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American Made Advocacy: Five Years of Educating, Advocating, and Influencing Legislation and Policy

Five years ago, five companies decided that the PCB industry needed its own voice in Washington. The Printed Circuit Board Association of America was created largely in response to the fact that PCBs were not included in the CHIPS Act legislation.

Starting an advocacy organization from scratch, attracting members, and making an impact in Washington’s crowded infosphere is no small feat. A small core team and volunteers serving in executive positions dug in and put PCBs on the map. At PCBAA, we are grateful to everyone who has participated and made our first five years a resounding success.

Getting attention is not easy for an electronic component that is not known or understood outside the industry. Our core strategies have been delivering the industry trade and mainstream media a steady flow of information resulting in supportive coverage, educating our elected representatives on the criticality of PCBs, participating in PCB trade shows, activating members to write opinion editorials in regional newspapers, appearing on influential podcasts, writing and submitting draft legislative language for major bills, and drafting and managing the introduction of the Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates (PCBS) Act in the House of Representatives which will soon have a Senate companion bill.

PCBAA executives have met with the Senate Armed Services Committee staff and Department of Defense (War) officials responsible for the health of the Defense Industrial Base to provide factual data to inform policy. PCBAA has also made significant inroads with the Department of Commerce to educate and advocate for supportive policy for our industry by inviting staff to visit member companies to get a firsthand look at what happens on the front lines of the PCB industry, and by providing access to our members to participate in extensive studies by the Department of Commerce.

We have grown from the original five members to almost 100 because the value proposition of PCBAA membership is worth the investment. We provide members with weekly industry intelligence, periodic video meetings with government officials, a monthly newsletter, and help with their outreach with elected officials. PCBAA holds a first-class annual meeting in Washington each year, featuring high-level speakers from Congress, think tanks, and government agencies, along with a day on Capitol Hill meeting with our members’ representatives. This year’s Annual Meeting is June 16–18, and we encourage you to join our team and attend.

This year, PCBAA collaborated with the Alliance for American Manufacturing to produce a documentary film on the PCB industry, “The New Frontier,” which has drawn more than 3,000 viewers, gained significant notice in the trade press and has been submitted for several awards. Our movie premiere in Washington, D.C., at The Miracle Theatre was well attended by Congressional staff, media, and members.

The business and political environment is in the midst of radical change. There are strong tailwinds for Defense as we support restocking the munitions expended in the Iran war. Advanced PCBs are also critical for AI data center servers, and there is significant interest and analysis ongoing by our government to assess our nation’s PCB manufacturing capacity to support these initiatives.

Challenges remain, and through the efforts of our PCBAA staff and dedicated members, we have seen significant traction for our call to reshore and restore the PCB industry to support our national and economic security. To learn more about our mission and consider joining this growing coalition, I encourage you to visit pcbaa.org.

This column originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of I-Connect007 Magazine.