FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2010

HEATH – The Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority will lead a contingent of local public and private officials meeting with members of the Ohio delegation to Congress in Washington, D.C. This year’s “D.C. Fly-In” will take place Thursday, February 4.

The contingent is set to meet with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, U.S. Representative Zack Space, U.S. Representative Pat Tiberi, U.S. Representative Steve Austria, and U.S. Representative Bob Latta in their respective Capitol Hill offices. The group is also scheduled to meet with staff for U.S. Senator George Voinovich.

The day-long visit is organized by the Heath-Newark-Licking County Port Authority as part of its caucus-building strategy aimed at increasing knowledge among federal, state, and local officials about the value and impact of Aerospace Center.

Officials from major employers at the Port Authority’s Aerospace Center campus—Boeing, Bionetics, and Goodrich—are attending along with local leaders from the City of Heath, Licking County Commissioners, and the Port Authority. On the agenda are updates on initiatives underway at the Center and an encouragement to support a statewide collaboration of the Ohio delegation on aerospace and defense industry issues.

“The Aerospace Center has had five major federal funding or policy issues impact our facility in the last five years where we’ve needed Congressional intervention. The fact that few people know that is a credit to this continued caucus-building effort,” said Rick Platt, President and CEO of the Port Authority. “We can’t afford to sit back and wait for a crisis to occur. We have to be proactive. This visit is a major part of how we keep our delegation informed and engaged.”

For more information, visit http://hnlcpa.com/dcflyin. Also, look for Twitter updates that day from Port Authority President and CEO Rick Platt on the same web page.