Geosynthetics February/March 2022 - 41

GMA NEWS
GMA is dedicated to
our members' success.
GMA actively identifies,
assesses, analyzes
and acts upon market
growth opportunities
and issues that affect
its member companies.
The activities of
the association are
proactive in nature and
center on five areas:
» Engineering support
» Business development
» Education
» Government relations
» Geosynthetics industry
recognition
E
By Fred C. Chuck
GeoNashville, fall Lobby Day, IECA
2022 and looking forward to 2023
leven leaders from the geosynthetics industry came together in Washington, D.C., Oct.
19-20, 2021, to participate in GMA fall Lobby Day 2021. During Lobby Day, GMA
members advocated for specific language related to geosynthetics in the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), then under consideration in the House of Representatives.
The IIJA was subsequently passed and signed into law, with the language GMA supported
included. For more on GMA's fall 2021 Lobby Day, see the article on page 11.
GeoNashville 2021
Were you there? If not, you missed the return to an in-person geosynthetics conference and
a chance to reunite with your industry peers. GeoNashville 2021, Nov. 4-5, included an
all-plenary program of more than 1.5 days in the Music City. Due to pandemic shutdowns,
the earlier-in-2021 biennial gathering of the Geosynthetics Conference pivoted to the
Geosynthetics Virtual Conference 2021, Feb. 22-25. This, subsequently, meant that there
would not be a major North American geosynthetics conference after the Geosynthetics
Conference 2020: Case Studies in Charleston, S.C. (Mar. 8-10, 2020), until the Geosynthetics
Conference/IECA Annual Conference and Expo 2023, a span of almost three years. In
discussions with Barbara Connett, secretary general of the conference, we recognized an
opportunity to hold the first in-person geosynthetics conference at the same location as and
just after IFAI Expo, Nov. 1-4, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. In only six months, we were able to
coordinate four plenary presenters, sell out the exhibit hall and create the first all-in-one-room
geosynthetics conference (in hopes of allowing the exhibitors to hear the presentations). While
the all-in-one concept had a few issues, for the most part it produced our end desire of having
all attendees being able to access the complete program. The attendance was better than we
had anticipated, and the attendees were very pleased to be back in person.
For more on GeoNashville 2021, see the article on pages 12-13.
Fred C. Chuck is the
executive director of GMA.
Division
Geosynthetics is the official
publication of the Geosynthetic
Materials Association.
Upcoming IECA Annual Conference and Expo 2022
The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) will host the IECA Annual
Conference and Expo 2022 in Minneapolis, Minn., Feb. 15-18, and if you are planning
to attend, visiting the Lake City would also be a great opportunity to stop by the
Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) worldwide headquarters in Roseville,
Minn., a suburb 8 miles (13 km) from the conference and expo's location in downtown
Minneapolis (contact Fred C. Chuck at fcchuck@ifai.com if you'd like to stop by). IECA,
GMA and Geosynthetics magazine are looking forward to next year's Geosynthetics
Conference, which will be co-located with the IECA Annual Conference and Expo,
in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 5-8, 2023. You will recall that the co-located Geosynthetics
Conference/IECA Annual Conference and Expo was scheduled to be in Kansas City,
Feb. 21-24, 2021, but was made virtual due to the pandemic. For more about the IECA
Annual Conference and Expo 2022, visit www.ieca.org. For more about the Geosynthetics
Conference/IECA Annual Conference and Expo 2023, see the column on page 40 and visit
www.GeosyntheticsConference.com. G
www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
41

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Geosynthetics February/March 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geosynthetics February/March 2022