Seeing is believing--host your elected representative.An informal survey conducted at the RMA (RealMedia Architecture) See RealMedia. General Products Group 2003 Fall Meeting indicates that few rubber companies had conducted a Congressional plant tour of late. Anytime is a good time to conduct a plant tour. But, with job losses, global outsourcing (1) Contracting with outside consultants, software houses or service bureaus to perform systems analysis, programming and datacenter operations. Contrast with insourcing. See netsourcing, ASP, SSP and facilities management. , health care costs and liability lawsuits now being election-year issues, getting congressmen, senators and staff persons to your plant, and briefed on your business concerns, is particularly relevant. Conducting a congressional plant tour is not difficult. It does entail entail, in law, restriction of inheritance to a limited class of descendants for at least several generations. The object of entail is to preserve large estates in land from the disintegration that is caused by equal inheritance by all the heirs and by the ordinary , however, support from the top of your company, and a commitment to make the tour a well-executed event. I would offer these recommendations to make a tour successful: Set a goal In my estimation estimation In mathematics, use of a function or formula to derive a solution or make a prediction. Unlike approximation, it has precise connotations. In statistics, for example, it connotes the careful selection and testing of a function called an estimator. , the goal of plant tours is the demonstration of your manufacturing methods, a simple discussion of issues affecting your company and the creation of good will. Discussions beyond this are probably best taken up in a private meeting. Identify, contact your elected official It is best to contact your congressman through his/her district office. You can locate this information by going to www.congress.org See .org. (networking) org - The top-level domain for organisations or individuals that don't fit any other top-level domain (national, com, edu, or gov). Though many have .org domains, it was never intended to be limited to non-profit organisations. RFC 1591. and typing in the zip code zip code System of postal-zone codes (zip stands for “zone improvement plan”) introduced in the U.S. in 1963 to improve mail delivery and exploit electronic reading and sorting capabilities. of the plant you have selected as the host site. Or, you can call your trade group, the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), for a directory and guidance. Once this is done, you will need to prepare a letter of invitation, suggest some dates, and fax and mail this invitation to the scheduler in the local office. Make your letter short and to the point. Be persistent Members of congress are busy when they are home. Follow up your letter with a phone call to the district scheduler. Explain (again) who you are, what you do, how many you employ and what you will be showing the congressman and his staff during the tour. Ask if there is anything in particular the congressman wants explained in detail, or if he wants to address your workers. Once a date and time are set, you are on your way. The tour Obviously, it is important that your plant be in operation during the tour. Include and involve your workers in the tour and its planning. Show your guests all facets of your operation, but keep it brief. Tell the congressman what your products are used for, who they are sold to and why they are important. Assume that the delegation will be on a tight schedule. Offer them a chance to sit with your plant manager or CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. for a discussion over coffee before and after the tour. At this time, you can raise issues with him/her. Take pictures. Plan to share these pictures with the local media, and work with the congressperson's media person to disseminate dis·sem·i·nate v. dis·sem·i·nat·ed, dis·sem·i·nat·ing, dis·sem·i·nates v.tr. 1. To scatter widely, as in sowing seed. 2. articles and photos. They appreciate this. If there are media present during the tour, make sure the congressional staff is aware of this before the event. After the tour Write thank you notes to all the parties, reinforcing any major points of discussion that were raised during the tour. Publicize pub·li·cize tr.v. pub·li·cized, pub·li·ciz·ing, pub·li·ciz·es To give publicity to. publicize or -cise Verb [-cizing, -cized] the tour in your plant newsletter. Thank your employees for their contributions. Finally, when it's over, pat yourself on the back; you made a difference. Today, too many Americans are unaware of how dependent they are on manufacturing for their high standard of living, and too many policy-makers are indifferent INDIFFERENT. To have no bias nor partiality. 7 Conn. 229. A juror, an arbitrator, and a witness, ought to be indifferent, and when they are not so, they may be challenged. See 9 Conn. 42. to the implications of losing our leadership in global manufacturing. Manufacturing represents 16% of our gross domestic product, a huge number. By opening your doors to policy makers, you may very well have helped them see, and believe in, the size and importance of U.S. manufacturing, and what it means to our long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. prosperity. Kevin D. Ott is Vice President of the Rubber Manufaturers Association General Products Group, based in Washington, D.C. Write him at: kevin@rma.org. For a comprehensive look at U.S. manufacturing, the author recommends The Facts About Modern Manufacturing, available at www.nam.org. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion