Greater OKC Chamber Of Commerce Makes Annual Trip To DC For With Congressional Delegation

Oklahoma City-area business leaders were in the nation's capital last week, meeting with the state's congressional delegation and looking for opportunities to capitalize on federal projects and programs.

The occasion was the Greater OKC Chamber of Commerce's annual trip to D.C.

Christy Gillenwater has been the business advocacy group's president and CEO since January 2023 and was very positive about the value of this year's trip.

"It’s tremendous--we’ve had great briefings," Gillenwater said in an interview last Thursday morning.

There were briefings on a range of issues of interest to the chamber's members: emerging technologies. federal transportation priorities, energy policy, and, perhaps more important than anything in central Oklahoma, support for the military.

"Tinker Air Force Base, the FAA, those assets are so critical to, not only our current but also our future success," Gillenwater pointed out, "and so, having more of our community interact with officials that really lift up that work here in DC is extremely critical."

More than anything, though, participants say, spending a couple of days in Washington is worth the time and effort because of the one-on-one interaction they are able to have with the members of the congressional delegation.

"You get to hear about the issues that they are looking at," said Tamara Pratt, Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement for Guernsey, "and from a two-way perspective, you also get to talk to them about the issues that you’re dealing with.That kind of connectivity you just can’t get anywhere else."

And that matters, Pratt explained. Since Guernsey has both Department of Defense contracts and a cyber security team, staying on top of federal initiatives in those areas impacts the company's bottom line.

Devery Youngblood, the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Aggregates Association, said it's vitally important to companies working in transportation and infrastructure to have a rapport with federal lawmakers.

"And our delegation works together better than I realize that they did," Youngblood said in an interview. "I thought that they were good, but they’re really good, and they really are on complementary committees and comparing notes and are doing really good things for Oklahoma."

Several dozen Chamber members made the 2-day trip.

"These DC fly-ins really are so important for us to be aware of what’s happening on a national-international level," said Gillenwater, "and then to just think through and synthesize how we can bring that back home, as well."