APWA’s Government Affairs Team amplifies the voice of public works every day in Washington DC. During National Public Works Week, it used a bigger megaphone.
During three separate events on Capitol Hill and individual meetings with lawmakers, the GA Team spread the message of NPWW and public works to one Cabinet Secretary, nearly a dozen US Representatives and Senators. The team also hand-delivered invitations for the week’s events to all 535 Congressional offices.
During its Tuesday morning NPWW Workforce Roundtable in the Rayburn House Office Building, US Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and House Public Works & Infrastructure Caucus Co-Chair Dina Titus (D-Nevada) chatted with public works directors from throughout the country, including Des Moines, Iowa, Public Works Director Jonathan Gano; Saint Paul, Minnesota, Public Works Director Sean Kershaw; Georgetown, South Carolina, Public Services Director Ray Funnye; and Washington, DC, Interim Public Works Director Anthony Crispino. APWA Chief Learning Officer Becky Stein was a key contributor and APWA CEO Scott Grayson moderated the discussion.
Tuesday evening, APWA held a reception in Rayburn Office for the 2024 winners in the Top Ten Public Works Leaders and Projects of the Year categories.
Here, Representatives Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), and House Public Works & Infrastructure Caucus Co-Chair Jeff Van Drew (R-New Jersey) stopped in to meet with constituents who won APWA awards: Biggs with Top Ten winner Jeff Kramer and his wife, Sharon; and Miller-Meeks with Top Ten winner Ron Knocke. Rep Van Drew talked to the group and expressed how he likes to work with APWA.
In between these May 20 events, Top Ten winners and those who received Project of the Year awards met with their elected officials and staff via private meetings arranged by APWA Government Affairs.
Project of the Year Winner Richard McCoy met with Senator Tina Smith (D-Minnesota).
Project of the Year Winners Rob Gelder and Joshua Hanes of Poulsbo, Washington, visited US Representative Emily Randall.
Thursday morning, Grayson and APWA President Dominick Longobardi “had coffee” with the CEO’s Minnesota Democratic US Senator, Amy Klobuchar.
Also, Top Ten Winner Tod Fagan met with Representative Josh Hawley’s (R-Missouri) transportation staff, and Gelder met with Senator Patty Murray’s (D-Washington) staffers.
Of course, NPWW can’t be NPWW until there’s Donuts & Trucks. On Thursday morning, the GA Team and the DC Department of Public Works convened at the corner of 3rd Street and Maryland Avenue SW and offered Astro Donuts, coffee, our “What is Public Works?” trifold, stress “ball” cones and Engineering & Public Works trucks to passersby.
We said, “Happy National Public Works Week!” to people who work in the District with lawmakers or committees, a middle school class on a field trip, to those visiting from as far away as Stuttgart, Germany.
In all – when considering the number of constituents in each district or state – APWA during NPWW amplified its messaging – in person – to elected officials who represent more than 11.5 million Americans. Talk about “People. Purpose. Presence.”
