Every year, the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition (ACIBC) hosts Action Days, a two-day event where suppliers from across the nation come to Washington, DC, to explain to their Members of Congress the importance of the aircraft carrier program to the nation, their company, district and state. It is also an excellent opportunity for coalition members to network with NNS representatives and fellow suppliers.
Action Days 2023 took place on Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday March 22. Thank you to all of our suppliers who participated in this year’s program.
On Day 1, participants had the chance to attend supply chain sessions on strategic risk management and additive manufacturing as well as participate in one-on-one meetings with Newport News Shipbuilding supply chain managers. We’d like to thank all of the supply chain managers for facilitating over 100 on-on-one meetings, the most in Action Days history. Then, during the general session in the afternoon, attendees heard from NNS executives, ACIBC leadership, Navy Leadership, a panel discussion with NNS Supply Chain and an update from the HII Government Relations team.
Participants then enjoyed a cocktail hour and seated dinner full of networking with other aircraft carrier suppliers! We said goodbye to former Chair of ACIBC, Rick Giannini and introduced a new Chair, Lisa Papini as well as heard remarks from Rear Admiral John Meier and NNS President Jennifer Boykin. We are ecstatic that so many suppliers, NNS representatives and Navy officials took time out of their busy schedules to attend Action Days this year, as we had record attendance of over 300 individuals at the conference.
On Day 2, attendees gathered on Capitol Hill for breakfast and heard remarks from Senator Tim Kaine (VA). Senator Kaine also took questions from the audience and his staff connected with suppliers individually. Then, attendees were off to their congressional meetings! This is the first time since pre-pandemic that we’ve had meetings in-person and it was good to be back! We are pleased to report we had over 160 congressional engagements this year.
If you have any questions or want to get involved in Action Days 2024, please email steve@acibc.org. Thank you to the industrial base for the support and advocacy of the Aircraft Carrier Program.
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