Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center Washington, DC boasts many “Hill Days” and this year, for the first time in many years, VMEC headed south to our nation’s capital to attend the March 7 and 8 Hill Day.
This annual event, with a focus on public policy, is an opportunity for various groups and institutions to get more involved in the political outreach program as well as educating lawmakers on current issues faced by manufacturers. The Hill Day agenda is designed to provide attendees with a peek into the future of the sector as well as the most recent and comprehensive update on the latest federal events and sector research.
It also offers an opportunity to meet with Vermont’s Washington, DC, delegation and their teams to partner and educate them in pursuance of strengthening and empowering Vermont manufacturers through the NIST MEP program and VMEC.
Representing VMEC was Center Director and CEO, Patrick Boyle, and CFO Rebecca Stygles. Pat Moulton, Executive Director, Vermont State Colleges Workforce Division, was in attendance as well on behalf of the VSC and in her role as a NIST MEP board member.
Included in the packed two day agenda was a briefing breakfast from the American Small Manufacturers Coalition (ASMC), centered around those who were either lobbying or educating their State delegations; as a bipartisan organization, VMEC was educating and making connections with Vermont’s new delegation teams and their leaders. Being the “new guy,” it was most valuable for Patrick to meet the “players” in our ecosystem, both on a statewide and national level, to establish these valuable partnerships, become introduced and connected at a time when macro trends are guiding us towards more on-shore U.S. manufacturing and address workforce issues and the talent pipeline for manufacturing and its future.
Rebecca and her MEP finance colleagues had a full day of best practices and various technical finance discussions. Also on the docket was a meeting with Senator Sanders, Senator Welch and their teams as well as a separate meeting with Congresswoman Becca Balint and her team, all being supportive of manufacturing, stable well paying jobs, developing the talent pipeline, the MEP program and VMEC.
Patrick and Rebecca’s presence was very productive both organizationally and personally in terms of raising and keeping the VMEC profile, together with Vermont manufacturers, high in our representatives’ minds who have a solid track record of support for MEP and VMEC.
