Page 19 - MetalForming January/February 2022
P. 19

nership, a bipartisan Washington, D.C.- based government-relations firm. Founding partners John Guzik and Omar Nashashibi have spearheaded numerous lobbying successes over the years. And, their work is supported by the Policy Resolution Group (PRG) at Bracewell—senior principal Paul Nathanson, and principal Caitlin Sick- les. Bracewell, a combination of lawyers, lobbyists and strategic-com- munications experts, brings govern- ment relations, strategic communica- tions and legal-representation services together under one roof.
“PMA is fortunate to have such an outstanding team in Washington, D.C.,” says PMA President David Klotz, “that works tirelessly to give our members and the industry a voice on Capitol Hill, in the Administration and in the media. Throughout the years, the team has advocated on our behalf on many key issues, including workforce devel- opment, trade, tariffs, taxes and regu- lations. During the last 2 yr., they were invaluable in helping to guide our members through the challenges brought on by the pandemic and suc- cessfully advocating for relief measures that supported the industry.
“The team also has been instrumen- tal in ensuring that lawmakers hear directly from our members by organ- izing annual fly-ins to D.C.,” Klotz adds. “These fly-ins are a great way for man- ufacturers to meet face-to-face with their elected officials and to help drive change for the metal forming industry now and in the future.”
Due to COVID-19 and restrictions on visitors to the Capitol, the One Voice team transitioned the annual in-person PMA/NTMA One Voice Legislative Con- ference to a series of virtual meetings, offering an opportunity for members
to share their concerns with legislators from their homes and offices. In 2020 and 2021, the team helped to create 23 Zoom meetings with members of Congress, which included 214 PMA- member participants.
Immediate Action
When the pandemic started in the United States, PMA, working with its One Voice advocacy team, immediately took action to help members meet the challenges they were experiencing. PMA created a dedicated webpage (www.pma.org/advocacy/coron- avirus.asp) to provide up-to-date infor- mation on COVID-19 government actions and guidance, while the advo- cacy team hosted more than 40 webi- nars to share the latest information related to essential business operations, COVID-relief efforts and more. The advocacy team also lobbied Congress for COVID-relief measures. Among the team’s most recent successes:
• Increasing Economic Injury Dis- aster Loan (EIDL) limits to $2 million
• Eliminating the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan “necessity question- naire” for borrowers
• Extending the PPP loan-applica- tion deadline
• Extending the Employee Retention Tax Credit.
“The best event I have attended has been the weekly One Voice govern- ment-affairs webinars with PMA’s advocacy team,” says Doug Johnson, president of metal former Marion Manufacturing Co., Cheshire, CT, PMA vice chair and treasurer, and PMA chair-elect for 2022. “These meetings have been open to attend to the entire metal forming industry. The informa- tion provided week after week, and especially early on in the pandemic,
has been vital to me and has helped guide the decisions we continue to make in managing our business. I know that many attendees would not make some business decisions until after they heard from the team. In par- ticular, the guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been very valuable as we now prepare to apply for PPP loan forgiveness. Early on, we were unsure how the program would work, would we qualify, what were the qualifications, the risk, etc. In some cases, we were even ahead of our CPA firm in understanding what was happening. I was able to go to the CPA firm in some cases and explain what I was hearing from our advocacy team, and then ask for the firm’s thoughts from a more knowledgeable perspective. Gaining these extra insights into what is going on in Wash- ington D. C., from a reliable source, has helped me sleep better at night.”
Josh Hopp, president of metal for- mer HK Metalcraft, Lodi, NJ, and a member of the PMA Board of Advisors, concurs, crediting the PMA OneVoice advocacy team as being “instrumental at providing timely and applicable information, to help us navigate these odd times. With so much information out there, the OneVoice team was able
 Early in 2019, PMA activated its One Voice team as the U.S. Trade Representative initiated a Section 301 investigation to enforce its rights in sparing copper alloys from a list of products subject to tariffs emanating from a trade dispute between the United States and EU over government subsidies for the aviation industry. “I am most appreciative that, through the efforts of PMA and the One Voice team, we were able to get to the right place, in front of the right people and at the right time,” says Dan Kendall, president of PMA member company ABC Metals. Shown here (l to r): John Guzik, The Franklin Partnership; Dan Kendall; PMA President David Klotz; and Charles Bernard, president of Eagle Metals.
www.metalformingmagazine.com
MetalForming/January-February 2022 17


















































































   17   18   19   20   21