During this episode, FPP President, Dan Wycklendt, and CEO, Bob Kraft, sit down with Marketing Director, Jessica Melka, to discuss Mr. Wycklendt's distinguished appointment, the direction of the EB-5 visa program, and the bright future of the company. In addition, they also examine the rich history of FirstPathway Partners and what has led to the success of the company for the past 15 years. You can read the official press release here.
Mr. Wycklendt has been with FirstPathway Partners since its formation in 2008 and has over 10 years of senior management experience, including business development, strategic financial planning, capital structuring, and corporate vision. He has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, India, Africa, South America, and Asia, speaking on inbound investment in the United States through the EB-5 program. Mr. Wycklendt has managed the funding of numerous multi-million-dollar projects around the United States, totaling over a billion dollars, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs. He has also been recognized globally for his expertise in the EB-5 program.
During this episode, FPP President, Dan Wycklendt, and CEO, Bob Kraft, sit down with Marketing Director, Jessica Melka, to discuss Mr. Wycklendt's distinguished appointment, the direction of the EB-5 visa program, and the bright future of the company. In addition, they also examine the rich history of FirstPathway Partners and what has led to the success of the company for the past 15 years. You can read the official press release here.
Mr. Wycklendt has been with FirstPathway Partners since its formation in 2008 and has over 10 years of senior management experience, including business development, strategic financial planning, capital structuring, and corporate vision. He has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, India, Africa, South America, and Asia, speaking on inbound investment in the United States through the EB-5 program. Mr. Wycklendt has managed the funding of numerous multi-million-dollar projects around the United States, totaling over a billion dollars, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs. He has also been recognized globally for his expertise in the EB-5 program.
On today's episode of investing in the American Dream podcast, we have featured guest, Dan Wicklund, who is the newly appointed president of First pathway partners. And we have aI USA President and FPP CEO Bob Kraft joining us. Today's episode, we'll discuss Dan's recent appointment as president, what that means for the company and the trajectory, along with changes to the EB five program and growing trends. Let's get into it. Bob, Dan, thank you both for joining us today to talk about Dan's recent appointment as president and talk about the trajectory of the company, along with the changes to the EB five, EB five program, and what we see in the future. And Dan, congrats. And Bob, you know, with the changes happening here at FPP, how do you, you know, can you share what your what responsibilities are going to change or with your role in particular as chairman and CEO, and then as Dan takes over as president? Yeah. Thanks. Great to be here. And congratulations, Dan. Thanks, longtime coming. Dan, and I started together in 2008. And he's been a partner from the very beginning and really the driver, in many ways to the company's success. So my role had been title wise, chairman, president and CEO, but, and Dan is operated as executive vice president and chief operating officer. And he really was making all the shots, the call all the shots, so to speak for a long time. So this is logical evolution, recognition of the many contributions he's made. And it's part of a longer term transition period, I'm going to continue as chairman and CEO, first pathway partners, but you know, Dan deservedly earns the title of president really a recognition of the great job he's done here. So on a day to day basis, I really don't see much changing, I'm gonna continue to be active. My involvement has been over the last many years more focused on the industry, you know, working toward the legislative changes that we were successful in this past summer. But we've got a lot of work yet to do as an association. So that's been very rewarding, very important for the industry to set things up for the long term good of FPP. But but you know, which is part of the global EB five ecosystem. So, Dan, how do you see your role changing from executive VP to President? Well, I think, you know, as Bob said, he's, he's been very good to me and allowed me to make a lot of decisions already, which has been great. It's been a great learning experience for me. You know, having a leader of our company like Bob, that has given me the freedom to make some of these decisions with a lot of his input. You know, having a good mentor is always important. And, you know, I think I'm fortunate that way, Bob, to have had you as a leader, because I think it's taught me to be a good leader. It's helped me in making decisions. I know, you're, you're not going anywhere, but you've always been a great sounding board either way. And I think, you know, giving me that wiggle room early on to make some of these decisions. And some mistakes that I've learned from has made me a much better leader. So in my role now, again, I see a continued presence from Bob and continued growth in our company from the leadership of both of us. That's great. Thank you for clarifying that, too. I know there were some questions, Bob, if your involvement would still be here with with FPP. Yeah, we've been we've been really lucky. I mean, it's been it's been fun. 15 years now, right in business, and starting with an idea based on perhaps bringing a new level of professionalism to the EB five industry. You know, as I looked at the industry began looking at 2004. As an economic driver for the state of Wisconsin, I saw what I thought was an opportunity to bring professional business practices to the industry. That was a little more mom and pop at the time. And we've come a long way in 15 years. And this is just a logical evolution in the history of the company. And with Dan's efforts, from the very beginning, we've achieved a lot. So I feel blessed and fortunate to have met Dan, we've known each other going back before 2008. But it's been a lot of fun. We've had a lot of success. And I know Dan's proud of I'm very proud of what he's accomplished. But as a company, what we've accomplished in the fine job we've done for our investors globally. Yeah, and I know you just touched on the 15 years And FPP is celebrating a 15 year anniversary this year. So, you know, can I ask what do you attribute to the success of the company in longevity? Well, I think it's really the quality of the staff, the total staff, I mean, Dan's done a good job of building out staff, we have really a very gifted group of people that are dedicated to our investors, they find the work very interesting, the international aspects of it, add a flavor to it that you don't get in domestic business, or a regional business. And it's very complex. It's very complicated. It's very trying at times. But we're fortunate we have a staff that has been assembled over the years that enjoys the challenge of that, and ultimately gets great satisfaction of seeing people coming to the United States successfully and achieve and then participate in the American Dream contribute to our society. So to me, it's been the most rewarding part of my 40 plus year business career, the most interesting part. And then to share it with someone like Dan, it's been makes it extra special. Yeah, I think I'll probably I'm, I don't blush. But thanks, Bob. You know, I think I think it's been, you know, to hear the praise from Bob. And, you know, when I, when Bob made this appointment to President for me here, the praise from a lot of other people, you know, Bob's right, he, it's the team we have here, and we are a great team, you know, Bob's vision from the beginning was to build out a good team, I was glad from the beginning, I got to be part of that. You know, when you look back on 15 years, I think there's times where Bob and I have gotten a good laugh about some of this too, you know, the things you learn over 15 years, especially about a business like EB five. It's been a great journey, you know, from the travel to the people. But we couldn't do without the team we have here. Jessica, you've played a great role. Since you've come on. I mean, I think Bob and I both attribute a lot of our success to Jennifer, I would agree with you that she's everyone's go to, she's everyone's go to, you know, I mean, I just walked out of her office a few minutes ago, because I needed some assistance. You know, I think that, you know, having a team and having someone like Jan, who has helped to spearhead some of this, and helped us build out this team. It's been an amazing journey. And, you know, that team is important, because in the EB five world, you're dealing with these investors. And granted, we're, we're bringing them in, we're teaching them about these projects, the immigration journey, but then the fact that we're holding their hand, you know, all the way through that journey from the time they, they get access to the US, they get their permanent green card. You know, recently we got pictures from one of our investors in his family who got their citizenship. I mean, it's a neat experience. But if you don't have the right team, surrounding you, it's hard to deal with that whole process. And it's hard to deal with each individual investors need. So I really think what made us very successful is you go with Bob's vision at the top. But then all the people who have underneath you, Bob, I think that's what's really made a shine in the industry for our investors. Iran, I think the you know, another angle to the question, Jessica would be the focus on high integrity. And that was something that I've always believed in. And we preach from the very beginning. And we talk about it within the company, but also with our partners and clients. And we work with a lot of different people, attorneys and developers and, you know, folks that are involved in supporting the industry, and you're only as good as your word. And we've always been very consistent to not over committing to things, not over promising. And doing exactly what we say in I've always believed that in the long term. You know, people will recognize that respect that we're not the largest in the industry. But I think we're one of the most respected in terms of the way we've given back to the industry. That's a big part of the involvement with I USA, because I believe in the industry, and I believe in protecting the investor. And I believe in representing the whole system, the whole ecosystem, if you will, in a positive way in order to benefit the whole industry. And most importantly, the investor. I mean, the legislative changes really go a long way to shore things up to make even better so that we have a very, very bright future as an industry going forward. So I think that's an important part of the success we've had. And then eventually, word gets out and people recognize and say these are quality people, and that's what we want to be affiliated with. So I think that's a big part of the success we've achieved. Bob, where do you see EB five heading, what areas do you think EB five will start expanding into, you know, becoming more attractive as an option for US citizenship? Well, let me address the the Canon long term vision for the industry on a macro basis. And then maybe Dan can talk about market. You know, the objective now, once the IRI was put in place, that's great. We have a five year authorization. But that doesn't mean there's not a lot of work to do. The association has already shifted to how do we obtain a permanent reauthorization in 2027. So that's been a big focus for the board of directors of AI USA and the leadership. And we're already working on that we have a number of initiatives to make sure we do a better job as an industry, of making sure Congress and the constituents in the United States the benefit from EB five, and I'm talking about states and municipalities, cities, counties, that they understand the economic impact positive impact in their communities of EB five, it could be even larger. If people got behind it authorized a permanent program and increased fees availability. The other thing that we're working very hard on is processing times, we've had dialogue with USCIS that needs to improve dramatically, if we're able to get the velocity through the system to provide surety with respect to how long does it take to process these various forms so that the investors know it's not a three year wait until here anything in that's really critically important to gain velocity within the industry. So that's a high priority. So we're working on that as well. With respect to specific markets, I'll turn to Dan, because things are changing a little bit, and you have a little better handle on that than I do. Yeah, I mean, I think they're always changing the points that Bob touched on are clearly important. And drive change in the program. In general, Bob has been a big driver for positive change. Right, timidly the US is the destination for people around the world. And they see it as a value. And we like being able to provide that value in the projects, we bring the service that we provide. And so we'll just continue to grow those markets, we were really fortunate to have some great people in those markets to help facilitate the process for investors helped manage this. And again, that's our team. That's our team. And that's been our growth, and we want to continue to do that. Yeah. You know, Dan, you talked about growing and the team, do you envision growing the team to meet the needs of, you know, growing needs of investors? I mean, absolutely, you know, growth is our main goal, Bob and I have talked about it a lot. You know, slow and steady has been perfect for us, you know, we have a great track record. Great history, great people already. And our goal for this next year, especially with the growth of the program, the continued interest is to reach into these markets more continue to hire a great team, expand that team. Because with that growth into these new markets, we do need more people in those markets, because that individual handholding for investors is really important, not only for us as a company, but for those individual investors. So we want to continue that mission of serving them properly. So so definitely growth is a huge thing for us. It's growing as markets, it's growing. You know, our project pipeline. We're really fortunate right now our Tallis project in Southern California, it's fantastic. And it's really key to have good, safe projects that create jobs to qualify people for green cards. And you know, that's a task in itself. And growth is finding those good quality projects. Because, you know, there's a lot of projects out there. And, you know, we get pitched a lot of projects by people. But you know, we've been we've been pretty selective of our projects to make sure again, we can be successful for our investors. And that's part of the growth too, is continuing to find those quality projects, like, you know, our current Tallis project that allows investors to invest, get their green card and ultimately feel secure in their decision. You know, you talk about that project. It really is an exceptional project. We've had some great ones. But to put a project together is very complicated. And the whole business is complicated. But when you think of the different pieces that have to come together, it's pretty daunting, really, and we're fortunate. We have good partners that we work with that bring us opportunities, and we've been blessed with very, very solid projects, but that's a long process in itself. And I'd say I don't know how many We look at that we reject before you find the right one. I mean, that's, that takes a lot of time. And then you throw the complexity of the sale price process, and then the immigration aspects of it interacting with the investors. It's not an easy business, fortunate. But Jen, I mean, I get to comment often when I travel internationally, what a great attorney, Jennifer is exactly how long she been practicing law as well. Jennifer is not an attorney, but she actually knows more about this program than most attorneys do, which is true. And she's wonderful in the way she patient and, and interacts with clients. And that's been a really big part of our success. Rick, as you look at the team as a whole, you know, and I think we'll always bet, go back to talking about what how important, you know, Jen has been to our team, but our team expands right, when you talk about the projects. You know, it's it's finding that right team that's doing the project as well, I think on this one, you know, with Robert Greene and his team, we really were fortunate to meet them get to know them. I mean, that's clearly an important part, because between the first pathway team that we have here, our investors and their families, and also these development teams, we're all in this together, you know, everybody wants to see these projects successful. You know, for a developer, it's clearly, you know, making money for the investor, it's getting the green card, and we sit in the middle trying to facilitate that whole process. And I think having that good quality team all the way around. Again, it's just been important to our success, kind of going back to something Dan said, the partners that we work with is we vetted projects, and then aligned interests to make sure that it was fair for everybody. And found people that had the same mentality as we do, you just you know, you're kind of as good as a handshake good as your word. Not without a lot of due diligence. But you know, when you get to that, or legal document or legal citation, which is a whole nother nother level of complexity, but that allowed us to get through some really tough times with some of our partners, and there was a lot of give and take to make sure that we protected the investor, we protected the investor. And we did what was right, from business standpoint, to make sure that we looked at the long term and not try and take advantage of the problems in the marketplace. And in hurt investors are our partners. So you know, at all, it all works. If you put the time into make sure you have the right partners, and you have a fairness in an understanding of fairness, and integrity going in. And then of course, you have all the lawyers that document everything, and they probably do the best out of anybody in this industry from a from a monetary standpoint. Yeah, yeah, we joke about that all the time, for sure. But also, you know, how important if some of the attorneys we've worked with been, you know, for us in and again, setting things up for us originally, you know, back in, in even before 2008, we were talking to some of them, but also, you know, throughout the years and in helping us helping us structure things helping us navigate the complicated world of EB five, it you know, it takes some good attorneys to do that. And also with clients, right, we're really fortunate to have some great attorneys that we've that our clients have introduced us to, and we've introduced our clients to, that have helped them on their journey, because it is a complicated process. And I think with our partners on the legal side, we've really managed to simplify it off our investors, which is made the journey much easier, make a good point, because you don't really and I've said this in, in public forums, if you don't have good legal advice, you're really going to have problems. And you can have all the other aspects, good intentions, whatever. But it's a very, very specialized category that we operate within. So when we started the company, we actually went to the two of the attorneys that were involved in writing the law, and were involved from the very beginning. And they helped us set a very strong foundation from a legal standpoint. And we continue to work with them. And we've worked we've added to that pool of attorneys that do work for us, including the former acting director of USCIS who knows that inside and out, so we, we have a very broad group of attorneys that we really respect and trust. And they do a great job behalf of us, but also if the client wants to use their services, that's great, but we have, I don't know how many attorneys that we can recommend but there are some of the best in the world. And that really guarantees a lot the success that we've had is if you do not have good documents submission and completion. You're going to have problems down the road. So I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. And we're again, we're lucky to have found these people. And they like working with us. So I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's great. We think of them more as part of the company. Yeah, even I mean, some of them become friends over the year. Yep. You know, you become a tight knit family when you're working together towards a common goal for somebody. And, you know, between them, even, you know, we laugh about it sometimes with some of our competitors, too, you know, there's some good people we've met throughout the years that have really helped, I know, You've touted these relationships, along with Iowa, USA, and how they've really helped champion this, this law and things like that, we've made some great relationships. And I think, you know, when you come full circle, you know, these relationships were created by, you know, Bob's vision and his personality, that is warm personality that has been really helpful, again, for me to learn from, and has really helped our company grow the way it has, because it has helped create those relationships with our partners and our investors. Yeah, I'm with our team here. And I think, you know, that's what I want to continue to do as President to create those relationships, because ultimately, that's what brings the growth, we receive so many testimonials from clients saying, you know, how much we were a part of their journey and helping them through the process and understanding the documentation. Right down to like you had said them sharing photos of their family receiving citizenship. So it just goes to show you know, how closely FPP works with with clients and the attorneys as well to make sure that their journey is successful. You know, the most important thing is, again, is that the investor has a successful conclusion to their investment. That's as important to us as anything, and I think people pick up on that. And it comes back to us in many different ways. And I think that's important, and also industry and representing the industry in a positive manner. Well, Bob, Dan, thank you so much for your time today. And Dan, congrats again, on your appointment, sir. Any any final thoughts you'd like to share with us? No, I guess I mean, I appreciate the honor. And I appreciate the faith that Bob has put in me, it's been, it's been a great journey. I've learned a lot and and I think our growth going forward, we've got a lot of exciting things, new announcements coming in the new year here. And we're going to continue to build off what Bob has created. And we've all worked really hard for to get that growth we're looking for and to also continue to accomplish the mission, which is to help our investors get their families to the US. And I'm still here. Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Bob. Thanks, Dan. Thanks, congrats. If you would like to know more about first pathway partners, and how they can help you with a direct EB five investment or if you're looking for other visa opportunities, such as an E two visa, please contact them directly online at www dot first pathway.com