Greenbelt Firm Gives to Politics Through Industry PAC
By: Melissa Ostrow
For: Suburban Newsline
View Original Article
For many companies it is important to play a part in politics, so they belong to associations and political action committees that will lobby and work for the success of their industries.
Aggregate Industries of Greenbelt is one company that donates money through this process.
Aggregate Industries belongs to the National Ready Mixed Concrete Associations (NRMCA) and the National Stone Sand & Gravel Associations (NSSGA), two associations that work and lobby for its industry.
Aggregate is in the crushed stone business, the sand and gravel business, the ready mixed concrete business and the asphalt paving business all over the United States and the United Kingdom.
Its products are used in the construction of homes, buildings and such projects as barrier walls and bridges on interstate highways, including Interstate 95 and I-495 in the Washington area.
Because of its work with roads and highways, it is important for Aggregate industries to be a member of the NRMCA and the NSSGA, because they lobby for road funding and environmental issues, said James Russ, senior vice president of Aggregate Industries.
Each association lobbies for one part of the business for Aggregate Industries.
NRMCA represents the entire ready-mixed concrete industry to ensure ready-mixed concrete is the building material of choice, said the NRMCA Web site. According to the NSSGA Web site, the group is run similarly to the NRMCA. Both lobby Congress and use their PAC funds for campaign contribution to candidates.
Companies like Aggregate Industries pay dues to the associations, then NRMCA and NSSGA solicit the company employees for money for the Political Action Committee, said Jennifer LeFevre, director of government regulations for NRMCA.
Russ said he contributes to these organizations because he believes in them, calling the two groups "the advocacy voice for the industry."
Associations like NRMCA and NSSGA have fundraisers, dinners and meetings where they collect money from the employees of Aggregate Industries and other similar companies. A ticket to a dinner costs about $500 per couple, said LeFevre. At the event, there are raffles that are $250 a ticket to win a car.
Tedd Shoch, vice president of sales and quality control for Aggregate Industries, contributed $250 at a reception to win a car. He said he feels no pressure to contribute money to the PACs and that he donates strictly on his own.
Shoch said he donates to the PAC because it is the industry's "main heartbeat." He explained that through these associations the company is able to keep up with the industry and promote concrete.
Russ, who serves on the board of the NRMCA PAC, donates at least $250 a year, which is what is requested or recommended of board members, said LeFevre.
Russ also attends dinners, cocktail parties and receptions thrown by the PACs. He contributed $500 in January of 2001 and $250 in March 2001 to NRMCA PAC, and he contributed $300 to NSSGA in January 2001.
The Concrete PAC usually gives money only to candidates in congressional races who the PAC's leaders feel will do the most for the industry, and those are usually the candidates that are pro-business pro-industry, said LeFevre.
The Concrete PAC usually gives $500 to a candidate running for the U.S. House and $1,000 to a candidate running for the U.S. Senate.
But if the candidate is in an influential position -- such as House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., or Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure -- the PAC will usually contribute $1,000 or more, said LeFevre.
According to Political Money Line, an independent campaign finance Web site, the NRMCA PAC has contributed $6,382 to Democrats and $24,453 to Republicans.
The NSSGA also looks at each candidate to see how supportive he or she has been for the NSSGA's cause, said Pamela Whitted, vice president of government affairs for NSSGA.
Like the NRMCA, the NSSGA donates only to congressional candidates and it usually contributes about $500 to $1,000, said Whitted.
