August / September 2010 Bottled Water Reporter - 28

Making a Difference on the Hill and at Home
By Daniel Felton, IBWA Vice President of Government Relations, and Sarah Lashford, IBWA Director of Government Relations

In the
In June 2010, IBWA members held 60 congressional meetings while in Washington, D.C.

June/July 2010 issue of Bottled Water Reporter, Waterlogue interviewed IBWA member Bryan Shinn (The Water Guy) about his recent experience hosting U.S. Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-PA) for a plant tour of his bottled water facility in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, last April. In that interview, Bryan, an active member of IBWA’s Government Relations (GR) Committee, mentioned his ongoing campaign to actively reach out to legislators in an effort to give them a “taste and feel of what bottled water businesses are really about.” Earlier this year, members of IBWA’s GR committee agreed to participate in additional meetings with their members of Congress either in Washington, D.C., or within their districts to educate them about the bottled water industry. On June 10, 2010, as part of the IBWA Board and Committee Meetings held in D.C., Bryan and his fellow GR committee members—along with a host of other IBWA members—continued their outreach efforts on Capitol Hill. And they did so with great success. Before June, about half a dozen committee members had held approximately 50 meetings

with legislators since last November, including some in-district plant tours. Efforts on June 10 by more than 30 IBWA member companies yielded an additional 60 congressional meetings, including 15 direct visits with members of Congress. IBWA members are to be commended for this truly remarkable effort. So, what did all that Hill outreach accomplish? A great deal, actually. In addition to educating U.S. legislators and their staffs about the bottled water industry in general, we were also able to inform them about the bottled water companies and employees located back in their home districts—community businesses that are actively contributing to their state’s economy (and simply trying to make a decent living). As their constituents, those bottled water professionals can vote elected officials in—and out—of office. The legislators we met with now know more about the bottled water industry’s concerns with a few of the issues moving through Congress, including pending food safety legislation and a potential bisphenol-A (BPA) amendment that

WHAT DID WE ACCOMPLISH?

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010

August / September 2010 Bottled Water Reporter

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