For the fourth year, Northpoint Commercial Finance has served as a supporting sponsor of the 2023 American Boating Congress (ABC) and participated in the recreational marine industry’s major annual advocacy event featuring three days of policy conversations, panel discussions, marine industry updates, conversations with members of Congress including visits with members of Congress and their respective staffs on Capitol Hill.
Northpoint representatives Russell Baqir and John Durnien joined the more than 250 recreational boating and fishing stakeholders from around the nation who participated in this year’s ABC which featured presentations by several members of Congress including members of the bipartisan Congressional Boating Caucus.
Attendees learned about several challenges federal lawmakers are tackling and had the opportunity to engage in discussions with Representatives Peter Stauber (R-MN-08) and Daniel Webster (R-FL-14), as well as Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Another major topic of discussion addressed our marine industry efforts to protect boating access along the Atlantic Coast. Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL) and Mike Collins (R-GA) sounded the alarm in a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing over NOAA’s proposed vessel speed restrictions.
One of the event highlights included the presentation by the NMMA to Senator John Boozman (R-AR) with the “Legislator of the Year Award.” In addition to serving on the Congressional Boating Caucus, Senator Boozman advocates for boaters and anglers, most recently co-sponsoring and introducing bills such as the Lake Access Keeping Economies Strong (LAKES) Act which will better fund the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and allow for the agency to retain and reinvest its recreation fees. He also championed America’s Outdoor Recreation Act, a first of its kind outdoor recreation legislative package that invests in public lands and waters.
“Northpoint is very pleased to actively sponsor, support and participate in this very important marine industry advocacy initiative,” said Russell Baqir, SVP – Business Development. “We encourage our customers to join us in becoming better educated about key issues facing the marine industry and to actively engage and support advocacy initiatives in their respective markets.”
Added NMMA’s Director of Integrated Marketing John Marcinek, “Northpoint Financial has been a great, long-term supporter of ABC. Without our sponsors, ABC simply couldn’t happen every year.”
For information about how your organization can get involved and support local and statewide legislative initiatives including the critical NOAA initiatives, click here: https://www.nmma.org/advocacy/take-action/be-an-advocate
