eye on business
Employer Engagement Important Beyond Election Season
Kris Johnson , AWB President
The 2024 election is well underway . While most of the eyes and talk are on the national political contest and the presidential election , here in Washington we ’ ll also be paying close attention to statewide , congressional and legislative races .
AWB is once again hosting gubernatorial and attorney general debates this September at Policy Summit in Spokane , something we ’ ve done for 30 years . It ’ s part of our job to be a place where reasonable people who might disagree can still talk and better understand each other .
As we become more polarized , AWB is one of the groups still working at the 50-yard line . It ’ s where business does its job every day , and it ’ s how we can successfully engage with both parties and many different political perspectives .
Our Government Affairs team has also been interviewing candidates as part of our endorsement process . We identify the candidates whom we think will best represent you in Olympia and provide you information so you can make your own decision .
As important as all this is , however , employers have an even more important job when it comes to our representative democracy : to build relationships with policymakers .
This is a year-round job . It doesn ’ t just happen during election season . In fact , it ’ s better done outside the pressures of the election calendar .
It can be as simple — and as powerful — as inviting candidates and elected officials into your business . This is something we do every year on our Manufacturing Week bus tour . Legislators often join us on shop floors , and we ’ ve also welcome members of Congress like U . S . Reps . Dan Newhouse and Kim Schrier on our tours .
But we all need to do more . I urge you to make an appointment to visit with your legislators before the next legislative session begins in Olympia .
Tell them about what you do . Build relationships with the people who represent you and the areas where you have business locations . The more they understand what you do , the better they can represent you .
And , as business leader and longtime state Rep . J . T . Wilcox told AWB for this edition ’ s In Their Words interview , with fewer and fewer employers stepping up to run for the Legislature , it ’ s more important than ever to make sure our voice is heard .
“ There should be no representative or senator that doesn ’ t know your name if you ’ re a business person ,” Wilcox said in the interview starting on page 18 . “ Once they know you , it ’ s a little harder to demonize you and a little harder to vote against your interests .”
It ’ s probably appropriate that the call for better civic engagement and connections across party lines is a bipartisan one . Lt . Gov . Denny Heck , speaking at AWB ’ s Spring Meeting in Vancouver , noted that out of Washington ’ s 49 legislative districts , only two currently have members of both political parties among their delegations .
In an increasingly polarized time , it ’ s crucial that we learn how to “ disagree better ,” Heck told the Spring Meeting crowd .
AWB has been doing this for 120 years , but your voice as an employer is even more powerful . Elections don ’ t always go the way we might want them to , but when employers connect with lawmakers , everyone wins . spring 2024 13