As you know, our chamber is dedicated to giving voice to our members on public policy issues that have a great impact on our membership. In addition to this very important work, we as a chamber need to encourage our employees to register to vote, and vote informed; not only this year, but in every election.

You may be asking yourself, "Can we do this, and why should we?" The answer is yes and in fact your employees want to hear from you. They want to know the issues that affect their livelihoods, future career advancements, and opportunities. They are relying on you to tell them what helps and what hurts private businesses in our region and across the state. Remember, your business is their business too.

Don't get me wrong, employees do not want you to tell them how to vote, but are interested in quality non-partisan information from a business perspective. This is why we have partnered with Enterprise Washington to provide you with the Federal Way Chamber G.R.O.W. Program (Growing Roots for Our Workforce). The GROW Program is designed to enhance our services with the objective of getting employees registered to vote and helping them to vote informed on the issues that affect our members' businesses. This is a 365-day-a-year program that provides you with important voter communications in the form of sample emails, print-ready poster graphics, general business issue information, and even a customizable website of your own! Contact us if you would like to implement the GROW Program in your company. It will take all of us, chamber members and our employees, to make a difference in these uncertain times.

More information (www.growwa.com/FederalWayChamber)