Advocacy in action

In mid-September, 140 members of the green industry convened on Capitol Hill for the AmericanHort Impact Washington Fly-In Summit. The mission was simple: educate lawmakers and their staff on key industry priorities.

Although many organizations fly members into D.C. yearly, Matt Mika, AmericanHort’s vice president of advocacy and government affairs, says setting up a three-day event every other year (avoiding big election years) tends to be more impactful. Although Mika has only been with AmericanHort for 2.5 years, he’s been working in D.C. for 21 years. Mika thrives in the chaos. He loves the breakneck pace.

“You write a to-do list the night before, then something happens, or President Trump says something, or a bill comes up and you literally rip it up because everything that mattered an hour ago, doesn’t anymore.”

Alan Jones, president of Manor View Farm in nearby Monkton, Maryland, has been going to Washington, D.C. fly-ins for decades. It’s about an hour train ride to the Capitol, and he’s made that ride many times. But he argues it’s necessary to keep the issues in front of our representatives in Congress. Many of the topics haven’t changed, but the people do. Between the 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 members of the Senate, there are 72 new members in the 119th U.S. Congress. More than 200 members of the House have never voted on a Farm Bill before. Talk of reforming the H-2A and H-2B programs has been happening for years, but as new faces replace the old, hope springs eternal.

“It’s one of these things you just have to constantly just hammer away at and hope that sooner or later you’ll have some success,” Jones says.

Building new relationships with congressional offices of those new members was an important priority for the fly-in, as was reinforcing existing connections to strengthen partnerships.

AmericanHort CEO Ken Fisher says the firsthand testimonials from fly-in attendees are the key to driving change.

Editor's note: Watch Ken Fisher share highlights from the Impact Washington Fly-In Summit 

“It allows our members to go and have their voice heard,” he says. “It’s one thing for us as a national trade association to deliver the message. But it’s much more impactful when a grower or an owner comes to D.C., advocates on our behalf, and really drives the point home that we need some help and some change in Congress.”

Jones agrees. Politicians can be influenced – especially by a good story.

“The advantage of having businesspeople there and people who work in the industry is that we tell the story much better than others can, because we’re living it every day,” Jones says. “Putting a personal touch to the issues is much better than having a lobbyist come in and just tell people what’s going on.”

The room where it happens

The Impact Washington Fly-In Summit had 140 registered attendees, across 25 states. The attendees were broken into 25 groups. Some groups only had two or three members; others from more horticulture representation had eight to 10. There were roughly 220 meetings scheduled.

Fisher explains the process.

“What we try to do for every state that’s represented is get appointments with their elected officials, both on the House and the Senate side,” he says. “Sometimes it’s with a member of Congress themselves and sometimes it’s with their staff. But either way, the discussions are good.”

But the fly-in wasn’t just about walking the halls of the Longworth, Cannon and Rayburn buildings and hustling to meetings. Attendees also heard from guest speakers including U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), and Trevor White, policy director for the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, USDA Senior Policy Advisor Alison Slagell, Jonathan Cordone of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, and workforce and labor policy experts Lynn Jacquez and Laurie Flanagan.

Tips for a successful fly-in

AmericanHort’s D.C. team prepped attendees well. First-timers were placed in groups with more experienced members and given a list of helpful tips. First, have an elevator speech ready to go.

“It’s all about telling your story,” Mika says. “You could be walking with your group and I see a member and they say, ‘Hey, Matt, tell them what you do’ and you’ve literally got 30 seconds because D.C. is so fast-paced.”

Second, stick to the issues. AmericanHort provided every attendee with a “cheat sheet” with the key issues and talking points on the front and a map of Capitol Hill on the back (incredibly useful for newbies). Labor and workforce was no. 1, followed by Farm Bill, research and tariffs. Keeping to those four topics ensured attendees didn’t get off topic and waste anyone’s time.

Jones likes to remind attendees that they’re not necessarily talking about politics, it’s about policy. Don’t get intimidated by their status and don’t bristle if your personal politics don’t align with theirs.

“Whether you voted for the member or not, they still technically represent you as a constituent, and so they need to listen to your concerns,” he says. “Then you can try to persuade them to change their view or change the policy that they’re promoting.”

Do the prep work. When AmericanHort’s team was setting up meetings, one of the crucial steps that increased chances of a successful meeting was prepping the staff for the topics to be discussed. Many Congress members have staffers that specialize in certain areas. If you ask for a staffer who handles labor issues or knows the background of the Farm Bill, you’ll have a more fruitful discussion than you would if you were meeting with the staffer who specializes in defense.

Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t get to meet with the Senator or Congressperson in person.

“D.C. is run by 25-year-olds,” Mika says.

When you walk into a Congressional office, you’ll see interns, staff assistants. These young people handle schedules, briefings and 15 to 20 daily meetings.

“Most people don’t realize that the staff are in some respects more important than the members,” Jones says.

Use your expertise to provide updates about the issues that affect you and your business. That keeps them up to date, then they can keep their bosses up to date.

Next steps

After the fly-in comes the next part of the advocacy process: the follow up. Less than 2% of the American public is involved in agriculture, Mika says. Even less in horticulture. This is why it’s important not only to visit D.C., but to meet your local representatives at the state, city, county or township level. Next, invite those elected officials out to your operation. Seeing it in-person can help them understand your concerns.

“Nine times out of 10, they’ve never been to a farm, never been to a nursery, never been to a greenhouse,” Mika says. “They have no idea what a garden center is and they don’t even realize what they’re buying at Home Depot, Lowe’s or Meijer comes from our members that are selling it to them. They just don’t understand the supply chain or how agriculture and more importantly, horticulture, works.”

Jones reminds attendees not to skip the basic business follow up.

Send an email within a few days to the people you met with thanking them for their time and reminding them about some of the topics you discussed.

The Maryland group, which included Vanessa Finney, executive vice president of MANTS, invited staffers not just to their businesses, but to the trade show itself.

“We’re certainly going to pursue that and encourage them to come, because that way they really get a full picture of what the industry is all about,” Jones says. “I think they’ll be blown away by that.”