NAMA recently presented attendees of the 2013 Public Policy Conference (PPC) with a Post Public Policy Conference Briefing.
“Following the PPC, a significant amount of work has been done by conference attendees and NAMA staff and real progress has been made. We want to share this information with all our members,” said Eric Dell, NAMA’s senior vice president of government affairs, in a prepared statement.
The successes include previously announced visits by elected officials at the federal and state levels, including visits by U.S. Congressman Tony Cardenas (California District 29) to Gourmet Coffee Service as well as a visit by U.S. Congresswoman Martha Roby (Alabama District 2) to Pepi Foods.
Agency Meetings: Additionally, the briefing includes specifics regarding successful meetings with federal agencies, including the General Services Administration (GSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The GSA meeting included NAMA’s President and CEO, Carla Balakgie; Eric Dell; Nicky Gacos, president of the National Association of Blind Merchants and NAMA Government Affairs committee member and John Fowler of Canteen. Discussions included micro markets and the recently released Health and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending Operations.
The EPA meeting, including Carla Balakgie, Eric Dell and several CTW industry members, focused on technical ENERGY STAR specifications for coffee brewers.
Capitol Hill Meetings: Carla Balakgie and Eric Dell held meetings with offices of six members of Congress, most of whom serve on the House Financial Services Committee. The meetings, focusing on coin and currency issues and the metallic makeup of coins, provided an opportunity to discuss financial services issues related to the Durbin Amendment as well as electronic payments.
