The Orange Leader - Area Chamber Leaders Attend Summit In D.C.

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The Orange Leader - Area Chamber Leaders Attend Summit In D.C.

By: Tommy Mann Jr.

A recent trip to Washington, D.C. by several area chamber of commerce leaders and business representatives will hopefully keep the needs of Southeast Texas in the minds of governmental leaders.

Sabrina Gray, president of the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce, made the trek to Washington, D.C. to attend America's Small Business Summit held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Gray attended the event with representatives from Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas, including Jim Rich, president of the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce; Nathan Cross, chairman-elect of the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce; Mary Ann Reid, president of the Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce; and Mark Viator and Amanda Bryant of Partnership Strategies, LLC.

One of the many meetings and seminars attended by Gray and the others included a meeting with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Tuesday.

"Our meeting gave us the opportunity to talk about several key issues impacting Southeast Texas, including the area's continued recovery efforts from the damage and revenue loss inflicted by Hurricane Ike," Cornyn said in a press release. "The community leaders also highlighted the need to maintain our nation's ports and waterways which play a key role in the local, state, and national economies." Cornyn said the Sabine-Neches Waterway is scheduled to receive $18.7 million in stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and these funds are critical to the operations and maintenance of the waterway used to carry crude oil, petrochemicals, and military cargo.

"I will continue to support the Sabine-Neches Waterway at the federal level, as well as other local projects that could bring much needed economic development and job creation to Southeast Texas and get our economy moving," Cornyn added.

According to Gray, transportation is also a key component to the area's recovery efforts.

"We met with Senator Cornyn and Congressman Kevin Brady (U.S. Representative 8th district-Texas) and told them what our needs are," Gray said. "Which included transportation issues along Interstate 10 and projects which affect our ports. They listened, and informed us on what they could." Brady, a member of the Ways and Means Committee and the Joint Economic Committee, has submitted proposals to help reform America's aging transportation infrastructure. He was expected to release these reforms by letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar this week.

Gray said many business leaders from across the region also attended seminars at the summit.

"A lot of people were there to hear the latest on what is going on with the economy," Gray added. "And to hear about information which might help businesses survive the current recession." One such seminar featured speaker Vinton G. Cerf, who is vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google. He is also widely known as one of the "Fathers of the Internet," as he is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet.

"Mr. Cerf gave a talk on the benefits of the Internet and its relationship with businesses," Gray said. "He also spoke about what he believes is next for the Internet and how it will apply to businesses in the future. A lot of people found this seminar very interesting." Gray said results from this week's meetings in Washington, D.C. may not be immediately visible, but she believes those results will eventually surface in time.

"We have people working very hard for us in Washington, D.C.," Gray added. "And, hopefully, these leaders will be able to get things like the economy and the issues we addressed moving in the right direction."

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