Advocacy Explained & An Election Preview
By Craig Whitney | Craig Whitney is the president and CEO of the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce.
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s we head into another year at The Chamber, our advocacy efforts will only be expanded upon from last year. As the upcoming year has the November 6 general election with contested races on both sides of the river from federal to local races, and spring will bring both North Dakota and Minnesota’s legislative sessions, you can be sure to see The Chamber speaking on behalf of its members on important issues. The Chamber dedicates much of its attention in a wide variety of ways to advocacy. Advocacy, by definition, is the activities in which a group engage in with the aim to influence decisions within political, economic and social systems and institutions. At The Chamber, this is seen through the participation of our Public Policy, Agribusiness and Military Affairs committees, the stances taken on many issues, election education and encouragement of voter participation. Our Agribusiness committee represents a collective voice of business leaders to represent agriculture as a key industry in the metro. The Military Affairs committee aims to foster a community of support for the men and women of our military and the missions they carry out on our behalf. Both of these committees engage in advocacy efforts both locally and federally. In the past year, the Agribusiness committee brought in both North Dakota U.S. Senators for agriculture roundtables where the committee voiced agriculture concerns and got a first hand updates on key legislation such as the farm bill. The Military Affairs Committee also had interaction with North
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Dakota’s Congressional Delegation through taking representatives of the group to Washington D.C. to attend the North Dakota Military and Congressional Reception. The group was also briefed from National Guard Association of the U.S. President, retired Brig. Gen. Roy Robinson. These committees have engaged in various other advocacy efforts throughout the year as well. One of the major tasks of the Public Policy committee is to construct a Policy Guide that includes helpful information regarding elected officials, legislative sessions and The Chamber’s policy agenda. We will continue our strong effort for the Diversion as one of our top priorities. Addressing the workforce shortage and retention of students, education will also be of high importance. Specifically, within education, the discussions of NDSCS Career Academy. As before, we commend the Fargo City Commission for putting together a committee to discuss the very complex discussion that was raised before the last election on the elimination of special assessments. We were pleased that we were able to nominate Jeff Volk, who was ultimately chosen to serve on this taskforce. Our Policy Guide will include these issues and more to address: Energy and Natural resources, Education, Training and Workforce Development, Health Care, Regulatory, Economic Development and Tax Policy, Flood Protection, Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure, Residential/Commercial Development and emerging Opportunities for Commerce. These policy issues will serve as our legislative agenda come session this spring. The Chamber will be attentive to both the