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Successful “Second” Day of Choice March 25 in Jefferson City

Several workshops and employees held a “makeup day” for the Day of Choice in Jefferson City, a rally and advocacy visit that was originally scheduled for March 5.

With extremes of snow and wind that day, Missouri A-Team leader Heather Pugh was forced to make the tough decision to cancel the event despite months of planning. A-Team tried to reschedule the event, but that proved impossible because of the busy calendar for the state capitol building.

With all of this as background, four workshops with close ties to A-Team visited the capital and legislators on Tuesday, March 25. Natalie Couch, manager at Lake Area Industries in Camdenton, was among those leading delegations to Jefferson City, along with Kit Brewer of Project CU, St. Louis, and Heather Pugh of Ideal Industries, Richmond. Brewer also serves as MASWM legislative chair and Pugh as A-Team Missouri chair. Also making the trip were Jessica Johnson and Tammy Ortmann from Canterbury Enterprises in St. Louis.

“We had an awesome day at the Capitol educating our freshman legislators and checking in with our representative, Jeff Vernetti and our senator, Mike Bernskoetter,” Couch said. “It was a very positive day.”

During each visit, the groups were able to share information about Missouri’s workshops and discuss several important issues facing them. While groups focused first on their own district representatives and senators, Pugh and Brewer’s groups made sure that every legislator was contacted during the visit.

Couch noted one heartwarming moment that came when Rep. Vernetti presented the group with a House Resolution in her workshop’s honor. He also spoke with Lake Area Industries employee Aaron Bledsoe who had met him last year. Aaron was featured in the MASWM January newsletter, and Rep. Vernetti asked Aaron to autograph a copy for him.

Later, Couch’s group visited Sen. Bernkoetter and found a group photo of Lake Area Industry employees that was prominently displayed on the senator’s desk. They had given him the photo at the January Products and Services Day at the Capital.