The Sustainable Ozarks Partnership (SOP) staff led a group of 12 regional community leaders on a visit to Washington, D.C., last week. During the two-day trip the group met with several members of Congress and senior Army leaders.
Leaders from throughout the region included Rolla City Administrator John Butz; Lebanon Mayor Jared Carr; Mike Dunbar, Dorsey Newcomb, Rick Morris and Keith Pritchard of Waynesville; Doyle Edwards and Larry Sexton of Rolla; Steve Ehrhardt of Lebanon; Waynesville R-VI School District Superintendent Dr. Brian Henry; St. Robert Mayor George Lauritson; and Kent Thomas of St. Robert.
The group of leaders gathered for dinner on Tuesday night where they were joined by Chief of Army Partnerships Ivan Bolden, congressional staffers, Missouri Military Advocate Joe Driskill and many current and former senior Army leaders and their spouses who have served previously at Fort Leonard Wood.
On Wednesday, the leaders met individually with Sen. Roy Blunt, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Rep. Jason Smith and Julie Moorhead, military legislative assistant for Rep. Sam Graves. The leaders thanked each member of Congress for their unwavering commitment to national defense, service members and their families, Fort Leonard Wood and the four-county region around FLW, which includes Texas County. The leaders also highlighted several SOP-led high priority strategies intended to strengthen FLW and the region. These strategies included improving regional transportation access, leveraging FLW and the region in increasing efficiencies within the DOD and other federal agencies, and bringing positive national recognition to FLW and the region.
On Thursday morning several of the leaders closed out the trip by visiting with Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“Our first group visit to Washington was extremely productive and we look forward to continuing this approach to reinforcing our great relationships with our members of Congress and senior Army leaders,” said Newcomb.
The Sustainable Ozarks Partnership is building on the Fort Leonard Wood Region’s strong past and preparing the region for a healthy, resilient future. It is a nonprofit organization working to bring all of the region’s stakeholders to the table to drive regional development and advocate for new or expanded military and federal missions, all as part of our efforts to strengthen the Fort Leonard Wood region.