, but a lot of them are not business owners, they don't have that firsthand understanding. And there's nothing worse than someone who has a dream to to whether it's you know build widgets, provide EMS services, right? You know, there's a dream, there's an interest level, there's a desire to build something, right? And and to get hammered again and again and again, even with the best of intentions, is the fighting. And it's it's one of the biggest challenges I think that we have in our country today. You know, we're this country's built. I don't care, you know, you say what you want about the big giant companies and the you know, and the conglomerates, this and that. The single strongest organization in the United States of America is the Rotary Club. It's about small-town businesses, local businesses, regional businesses, people like yourself, right, who put their money where their mouth is, their time, their energy, and in the case of what you folks do, putting your lives at risk, right? You know, and being able to make that happen, right? And there's nothing more, you know, dream crushing or spirit soul crushing than oh man, you know, I just got a thirty thousand dollar fine because I didn't respond to that thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

And then the next date, the next month, and the next date, the next month.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

So when I hear that kind of thing, it really thank you. It really really makes me happy.

SPEAKER_04 31:47

And I mean it to you. So run over. Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Um and if you're out there again, if you're a business owner and you're tired of some payroll things or you want to alleviate some of that time and get some back, or maybe you're an employee who's had issues with um the payroll company your company currently uses, bring it up. Like they said, the the consultation or the quote is free. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Um any state. Um, yeah, all 50 states we operate within. So anywhere you are, we can find you, yeah, we can help you.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

All about saving time. You have but you have better things to worry about as a business owner uh to grow in your business. So give them give them a reach out. We'll make sure we have everything.

SPEAKER_04 32:24

Yeah, and if you're in fire, there's no one better than them because they truly are at all these conferences sitting in the discussions with the agencies by proxy because we're in the same room. Never thought. But so they get it more than anybody, especially the big dogs.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

So it's nice of it's nice of you to say, and we you know we work hard at it, and we appreciate the the kind words. Yeah, well, we appreciate you guys doing this. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 32:46

Is there anything else before we tee off here?

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Uh no, I think the most important thing is the Caputo group. Workers' compensation, human resources, payroll, and benefits. We're here for you.