Impacting the Industry—Literally

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Unless you have been living under a rock or in a cave for the past six months or so, you should be aware (and perhaps astounded, astonished, amazed, dumbfounded, aghast…) at the presidential campaign goings-on. Dear heaven! But without going into detail or expressing an opinion, I thought I would share some highlights of my recent visit to our nation’s capital. I attended IPC’s IMPACT Washington, D.C. for the first time, though hopefully not for the last. It is a conference, an event, a seminar on the workings of our government, along with meetings with congresspersons and staff, all crammed into just a couple of days.

One afternoon I walked down to the National Mall, observing the numerous huge, very permanent stone buildings along the way. I walked past the EPA, OSHA, and IRS buildings, the Department of Justice and the FTC. There is the Capitol building on one end of the Mall, the Washington Monument on the other, and the White House just to the north, next to the Treasury Department. Congressional offices, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, other departments (Agriculture, Commerce, Transportation, Education, HUD, FDA, U.S. Postal Service and more) surround the Mall. This city definitely has the corner on white stone. And these departments with names engraved in huge letters are not going anywhere. They are here to stay; they will not be abolished, and they don’t care a whole lot about you or your company.

Nevertheless I came away a believer, not so much in the workings of our government but in the need to participate, speak up, and have your voice heard. And the best way to do that is collectively, through an organization that has your best interests in mind.   

Read the full article here.

Check out our special coverage on IPC’s IMPACT Washington, D.C. event here.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2016 issue of The PCB Magazine.