Seeds planted on Legislative Day didn’t take long to blossom as a staffer from Sen. Maria Cantwell’s (D-Wash.) office visited SONICO, Inc.

On April 2, Matthew McCarthy, Sen. Cantwell’s aerospace legislative assistant, toured the company’s Moses Lake, Washington facility and witnessed first-hand a repair station’s contributions to the local economy and aviation safety.  The visit resulted from SONICO Vice President Jim Perdue’s meeting with McCarthy during ARSA’s 2015 Legislative Day on March 18. In addition to his role for SONICO, Perdue is the current president of ARSA’s Board of Directors.

“Hosting congressional staff and lawmakers is the single most important grassroots activity repair stations can pursue,” said Perdue.  “It’s great exposure for your company and helps educate officials about the industry’s great work and economic activity.  We must engage back home to ensure bad ideas on Capitol Hill don’t turn into burdensome mandates.”

L-R: Matthew McCarthy, Sen. Cantwell’s Office; Art Wentworth, Sonico’s Quality Assurance Manager; Matt Davis, Sonico’s Maintenance Manager; and Jim Perdue, ARSA’s President and Sonico’s Vice President.

Sen. Cantwell is a key player in FAA reauthorization in her role as the top Democrat on the Senate Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security Subcommittee.  As such, discussions between Perdue and McCarthy focused on FAA repair station oversight and the reauthorization process.  Perdue also treated McCarthy to the new, ARSA-produced documentary, You Can’t Fly Without Us: The World of Aviation Maintenance.

Want to schedule a congressional facility visit?  ARSA’s legislative team is standing by to help!

Learn more about how your business can get involved in legislative advocacy at http://arsa.org/legislative/get-involved/.

More from ARSA