Silver Anniversary of Washington-to-Washington, D.C.

This year will mark the silver anniversary of an idea developed jointly by Chamber President David Graybill and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks. Both were looking for greater input by business into federal issues.

At that time, the country was going through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process whereby a committee reviewed all military bases throughout the nation to determine which ones to close and how to reallocate the remaining ones. Fort Lewis and McChord were both potentially on the chopping block.

Together Norm and David developed an annual event – the Washington-to-Washington, D.C. trip -- that is now one of the most consistent and long-standing advocacy trips done by any Chamber in the country.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber will once again send a delegation comprised of local business leaders and civic officials to our nation’s capital as a part of its annual Washington-to-Washington, D.C. Conference Trip. The delegation will be lead by Chamber Chair Toby Murray.

This year’s conference is right around the corner and will take place on May 17, 18 and 19, 2010. Most members will fly out on Monday to participate. Most of the scheduled meetings with the congressional delegation, Pentagon and other agencies will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday at locations throughout the Washington, D.C. area.

This year’s group will focus on the Big Ts: transportation, trade and training as well as major issues like energy and climate change. The primary mission will be to advocate on behalf of projects capable of obtaining federal stimulus money.

Sponsors for this year's conference trip include The Boeing Company, Comcast and Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Inc. If you would like to participate in the conference, please contact Mike Weinman at mweinman@comcast.net.