Are you interested in getting involved in ARVC’s advocacy efforts to help ensure a strong future for our industry? Here’s your chance.
 

Are you interested in getting involved in ARVC’s advocacy efforts to help ensure a strong future for our industry? Here’s your chance.

Each year in June, the ARVC advocacy team, along with members of the ARVC board and selected campground owners from across the country, travel to Washington D.C. to participate in RVs Move America Week, an initiative hosted by our industry partner, the RV Industry Association (RVIA). This important event includes two days of strategic meetings with key members of Congress to encourage support of the RV and outdoor hospitality industries.

This year, RVs Move America Week will take place on June 1-4, 2020. The deadline to apply to join the ARVC delegation is March 20 and all applicants will be notified by March 30. Apply here: https://www.arvc.org/Contact-ARVC/Advocacy-Week

Limited spots are available and delegates will be chosen based on a variety of criteria to ensure that the ARVC delegation includes a balance of industry expertise and diverse geographic representation. Applicants will be voted on and approved by a Selection Committee consisting of ARVC Chair Pete Brown, OHC, ARVC Public Affairs Chair David L. Berg, CPO, OHP and ARVC President/CEO Paul Bambei. Those who are selected to join the delegation will have all of their travel and lodging expenses covered by ARVC.

Last year during RVs Move America Week, a 10-member delegation from ARVC met with 34 legislators from 12 states to communicate the value of RV parks and campgrounds and the RV industry and to advocate for key legislation.

Kim Huskey of Cherrystone Family Camping Resort in Cape Charles, Va. was a first-time attendee at RVs Move America Week last year and she was impressed by how well the ARVC staff prepared the delegates to participate.

“We were thoroughly briefed on the issues,” she says. “We were thoroughly briefed on the members of Congress that we were going to meet with. We met nightly during the whole week on The Hill to discuss how the meetings had gone. Jeff Sims knows his stuff. It was just extremely well organized, well thought out, well planned and well executed.”

Heather Blankenship, OHM, of Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park at Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. was another first-time attendee.

“Educating members of Congress on issues related to the RV industry is important for the health of our businesses,” she says. “It’s crucial they understand how big of an impact we have on the economy and each individual district. Seeing first-hand how much ARVC does for independently-owned parks at such a high level was eye opening.”

If you are interested in joining the ARVC delegation at RVs Move America Week on June 1-4, visit arvc.org/advocacyweek to complete your application and be sure to submit it by March 20.