InfrastructureUSA.org is a non-profit, online community whose mission is to bring together infrastructure experts, industry leaders, government officials and most especially interested citizens, to participate in vigorous conversation and generate action to address the U.S. infrastructure crisis.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states.

Robyn M. Boerstling joined the National Association of Manufacturers in April 2008 as the Director of Transportation and Infrastructure Policy. Robyn helps direct the NAM’s transportation advocacy agenda and works on legislative and coalition efforts that seek to repair and modernize the nation’s infrastructure. In addition, she adds the manufacturing voice to a range of transportation and security regulatory issues that impact NAM members.

Previously, Robyn served as the Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). She worked in policy development and assisted with the day-to-day management of the Office of Transportation Policy.

Why Infrastructure Matters to the National Association of Manufacturers
Our members are major road users, and the NAM/ BAF survey in 2013 came back with our members telling us that they had the strong perception that infrastructure is in fair or poor shape…I would like to see things very focused on the future, and what are we going to do today to help support and sustain that growth we want to experience, the economic growth over the next 10 to 15 years in our country.

Addressing the Downward Trend in Infrastructure Investment
…You can’t deny the fact that we are experiencing decreased infrastructure investments across federal, state, and local levels. We may feel that infrastructure investment could be happening because we see an orange cone and some construction equipment go out somewhere, but when you look at it in the totality of the system, we’re falling behind.

Capturing the Nation’s Imagination
…When you’re talking about a facility or a plant in the middle of the United States, the road system, the rails, the ports, they’re all connected. Transportation is a system within systems, and I think it’s very challenging to excite people and explain the importance of all of this…

We Can’t Control the Weather, But We Can Control Our Infrastructure
I think citizen engagement is absolutely critical and that’s one of the reasons why this issue is so important to our members. We also don’t just talk about issues at the NAM, we get our members engaged in talking on the Hill about the significance of these things.

Download full transcript (PDF): Robyn Boerstling on The Infra Blog

Tags: NAM, National Association of Manufacturers, Robyn Boerstling

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2014 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Aging Infrastructure, Guests on The Infra Blog, Roads, The Infra Blog . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.