Seldom do I devote an entire column’s space to raising awareness of a particular industry event, given all the various national, international and regional activities held on an annual basis. But in the case of the upcoming 2010 Washington Forum, slated for April 27–29 at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in downtown, D.C., I am making an exception and blatantly waving the flag for the National Association for Surface Finishing and its governmental relations arm, The Policy Group.

Here’s a brief overview of the conference menu:

• Forecasting the 2010 Elections and the Potential Impacts for Industry
• What Health Care Reform Will—and Will Not—Do
• Impact of Energy and Climate Change Legislation and Regulationon U.S. Business
• Workplace and Labor Issues: Card Check, Ergonomics and Harsher OSHA Penalties
• New Environmental Regulatory Initiatives, with a Special Emphasis on Metals
• Pending U.S. Chemicals Policy Reform—New Approach or European Model?
• Emerging Technologies and the Defense Supply Chain

Another hot-button topic sure to get a lot of exposure—no pun intended—is the renewed government and mainstream media interest regarding perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS—suppressants designed to reduce air emissions and worker exposure levels to potentially hazardous substances such as hexavalent chromium. While the finishing industry’s use of fume suppressants such as these has been formally supported and encouraged by the likes of the EPA as well as OSHA, the agencies have, characteristically, left this issue wide open to revisitation. To that end, the EPA has agreed to participate in key industry technical and policy sessions on fume suppressants during the Forum.

Christian Richter, The Policy Group founder and CEO, and newly named NASF executive vice president, stressed the sense of urgency. “Washington continues to push key policy changes that stand to impact the surface finishing industry,” he said. NASF’s role in all this, he noted, is “putting out fires” in Washington before they start.

Richter, who will again take the reins as the event’s master of ceremonies, believes the Washington Forum provides industry members with the best opportunity to meet with federal lawmakers on the most critical issues facing their business, and it aims to arm participants with the information they need to navigate through various complex legal and environmental issues.

If you’re on the fence, I encourage you to visit the NASF website, where you may register, make your hotel reservations, or learn more details about the Washington Forum. I guarantee it will be worthwhile.

OK, I’m off the soapbox now.