By Dan Varroney | Industry Ecosystem Series • Article 3
An election can change who holds power overnight. It cannot, by itself, give an industry the skilled workers, reliable infrastructure, workable rules, and investment confidence it needs to grow. With the November midterms approaching, business leaders face a question more consequential than who wins: Have we built an agenda that helps whoever takes office improve the conditions for growth?
For a small business owner, those conditions determine whether an expansion moves forward or another employee gets hired. For a family, they influence whether a promising career is available close to home. Industries have a responsibility to explain that connection and help public officials act on it.
The first two articles in this series examined why industries need an ecosystem strategy and how to choose shared priorities. The next step is turning those priorities into decisions. That requires trade associations to connect evidence, partners, and public authority around a practical agenda that can endure changes in political leadership.
The starting point is a clear understanding of the precompetitive environment: the shared conditions that allow individual businesses to compete and grow. These include workforce preparation, infrastructure, research, and predictable public processes. Companies retain their independent commercial strategies while working through their trade association to improve the foundations everyone depends on.
A credible agenda strengthens opportunity across an industry, including for smaller companies and new entrants. Its public value must be clear: more productive businesses, stronger career pathways, safer operations, and communities better positioned to prosper. That is the case leaders need to make before asking government to act.
Begin by translating each shared priority into a decision someone can actually make. “Improve the business climate” provides little direction. “Create a coordinated permit review with clear responsibilities and published timelines” gives officials something to evaluate. Each proposal should identify the barrier, the proposed change, the public benefit, the implementation cost, and the measure of success.
Evidence gives that proposal credibility. A trade association can document how long a process takes, where applications stall, which requirements duplicate one another, and how delays affect investment. Include smaller businesses in that research. Their experience can reveal burdens that larger companies absorb through specialized staff, but that consume an owner’s time and limited capital.
The next question is who can change the condition. Congress may control a funding authorization, a federal agency may administer the program, a state may establish eligibility, and a local institution may deliver training. An industry needs to understand the full chain of responsibility before deciding where to concentrate its effort.
For every priority, identify the official with authority, the people responsible for implementation, the partners whose participation matters, and the decision calendar. Budget deadlines, rulemaking periods, legislative sessions, and local planning cycles deserve the same attention as Election Day. A sound proposal can lose a year if it reaches the right office after the relevant decision has been made.
Consider an industry struggling to recruit technicians. Its trade association could bring employers and technical colleges together to define needed competencies, identify gaps in training capacity, and design a pilot. Workforce officials could help assess available programs, while community organizations could identify barriers that keep potential students from participating.
The resulting policy request becomes concrete: support a defined training pathway with identified instructors, equipment needs, employer participation, and measurable outcomes. Participating companies might provide equipment access or workplace learning opportunities. Education partners would shape instruction. Public officials could evaluate the proposal against a clear public purpose, with responsibilities established before funding is sought.
That shared commitment matters. Partners strengthen an agenda when they help design and deliver it. Educators understand student needs, communities understand local concerns, and public agencies understand implementation constraints. Involving them early can expose weaknesses, improve the proposal, and build the trust needed to carry difficult work forward.
Before the election, trade associations should prepare a concise industry growth brief and use it consistently in substantive policy conversations across party lines. Explain the few barriers that matter most, the decisions needed, what the industry will contribute, and what progress would mean for workers and communities. Site visits can help make those consequences tangible.
After the election, update the map of decision-makers and brief incoming leaders alongside continuing officials and career staff. Preserve the evidence and shared objectives while adapting to changed responsibilities and policy openings. Relationships need continuity, and new officeholders need a clear starting point rather than another stack of disconnected requests.
The trade association board should own the agenda’s direction. Staff should coordinate execution, member leaders should contribute operational insight, and partners should have defined commitments. Assign each priority an accountable lead, an initial milestone, and a quarterly review. This makes the work durable through changes in both public office and association leadership.
Measure results in the environment businesses actually experience. Are permit decisions becoming more predictable? Are training participants completing programs and finding work? Has a documented duplication been removed? Meetings, endorsements, and announcements can support progress, but members need evidence that the conditions affecting their future are improving.
The midterms create an opening to make that case with fresh urgency. The work must continue long after the campaign signs disappear. Industries that organize evidence, build committed partnerships, and stay accountable can give public leaders a practical path from promises to progress. The responsibility of industry leadership is to help build an environment where businesses can invest, people can advance, and growth can endure beyond the next election.
Bring this strategic conversation to your leadership team. Dan Varroney works with trade association boards and executives to strengthen alignment, relevance and industry growth.
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Dan Varroney is an economic strategist, founder and CEO of Potomac Core, and author of Reimagining Industry Growth, which explores strategic partnerships between businesses and trade associations.
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