ARTICLE
By: Carl A. Marrara, Vice President of Government Affairs, PA Manufacturers’ Association According to CNBC, Pennsylvania’s economy is ranked 42 out of the 50 states. This isn’t an anomaly as ranking after ranking and study after study shows a sluggish Pennsylvania private sector. The goal of Pennsylvania policymakers should be to make it the smart business decision for employers to locate, expand, and hire here in this commonwealth rather than in one of our competitor states. Likewise, the goal of federal policymakers ought to be to optimize conditions for economic growth in the United States so American businesses can compete worldwide. But to do this, the private sector must engage in the public policy and political process. Luckily, it’s easier to do this than ever before with the newly enhanced Pennsylvania Prosperity Project (P2). It is crucial that employers give their employees access to policy information; ensuring employees are able to make confident intelligent decisions when they go to the polls. Employees are craving this material, but in the last election cycle less than two in ten employers gave their employees any policy or political communication. Meanwhile, employees report their employers as their most trusted source for political and policy information. This creates a blind-spot that must be filled for the betterment of our commonwealth and that’s the void the Pennsylvania Prosperity Project seeks to fill. The Pennsylvania Prosperity Project is a grassroots voter education program that is being deployed by both the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association (PMA) and the Business-Industry PAC (BIPAC) in Washington, DC. This education tool and the organizations implementing it are non-partisan, but support pro-economic growth policies. The PA Prosperity Project’s objective is to provide employers and employees with easy to access, vetted, and non-partisan information on public policies, candidates, and information about current officials. Is employer to employee engagement effective? The answer is a resounding yes. There is an established and inherent trust with one's employer, this motivates the employee to engage with the technology. By using this technology, an employee is able to access information on current candidates and their voting record, contact their office, write advocacy letters, find their polling place, and register to vote. It’s a one-stop-shop for all things policy and political for the productive sector of Pennsylvania. The results are astounding. According to polling results, those exposed to information from the Prosperity Project said that the information led them to register to vote by a 52 percent increase; 55 percent said it led them to learn more about a policy issue; 65 percent said the information made them more likely to vote; and 83 percent said the information was helpful in deciding how to vote. It’s no surprise, employees trust their employer to give them a paycheck every two weeks, to provide them with benefits, training, and a better way of life. Why wouldn’t they also trust their employer with this information? Essentially, P2’s website is a necessary multipurpose tool that will aid citizens with the knowledge that they need to be informed voters. Through PMA’s partnership with the Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce, resources can be tapped to bring a Pennsylvania Prosperity Project event to you and your company. These events are completely free to the employer, past events include: lunch and learn events, pizza-party voter registration drives, public policy briefings, or a meet the candidate’s forum - but the options for events are endless and fully customizable. The ultimate goal is stressing the importance for employers to civically engage with their employees. If you are interested in more information, please contact Carl A. Marrara, Vice President of Government Affairs of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association at Marrara@pamanufacturers.org.
By: Carl A. Marrara, Vice President of Government Affairs, PA Manufacturers’ Association
According to CNBC, Pennsylvania’s economy is ranked 42 out of the 50 states. This isn’t an anomaly as ranking after ranking and study after study shows a sluggish Pennsylvania private sector. The goal of Pennsylvania policymakers should be to make it the smart business decision for employers to locate, expand, and hire here in this commonwealth rather than in one of our competitor states. Likewise, the goal of federal policymakers ought to be to optimize conditions for economic growth in the United States so American businesses can compete worldwide.
But to do this, the private sector must engage in the public policy and political process. Luckily, it’s easier to do this than ever before with the newly enhanced Pennsylvania Prosperity Project (P2). It is crucial that employers give their employees access to policy information; ensuring employees are able to make confident intelligent decisions when they go to the polls. Employees are craving this material, but in the last election cycle less than two in ten employers gave their employees any policy or political communication. Meanwhile, employees report their employers as their most trusted source for political and policy information. This creates a blind-spot that must be filled for the betterment of our commonwealth and that’s the void the Pennsylvania Prosperity Project seeks to fill.
The Pennsylvania Prosperity Project is a grassroots voter education program that is being deployed by both the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association (PMA) and the Business-Industry PAC (BIPAC) in Washington, DC. This education tool and the organizations implementing it are non-partisan, but support pro-economic growth policies. The PA Prosperity Project’s objective is to provide employers and employees with easy to access, vetted, and non-partisan information on public policies, candidates, and information about current officials.
Is employer to employee engagement effective? The answer is a resounding yes. There is an established and inherent trust with one's employer, this motivates the employee to engage with the technology. By using this technology, an employee is able to access information on current candidates and their voting record, contact their office, write advocacy letters, find their polling place, and register to vote. It’s a one-stop-shop for all things policy and political for the productive sector of Pennsylvania.
The results are astounding. According to polling results, those exposed to information from the Prosperity Project said that the information led them to register to vote by a 52 percent increase; 55 percent said it led them to learn more about a policy issue; 65 percent said the information made them more likely to vote; and 83 percent said the information was helpful in deciding how to vote. It’s no surprise, employees trust their employer to give them a paycheck every two weeks, to provide them with benefits, training, and a better way of life. Why wouldn’t they also trust their employer with this information?
Essentially, P2’s website is a necessary multipurpose tool that will aid citizens with the knowledge that they need to be informed voters. Through PMA’s partnership with the Upper Bucks Chamber of Commerce, resources can be tapped to bring a Pennsylvania Prosperity Project event to you and your company. These events are completely free to the employer, past events include: lunch and learn events, pizza-party voter registration drives, public policy briefings, or a meet the candidate’s forum - but the options for events are endless and fully customizable.
The ultimate goal is stressing the importance for employers to civically engage with their employees. If you are interested in more information, please contact Carl A. Marrara, Vice President of Government Affairs of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association at Marrara@pamanufacturers.org.