Engage and Educate

The summer is over and students are back at school and college. Although school may just be back in session, the summer at ABI and for our hundreds of members around the state has been anything but a vacation. Summer is one of the Association's busiest times; the ABI team is busy engaging members in policy development and educating the next generation of leaders through our 501c3 Foundation programs for high school and college students.

As we transition to fall, the ABI Board of Directors will meet on September 11 to finalize the 2026 legislative priorities and policy statements. The more than 200 members that participated in the process highlighted a few opportunities for legislative change. Another key role ABI has is to engage and educate statewide elected officials and state legislators about ABI's policies as well as the effect legislative proposals will have on Iowa employers. We do that in a variety of ways including around the clock lobbying, visiting legislators in their districts and inviting legislators to tour ABI member companies.

However, we cannot do this alone. We need members to engage and educate your employees on being informed citizens. Time and again studies show that employers are the most trusted resource for non-partisan issue and election information. Employees know employers care about them. Here are three simple ways you can engage and educate your team members this fall:

• Participate in Employee Voter Registration Week (EVRW). This week is a non-partisan initiative helping companies support civic engagement at work. ABI has been a partner of the initiative since inception.
• Share information about the November municipal and school board elections. Much has been in the news about property tax reform at the state level; however, most of an individual and company's property tax bill is levied by local governments and school districts. Several school districts also have bond referendums on the ballot. ABI has tools for you to share about #LetsGetLocal this election to remind your team to vote on November 5, 2025.
• If you are a manufacturer, plan a Manufacturing Day event to celebrate the industry and share with your team the impact Iowa manufacturing has on our state's economy. Even if you aren't a manufacturer, invite your management team to attend the Iowa Manufacturing Conference in Altoona. Keynote speaker focused on the future of work and a business leaders panel, not to mention workshops to help your team learn from other professionals connect with their peers. Click here to register.

The entire team at ABI takes seriously our charge to represent you in all that we do. The bottom line is all of us at ABI are grateful that you and your companies engage in ABI and educate others about the association.