By Greg Halbleib

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nearly three dozen Bloomington-Normal representatives are in the nation’s capital for an annual trip to meet with lawmakers about projects back home.

The One Voice trip has taken leaders from government, business, education and labor to Washington annually for the past 12 years according to Kyle Ham, the CEO of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, which organizes the travels.

Ham said the group will meet with the area’s congressional delegation among others.

“We also meet with agency heads to talk about things that are going on in our community, but also to build that pipeline between the federal government and our community,” Ham told WJBC’s Marc Strauss. “So it’s a chance to network and also talk about the things that are important to McLean County.”

Ham said the group plans to meet with lawmakers and agency personnel about Hamilton Road and Main Street projects, workforce and STEM initiatives, mental health funding and extension of the lease for soccer fields near Central Illinois Regional Airport.

“We’re going out there to talk about some of the projects that need some work and figure out where the budget and where some of the other items for grants and funding might come,” Ham said. “A lot of these agencies are just getting their heads placed, so we’re really going to be doing some fact-finding over the next few days.”

Ham said about 35 people are on this year’s trip, which continues through Friday.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].