COLLECTIVE ADVOCACY: STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Madison, Wisconsin – early morning in late February, 2004.
Experience is the best teacher, and I remember the “lesson” as if it happened yesterday.
At least one member of the Wisconsin State Capitol police force hasn't forgotten, either.
Lake-effect snow in South Milwaukee persuaded me to leave extra early for Madison. But highway crews in Waukesha, Jefferson, and Dane Counties made quick work of the overnight, statewide dusting and returned I-94 pavement to excellent winter-driving condition.
An hour early for my Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association Transition Committee meeting at the offices of the Essie Consulting Group (now Essie Kammer Group), I walked across Carroll Street to the state Capitol building.
Standing in the middle of the empty Capitol rotunda, I decided to test an old public relations axiom:
A lone voice lifted at the Capitol echoes briefly, but quickly dies.
I tilted my head skyward, focusing my eyes more than 200 feet above on the circular rotunda ceiling mural, Resources of Wisconsin.
Then I sang … with as much gusto and deep emotion as I could muster: “The halls come alive … with the sound of music!”
The sound (melody is a mighty stretch) reverberated throughout the almost- empty state facility. One of the Capitol’s finest made sure I did not entertain thoughts of an encore.
Strength in Numbers
A lone voice lifted at the Capitol in Madison does indeed echo briefly, and quickly die. But many voices, united in purpose and lifted in harmony, can create and sustain something great.
Ready-mix plants serve each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, all of Wisconsin’s 1,259 towns, and every incorporated and unincorporated municipality in the state, employing local residents, fueling local economies, contributing significant revenues to state and local community tax coffers, and literally providing the foundation for the high quality of life Wisconsinites enjoy. Ready-mixed concrete enables clean air, clean water, secure housing, good schools, and durable bridges and highways … and underpins and envelops factories, office complexes, commercial establishments, and institutional and recreational facilities.
Approximately 3,000 persons (by my estimate) are employed directly in Wisconsin’s ready-mix industry, and an additional 2,500 persons (again, my estimate) support the industry through provision of equipment, materials, services, and supplies.
United, we would create a formidable army of ready-mixed concrete ambassadors – solid soldiers for the most beautiful, durable, versatile, available, and environmentally friendly construction material in the history of the planet – and powerful local, regional, and statewide voting constituencies.
The Legislative Committee of the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association (WRMCA) works hard to protect and advance the common goals of WRMCA members and to give voice to industry interests. Essie Kammer Group (EKG) – the WRMCA’s association management services provider – monitors Wisconsin legislative and regulatory activities to protect members from discretionary enforcement, supports WRMCA-member grass-roots legislative advocacy, and creates, defends, and expands concrete markets in Wisconsin by advancing the industry’s legislative agenda to state officials.
Coordinated and executed by EKG, WRMCA’s collective advocacy efforts have dramatically improved the Concrete IQ of state officials, legislators, and regulators. As WRMCA members provide more than 70% of all the concrete produced and delivered in the state, the association earns significant attention and respect in the public sector.
But think of the attention and respect the association would command if every ready-mix producer (and its vendors, suppliers, and professional service providers) were a WRMCA member. Ready-mix companies who prefer the lone- voice-in-the-Capitol approach to legislative advocacy should re-read the (mis) adventure of my solo performance in the rotunda and realize the power the industry forfeits from their go-it-alone advocacy efforts.
To the Web!
Though EKG does a great job of supporting WRMCA-member advocacy efforts, scarce association resources limit EKG from tapping into the connective power of the worldwide web to promote WRMCA’S collective advocacy. To its credit, EKG has developed and begun implementation of a four-year refreshment program for the WRMCA web site. But under the current implementation plan, site content to support collective industry advocacy will not be available online until 2010.
My dream of full participation by Wisconsin ready-mix industry stakeholders would provide the resources required for EKG to complete site refreshment in 2008 and leverage yet this year the Internet as a powerful vehicle for communication and advocacy processes, constructively engaging state officials, legislators, and regulators on industry issues – 24/7/365.
Anything less than full participation surrenders the industry to the forces of commoditization … and industry voices (lone or collective) will be ignored.
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