Listening intently at the discussion were AIME members attending the group’s sixth annual FUSE conference, a three-day event featuring various panel discussions of interest to industry players, a trade show and motivational speeches from key figures. This year’s iteration of the gathering came amid considerable challenges in the industry, chiefly high mortgage rates fueled by inflation and continual erosion of housing affordability.
Not to be confused with the BACPAC
“Not the same thing as the BACPAC,” Sweeney began, differentiating BAC from the Broker Action Coalition Political Action Committee (BACPAC, a political action committee AIME launched last summer). “The Broker Action Committee helps support all of our efforts in DC through letter-writing campaigns, working with lobbyists, engaging with other trade organizations. It’s essentially all of our outreach.”
She referenced the separation from the PAC, but suggested the BAC’s importance was undiminished by its distinct status. “Why it has to be separate starts to get a little bit complicated into the weeds of how different businesses are structured,” she said. “But essentially, the entire goal of the Broker Action Committee is to represent all AIME members, all AIME partners, anybody related to the wholesale channel or anybody who would work with brokers – which includes consumers. We do a lot of consumer advocacy. We very much believe that what’s best for the consumer is also best for the broker.”
She invited AIME members to join. In so doing, she described a strength-in-numbers approach that tends to get politicians’ attention. “If you’re not part of the BAC, it’s free,” Sweeney said. “It doesn’t matter what level of AIME membership you have – none of that matters. We need as many bodies as possible. The letters make a huge difference. But one thing we do that I think really stands out is that we’re very cognizant of understanding exactly what ZIP code you live in because we want to be able to break down members of the organization so that when we’re meeting with legislators, we can also explain to them the kind of impact you have as a constituent in their district.”
There’s strength in numbers
She then provided a glimpse into the machinations of Washington, DC: “There’s a lot of talk about different kinds of currency and how you gain power in DC,” she said. “But one of the fastest ways to do that is being able to articulate to an elected official how many people we have a relationship with that can either re-elect them or elect their competitors in the upcoming election. It makes a big difference.”
Source: mpamag.com