SPRINGFIELD – The Technology & Manufacturing Association co-hosted a “New Legislator Welcome Breakfast” February 25th in Springfield. The breakfast was sponsored by TMA, NFIB-IL, ABC-IL, CALA-IL, the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Midwest Truckers Association.
The event’s purpose was to welcome new legislators to the Capitol and discuss small business issues with them. Those attending included David Curtin from TMA, Noah Finley from NFIB, Alicia Martin from ABC, Phil Melin from CALA, Larry Ivory from the IL State Black Chamber, Andres Solarte from the IL Hispanic Chamber.
Legislators included Sen. Darby Hills, Rep. Jennifer Sanalitro, Rep. Brandun Schweizer, and House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, among others.
Each representative from the sponsoring groups had a chance to speak for five minutes or so about their organizaiton and what they are working on. There was a lot of 1-on-1 networking before and after the speeches.
TMA’s reps were especially pleased that was the organizations’ leadership had an opportunity to talk to each other about working together on larger issues that impact small businesses.
In fact, Alicia Martin of the Association of Builders and Contractors is working to put together a coalition with those attending, and has scheduled a virtual meeting to discuss growing an impactful presence as a unifying force in the next few weeks.