IMPACT Washington, D.C. 2018: Industry Leaders Push for a Pro-Electronics Agenda

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As an industry-driven association, IPC exists to help its member companies innovate, compete, and succeed in the electronics industry. Effective government relations is crucial to our collective success, because many of the policy debates taking place in world capitals have wide-reaching impacts on our industry.

That’s why senior executives from top electronics companies recently gathered for “IMPACT Washington, D.C. 2018” to advocate for a pro-growth, pro-electronics policy agenda.

During the two-and-a-half-day event, member executives met with leaders of the Trump Administration and members of Congress to share their views on issues including strengthening the defense industrial base; ensuring a skilled workforce; and advancing free and fair trade.

Participants met with leaders of the Trump Administration, including:
• Andrew Wheeler, deputy administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
• Alexander Gray, deputy director, White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing
• Ian Steff, deputy assistant secretary for Manufacturing, International Trade Administration
• Eric Chewning, deputy assistant secretary, Office of Military Industrial Base Policy
• Chesley Dycus, advisor for Defense, Office of the Vice President
• Rosemary Lahasky, deputy assistant secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
• Dr. Michael Wooten, acting asst. secretary of Education, Career, Technical and Adult Education (CTE)

On Capitol Hill, the group had 25 individual and group meetings with key policymakers, including:
• Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
• Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC)
• Senior staff of four major congressional committees

IPC also arranged for participants to meet one-on-one with their hometown congressional representatives to discuss the local implications of federal policy issues.

Attendees had the benefit of background briefings on the political and economic trends that are driving events in DC, from former Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia; former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Douglas Holtz-Eakin; and top labor lawyer Maury Baskin.

IPC also recognized two Senators with the IPC Government IMPACT Award. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Todd Young (R-IN) were honored for their leadership roles in supporting a robust domestic electronics industrial base. The two senators serve on key congressional committees and represent the Defense Department’s Executive Agent for Printed Circuit and Interconnect Technology at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana – an office that is vitally important to our industry.

To see photos of this year’s event, click here.

To all who participated, thank you! Your active engagement has already been crucial in advancing our industry’s policy agenda. For example, The Senate FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes language that will assess the U.S. defense electronics industrial base and help establish long-term funding and policy direction for the Executive Agent at NSWC Crane.

If you missed this opportunity and want to be in the loop on IPC’s government relations efforts going forward, please let us know. We have a robust agenda of follow-up activities, and your participation in those efforts would be welcomed and valuable.

Stay tuned for more news from IPC government relations, and we’ll be looking forward to seeing you next year at IMPACT Washington, D.C. 2019.