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Cultured Marble manufacturer Quality Marble shares their experience on Capitol Hill as part of ACMA's annual Lobby Day.
Last April, the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) organized a Lobby Day and Composites Caucus events in Washington D.C. Industry members from all around the country met with and educated Senators and Representatives on issues important to them. One of those companies, and the only representative for the cultured marble industry, was manufacturer Quality Marble, Inc.
The family owned company went to Capitol Hill from Summerville, S.C. with passion and purpose…and kept detailed notes of their experience. They note that their main focus was on acquiring support in preventing the National Toxicology Program (NTP) from listing styrene as a reasonably anticipated carcinogen. “I think a large group speaks volumes and we believed our Representatives would at least consider our request,” writes Vice President Jacqueline Webb. “I was so nervous, but I kept telling myself ‘they work for us, we got them their jobs’. That helped a little with the nerves.”
For this year’s event, ACMA joined forces with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which Webb felt was a good fit. “We are a manufacturing company ourselves and have the same issues and concerns as the NAM group,” she notes.
The morning began with a speech from Arizona Senator John Kyl, which the family thought was very motivating. Then, they met with other ACMA members for about an hour. “This is when we actually realized there were only about 20 members here for our specific cause and I didn’t know how so few of us were going to be able to meet with so many congressmen and women,” writes Webb.
However, to tackle the problem, members were put in groups by state, and the Webbs’ group met first with Senator Lindsey Graham’s Director of Legislative Correspondence, Courtney Flezzani. In her journal, Webb paints a vivid picture of Monty Felix, president of ACMA, conducting most of the meeting but notes that as the day went on, her group became more comfortable and (with Monty’s encouragement) each of them spoke on behalf of the cause.
Later, the group also met with correspondents from Senator Jim DeMint, Representative Albio Sires and Representative David Price, and had a face-to-face meeting with North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx.
In each of our meetings, the group discussed their concerns and the impact the mislabeling of styrene would have on the future of the composite industry. “We felt everyone we spoke with today showed interest in what we were saying,” she writes. And overall, the group considered the trip a success. “We know as owners of a business that relies on the composite industries and suppliers, this is a very important issue and our organization needs to participate anywhere we can possibly make our voices heard and make a difference,” says Webb.
You can read more about ACMA’s Lobby Day2010 and participants experiences in Composites Manufacturing’s summer issue.
