Page 2 - June 2018

Page 2 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!

Why Join the Chamber: Political Action

Christina R. Green, www.frankkenny.com

Few businesses have enough of a budget tion, and other business concerns. cally. The chamber acts as a bridge
to warrant a personal lobbyist to speak on Whenever possible we invite our mem- between education and employment in
their behalf at the state capital and in bers to networking events that help ensuring the two sides understand
Washington, D.C. but it’s those exact small them meet and engage with elected offi- what one another needs and they get
voices that need the representation. How cials and candidates in order for their the necessary help to continue to
do you ensure your business is represented voice to be heard on a more personal make our community attractive to
when it needs to be without keeping a full- level outside of our advocacy efforts. employers and all sizes of business.
time lobbyist or Sometimes this takes the form of leg-
legislative assistant islation and mandating re-
on board? quirements.
You join the cham- Advocating on Healthcare
ber. Issues Too
But what exactly When you think about pro-
are they doing for business, you might not con-
you and how are sider healthcare in the mix
they representing but it’s a big part of creating
your business? an attractive business envi-
Here are a few ronment. The chamber is
things that you keeping an eye on healthcare
should know. related legislation as well. We
Shaping the Fu- also watch things like Work-
ture of Business ers’ Compensation costs.
Your local chamber is using its voice at the Creates Business-Friendly Environ- Advocating for the Legislative
local, state, and federal level to support ments Agenda
pro-business initiatives. They give input on Another reason why pro-business candi- In addition to keeping an eye on
bills, support the election and re-election dates are important is their abilities to what’s going on locally, at the state
of candidates that are pro-business, and make our community a more attractive level, and in DC, we create our own
rally against legislation that would hurt place to live and work. These office legislative agenda with issues that are
business. holders and agencies work hard to at- important to our members. While we
Tackling the Tough Issues tract new business and ensure our com- advocate for all businesses in our town
and look to create a pro-business envi-
Pro-business forces were part of the rea- munity has the skilled employees and ronment, it is our members whose
son that the Overtime Ruling was placed pro-business climate that attracts lucra- voice gets heard the loudest by partici-
on hold. Yes, the ultimate say came to a tive tax-paying organizations. pating in our legislative agenda and
Federal judge placing a temporary injunc- Assessing Today’s Workforce and helping us define out top advocacy
tion on it, but the U.S. Chamber of Com- Preparing for Tomorrow’s priorities.
merce and other business organizations In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau made it
had voiced their concerns about what that official that Gen Y now outnumbers the If you feel like Washington and the
would mean for small businesses across Baby Boomer generation. As the Boom- state level just aren’t hearing you or
the nation. ers continue to retire, it is essential that you’re concerned with a local issue,
the best way to get your voice heard is
Educating Voters we look to the needs of business in our through the advocacy efforts of the
The chamber supports pro-business candi- community and ensure that the younger chamber. We can provide an extraor-
dates, when applicable, and often hosts generation has access to the training dinarily loud megaphone.
Get to Know the Candidate nights so that they need to be competitive in today’s
the electorate can make an informed deci- professional environment. The chamber
sion. These events are usually free to the meets with business development agen-
public and may offer some rare opportuni- cies and heads of business to ensure this
ties to explore how each candidate feels happens.
about issues such as minimum wage, taxa- We cannot expect it to happen organi-