Inside AED
Inside AED January 2010 Construction Equipment Distribution www.cedmag.com 9 Sometimes it takes a monumen-tal event to get us to move out of our comfort zone. For many deal-ers the equipment recession of 2009 was enough to do it. In the past few months, AED members joined the association's grassroots effort in record numbers to call attention to the industry's plight and to promote solutions to elected representatives. In the context of our Start Us Up USA! campaign, we have seen an unprecedented member participation in AED's program at the grassroots level, said Christian Klein, vice presi-dent of government affairs for AED. The action has been forceful on numer-ous fronts: Thousands of phone calls, e-mails and letters to elected officials; convoys of idle equipment in Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington and this month in San Antonio; as well as the poignant display of 5,500 orange flags in front of the Capitol, representing the more-than 550,000 jobs lost in our industry. The AED Government Affairs Conference, held April 14-15, 2010, in Washington, D.C., provides deal-ers with the opportunity to take their industry activism to the next level. The Government Affairs Confer-ence is the fusion of our direct lobby-ing and grass roots efforts, said Klein. AED members from around the coun-try gather into Washington D.C., to participate personally in the political process and educate members of Congress on the issues that affect our industry. Klein believes it's the best way for members to continue to build industry visibility on Capitol Hill. Rick Dahl, president of Metro-lift, Inc., based in Sugar Grove, Ill., attended the conference for the first time last year, with a group of deal-ers from Illinois. We definitely felt like we made an impact, said Dahl. Dahl admits that lobbying was out of his comfort zone, but said AED did a great job of educating attendees. We were well prepared to be able to share our knowledge with our legis-lators, said Dahl. An Illinois dele-gation comprising four equipment distributorships together held meet-ings with their elected officials. AED's Washington staff can pair first-time GAC attendees with AED mentors who have previously parti-cipated in the event, to help more members feel comfortable with the process of meeting with members of Congress and sharing the legislative Proposed New Members Advanced Insurance Solution/ USA Risk Antioch, TN BorgSolutions, Inc. Austin, TX Ditch Witch Southwest Lubbock, TX MillerBaird LLC Chippewa Lake, OH Pathway Polymers Chattanooga, TN Service Trucks International Sioux Center, IA Get Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Politics Mark your calendar for the AED Government Affairs Conference, April 14-15 This list is published each month as required by AED bylaws. Comments on the applicants should be directed to AED President Toby Mack at 800-388-0650 ext. 326 or jtm@aednet.org. Members of the Illinois Equipment Distributors Association met as a group with their various members of Congress during the Government Affaris Conference last April. Pictured clockwise from center: Diane Benck (Westside Tractor), Rick Dahl (Metrolift), Mark Harbaugh (Ditch Witch Midwest), Tom Kotarac (staff member of Sen. Dick Durbin), and Dennis Kruepke (McCann Industries). (continued on page 10)