Top Five Reasons to Support Advocacy Now More Than Ever

By Ann Sullivan | WIPP Works In Washington, July 2020

If you have been attending WIPP’s Monday webinars on all things COVID-19, it should be pretty obvious that WIPP is on top of Congressional and federal agency actions related to the pandemic that continues to plague us personally and professionally. Not as evident, perhaps, is the role of advocacy beyond reporting the latest news. We give you five reasons why your support for WIPP is important.

 

1.  There’s More to Come. The government isn’t finished providing assistance to businesses.  The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) remain key to retaining employees and providing capital but expect another stimulus bill later this summer.

 

2.  If You’re Not at The Table, You’re on the Menu. In other words, there are consequences to sitting on the sidelines. If you aren’t represented in decision-making, you are vulnerable to adverse consequences—you are at risk. WIPP is at the table.

 

3.  Interpreting Federal Actions Requires Context. A perfect example of this are the actions the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Treasury issued on PPP. Much was made of an audit of loans over $2 million— Treasury guidance (see question #31) issued in response to high profile public companies who got the PPP loans. Unfortunately, small companies got scared of a government audit and returned money they needed and should have kept. This could have been avoided, had they understood the intent of the rule/Congress.

 

4.  Access to Decision-Makers Requires Consistent Attention. Advocacy requires constant communication with a consistent message. It is not all that different than a business relationship—you need to remind people who you are and what you offer. Cold calling during a crisis is unlikely to be effective. WIPP’s advocacy team keeps women business owners front and center so Congress turns to WIPP for its point of view during a crisis. Big difference.

 

5.  A Combined Voice is Far More Effective Than One Voice. The mission of WIPP is to provide a voice for women business owners. Its message resonates with policymakers because we represent women from all over the country, from different political views and every size of business. Your individual message to Congress is important. But as Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.”