Great Lakes Chambers Unite In DC To Advocate For Region

The Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition recently completed its annual fly in to Washington, DC where it met with the Congressional delegation from all over the Great Lakes Region.

The Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance was represented by its director of government relations Kent Wood. The annual trip is the premiere opportunity for the Coalition of chambers from around the Great Lakes to gather and advocate together in Washington on certain priorities that affect the region as a whole. The Coalition included Chambers from Buffalo (NY), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Cleveland (OH), Des Moines (IA), Pittsburg (PA), Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Holland, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce regional office in Chicago.

The Coalition’s key priorities this year included:

• H1-B visas and immigration reform to help the employment gap in STEM fields
• Baseload energy and the EPA’s proposed regulations on coal plants
• Transportation infrastructure funding and reauthorizing the surface transportation act

The Coalition met with the following legislators from the Michigan Congressional delegation:

• John Conyers (D-13)
• David Trott (R-11)
• Debbie Dingell (D-12)
• Fred Upton (R-6)
• Brenda Lawrence (D-14)
• Bill Huizenga (R-2)
• John Moolenaar (R-4)
• Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
• Gary Peters (D-MI)

Other strategic issues the Coalition will target in 2015 include improving border crossings between the U.S. and Canada, including support for the New International Trade Crossing, and funding for Great Lakes clean up through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

For more information, visit http://greatlakesmetrochambers.com/