Government Relations Committee February Update
Submitted by Tayte French-Lutz, French Oil Mill Machinery Co. and April Vanover, FASTLANE-MEP
Maintaining Relationships with Elected Officials
The GRC hosted our first meet up with Senator Niraj Antani on Feb. 18, 2021. Senator Antani spoke about COVID-19 economic plans, his desire to improve career counseling services in schools and ideas on addressing issues for Ohio’s supply chain and transportation.
The GRC has scheduled meet ups with Rep. Andrea White on March 8th and Rep. Phil Plummer on March 31st. Visit our events page for registration information.
The GRC has invested in a new strategy of “continued contact” with each of our Governmental Leaders, to keep them up-to-date with DRMA happenings and to create or build upon the existing relationships.
Community Partnerships
The GRC continues to collaborate with local partners like ABC, NAM, OMA and the DACC. In recent activities with the CPA, there was much discussion on the new administration and how this is going to affect exchange rates/tariffs.
NAM and local bankers reminded manufacturers that SBA offers several different relief options to help businesses. Visit their site to view all options. Important details - SBA will offer Paycheck Protection Program loans to businesses with 20 or less employees and sole proprietors only from Wednesday, February 24 through Wednesday, March 10, 2021. President Biden has also announced additional program changes to make access to PPP loans more equitable.
As for ABC, the GRC continues in the positive relationship and look to partner on WFD plans for skilled trades and the value of the apprenticeship programs. More to come on this as Ohio State Senator’s discuss proposed ideas on how to address manufacturers #1 problem.
The GRC leadership team and DACC had a virtual meeting to discuss each other’s top issues and how we can collaborate on dual top issues and host events together with legislative leaders.
The OMA continues to advocate for various legislation that will repeal the nuclear subsidies put into law in House Bill 6. They also recently released a list of research based tips to help attract the 21st century workforce.