Chamber Members, Board Visit Washington with Annual DC Fly-In
WASHINGTON, DC – Members of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, along with city and state leaders are spending a packed 48 hours in our nation’s capital as part of the annual Chamber DC Fly-In.
“Going to DC every year and being able to connect with our legislators and the federal is a great way to publicize the action that we are trying to take here in West Central Indiana,” says Chamber Vice President Kristin Craig. “We are basically trying to say, ‘we are here and we are interested, we want to be part of the conversation, we want to develop and we want to grow, so keep us in mind when you’re sending money to this region or adopting legislation that might impact our region.’ We want Terre Haute to be front of mind.”
During the trip, led in-part by RJL Solutions Partner Rachel Leslie, the group has plans to tackle topics and issues important to Terre Haute and West Central Indiana. Topics on the agenda include Defense Development (181st Intelligence Wing), West Central IN Defense Network, Broadband Connectivity, West Central IN 2025, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Long term Transportation Funding, I-70 and others.
The small contingent of attendees include small business owners and small business advocates, which Craig said will also be a focus for both the region and those individual business owners.
“The people that we have going on this trip are small business owners, they really understand the value of being able to grow their small business here at home they have to begin to impact state and federal issues that are going to be then advantageous for economic growth in the area,” she says. “An example, we have Sara Smith going with the Chamber priorities in mind, but she is also looking into an issue with pension funds and she is going to use this trip to talk to legislators, so it’s a chance to be involved with the Chamber agenda but also take any issues forward that important to their individual business.”
The attendees are as follows:
- Bernice Helman, Vice President Coldwell Bankers Troy Helman Realtors
- Courtney Richey, Executive Director West Central IN Small Business Dev. Center
- Senator Jon Ford, District 38, IN
- Kristin Craig, Vice President Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
- Mayor Duke Bennett, City of Terre Haute
- Rachel Leslie, Partner RJL Solutions, LLC
- Brigadier Gen. Jeff Hauser, Executive Director Terre Haute Regional Airport
- Sara Smith, Vice President Sycamore Engineering
The trip to DC began Wednesday morning and will wrap late Thursday.
For continued coverage, photos and reactions from attendees, continue to follow the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce on facebook and visit our blog.
