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Earlier this month, members of the Akron-Canton Advocacy Alliance (ACAA) met with Members of Congress on Capitol Hill to advocate for small business policies and several federal funding opportunities that stand to benefit our region. This marks our fifth D.C. Fly-In of the year, where we brought members and a range of important issues to our nation’s capitol.
We actively lobbied on key small business issues like extending the small business income deduction, repealing R&D amortization provisions, repealing the Corporate Transparency Act, and creating new tax credits to support redeveloping obsolete office space and improving the access to and affordability of childcare.
We also played a role in advocacy campaigns for applications to the Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub Program, the “Reconnecting Canton” Recompete Program, the Good Jobs Challenge Round 2 Program, and the Build 2 Scale Program. We’re happy to report that all garnered broad bipartisan support and some have seen success (and others are still going through their respective processes!). These initiatives are collectively designed to bolster our region’s ability to innovate, conduct R&D, implement workforce development programs, and otherwise support our business communities and economy.
The ACAA’s presence in D.C. highlights the region’s commitment to supporting small businesses and fostering economic growth not just locally, but on a regional and statewide scale. Throughout the year, we met with many different state and federal elected officials and key government stakeholders, including U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, Congressman Michael Rulli, Congresswoman Shontel Brown, Congressman Mike Carey, Congressman Max Miller, Congresswoman Emilia Sykes, Congressman Dave Joyce, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the National Small Business Association (NSBA).
We appreciate our elected officials’ support on these critically important issues and look forward to continuing this work in 2025 alongside our members!
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ACAA Efforts Throughout 2024 | |
Upon the creation of the ACAA, we established the first-ever joint Public Policy Agenda for the Akron-Canton region and positioned these issues with elected officials and key stakeholders at the local, state, and federal level. Through this (new and exciting!) regional approach to advocacy, we have made progress on several items within our 2024 ACAA Public Policy Agenda. As with all things political, some things take time and span multiple legislative sessions. That said, below is a brief list of big wins that in some cases are complete, while others will continue to be addressed in upcoming state and federal sessions: |
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Complete: Successfully lobbied the U.S. Department of Commerce for a $51 million Tech Hub award and Ohio Department of Development for $31.25 million in Innovation Hub funding, making this a $100 million dollar summer for the region.
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Complete: Successfully advocated for priority projects within the State Capital Budget resulting in $18 million in funding.
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Ongoing: Alongside U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, the ACAA introduced legislation to support American tire manufacturers and workers by incentivizing the purchase and use of domestically retreaded tires.
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Ongoing: Advocated for legislation that would make the 20% qualified business income deduction permanent. The ACAA's efforts raised awareness among members and elected officials, leading to growing support from elected officials for legislation to accomplish this.
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Ongoing: Advocated for the repeal of R&D amortization, new childcare tax credits to address access and affordability, and for the repeal of (and/or a delay to reporting penalties within) the Corporate Transparency Act, all of which have received broad bipartisan support via the introduction of multiple pieces of legislation.
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Complete: Successfully led efforts to (re)designate rubber as a critical and strategic material in the eyes of the Department of Defense, which not only benefits our region/partners but has significant impacts on our national security and our economy.
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Ongoing: Successfully advocated for (and saw the introduction of) legislation that would support efforts to redevelop obsolete office space in downtown areas into other practical uses, making this another big issue we’ve pushed and garnered broad bipartisan support for.
As we enter a new legislative session, we will be spending the next couple of months reviewing and updating our current policy priorities/public policy agenda to produce our 2025-2026 ACAA Public Policy Agenda. When doing so, we’re working to ensure our policy goals and objectives are aligned with key stakeholders/elected officials and focused on relevant/timely issues that will be addressed within new state and federal legislative sessions. To begin this process, we’ll be gathering input from all members and various external partners/stakeholders to ensure are partners’ perspectives are reflected in our future advocacy work.
For anyone interested in sharing their thoughts or perspectives on our 2025-2026 Public Policy Agenda, please contact Alexis Raineri at araineri@akroncantonadvocacy.org for information on how to weigh in.
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Since our formal introduction in January, the ACAA has held over 20 meetings and special events with elected officials and engaged in many important activities, such as: candidate conferences and roundtables; bringing members to Washington D.C. to communicate with key policymakers; providing members with voting resources through live/virtual presentations and a Voter Election Guide, and helping secure transformational investments for our region.
As we move into 2025, here are a few things to watch out for:
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As we begin new state and federal legislative sessions, the ACAA will be closely tracking new legislation that could impact the Akron-Canton region via the Legislative Radar on our website: www.akroncantonadvocacy.org.
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Following the 2024 General Election and resulting political landscape(s), the ACAA will be working to keep members connected to key state and federal political/legislative activities starting in January 2025 via our Advocacy Updates. To subscribe, please click here.
- In respect to upcoming political activities that we know to be on the horizon and impactful to members, the ACAA will be providing a variety of engagement opportunities that will enable us to position our priorities for success:
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ACAA Meeting & 2024 Recap
On January 10, 2025 from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m., the ACAA is holding a meeting and social networking event with regional legislators at MAPS Air Museum. This meeting will serve as an opportunity for us to recap 2024 and plan for 2025, as well as connect with key legislators and stakeholders in a casual setting.
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ACAA Day
in Columbus
On February 4, 2025 from 9:00 – 2:00 p.m., the ACAA will be hosting its first-ever Day in Columbus at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. This unique event will feature multiple discussions and speakers from the DeWine Administration, Ohio Legislature, state agencies and our statewide economic development ecosystem.
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Akron-Canton Regional Impact Ohio Conference
On February 28, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., the ACAA and Ohio Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the Akron-Canton Regional Impact Ohio Conference at MAPS Air Museum with key government officials, business leaders, and community stakeholders to discuss important issues and opportunities facing our region.
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NSBA's Small Business Congress
February 6 - 7, 2025 is the National Small Business Association’s Small Business Congress in Washington, D.C., at which the ACAA will bring a delegation of regional stakeholders to help shape the national agenda for America’s small business community. To register for this event, click here.
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Ohio Birthday Party/D.C. Fly-In
March 5 - 6, 2025 is the Ohio Birthday Party and ACAA D.C. Fly-In. During this event, the ACAA will bring members to D.C. to meet with Members of Congress and key agency staff to advance our policy and grant efforts.
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