Trade Associations
Here's a look at documents from national and international trade associations
Featured Stories
Import Cargo Volume to See Year-Over-Year Gain Again in June, Then Remain Below 2025 Levels Into Fall
WASHINGTON, June 9 (TNSrep) -- The National Retail Federation posted the following news release:
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Import Cargo Volume to See Year-Over-Year Gain Again in June, Then Remain Below 2025 Levels Into Fall
Import volumes at major U.S. container ports are expected to see a skewed year-over-year bump again this month in anticipation of more tariffs and rising fuel prices but then remain below last year's levels into the fall, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
"We expect to see a year-over-year increase this month
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 9 (TNSrep) -- The National Retail Federation posted the following news release:
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Import Cargo Volume to See Year-Over-Year Gain Again in June, Then Remain Below 2025 Levels Into Fall
Import volumes at major U.S. container ports are expected to see a skewed year-over-year bump again this month in anticipation of more tariffs and rising fuel prices but then remain below last year's levels into the fall, according to the Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
"We expect to see a year-over-year increase this monththat's partly driven by retailers bringing in merchandise early because of higher costs from tariffs or fuel prices that could come starting in August," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "Nonetheless, the ongoing trend is for lower imports as the conflict in Iran continues to cause higher inflation and economic uncertainty."
Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said the year-over-year gain expected in June is partly because of the comparison against import levels that dropped sharply after President Donald Trump announced "Liberation Day" tariffs in April 2025. But higher shipping costs and worries about additional tariffs imposed after those tariffs were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court are also a concern.
"We have increased our outlook for June cargo volume as retailers bring forward their peak season cargo to mitigate increasing shipping costs as carriers pass along the sharply rising cost of fuel and because of concerns about punitive replacement tariffs," Hackett said. "The current import surge will likely last into July, with an early peak season that resembles the more recent pattern of raised volume rather than a sharp peak. After this, we expect a weakening in import volume as consumer uncertainty remains high and the impact of increasing inflation takes its toll."
U.S. ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 2.05 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units -- one 20-foot container or its equivalent -- in April, although the Port of New York and New Jersey has not yet reported its numbers. That was down 5.1% from March and down 7.3% year over year.
Ports have not yet reported May numbers, but Global Port Tracker projected the month at 2.14 million TEU, up 9.7% from a year earlier, when imports were down sharply because of last year's "Liberation Day" tariffs. June is forecast at 2.25 million TEU, up 14.3%, with the increase also because of low imports a year earlier. July is forecast at 2.19 million TEU, down 8.4% year over year; August at 2.12 million TEU, down 8.6%; and September at 2.06 million TEU, down 2.2%. October is forecast at 2.08 million TEU, up 0.1%.
Those numbers would bring the first half of 2026 to 12.6 million TEU, up 0.6% from the same period in 2025 thanks, in part, to the May-June increases.
Imports totaled 25.4 million TEU in 2025, down 0.3% from 25.5 million TEU in 2024.
Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by Hackett Associates, provides historical data and forecasts for the U.S. ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Port of Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast. The report is free to NRF retail members, and subscription information is available at NRF.com/PortTracker or by calling (202) 783-7971. Subscription information for non-members can be found at www.globalporttracker.com.
As the leading authority and voice for the retail industry, NRF analyzes economic conditions affecting the industry through reports such as Global Port Tracker.
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About NRF
The National Retail Federation passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail succeed. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NRF empowers the industry that powers the economy. Retail is the nation's largest private-sector employer, contributing $5.3 trillion to annual GDP and supporting more than one in four U.S. jobs -- 55 million working Americans. For over a century, NRF has been a voice for every retailer and every retail job, educating, inspiring and communicating the powerful impact retail has on local communities and global economies. nrf.com
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About Hackett Associates
Hackett Associates provides expert consulting, research and advisory services to the international maritime industry, government agencies and international institutions. www.hackettassociates.com
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View report here: https://nrf.com/topics/global-port-tracker
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Original text here: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/import-cargo-volume-to-see-year-over-year-gain-again-in-june-then-remain-below-2025-levels-into-fall
[Category: Business]
History Is Made: Indiana Allows Counselors to Practice Across State Lines
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, June 9 -- The American Counseling Association issued the following news release:
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History Is Made: Indiana Allows Counselors to Practice Across State Lines
As part of the historic interstate Counseling Compact agreement, Indiana is the latest state that can now start granting privileges to licensed professional counselors to practice across state lines. Currently, other states that can grant these privileges include Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Louisiana and Georgia, with additional states expected to begin granting privileges in coming months.
The compact is a legislative
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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, June 9 -- The American Counseling Association issued the following news release:
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History Is Made: Indiana Allows Counselors to Practice Across State Lines
As part of the historic interstate Counseling Compact agreement, Indiana is the latest state that can now start granting privileges to licensed professional counselors to practice across state lines. Currently, other states that can grant these privileges include Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Louisiana and Georgia, with additional states expected to begin granting privileges in coming months.
The compact is a legislativeagreement that functions much like a driver's license -- participating states agree to recognize the license of all eligible counselors from other compact states, allowing them a privilege to practice in person or via telehealth. Previously, counselors had difficulty transferring their licenses to another state because of independent jurisdictional licensing rules and regulations.
The Counseling Compact represents the biggest change in the counseling profession in 20 years and has the potential to increase access to the estimated 122 million people in the U.S. who live in areas with mental health provider shortages.
The American Counseling Association (ACA) -- the world's largest association exclusively representing an estimated 62,000 professional counselors -- played a lead role in the creation of the compact, investing close to $2 million in the initiative.
To date, 38 states plus the District of Columbia have passed Counseling Compact legislation. They include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C.
A state's passage of the Counseling Compact legislation is merely the legal adoption of the agreement authorizing a state or jurisdiction to participate in the compact. Once a state passes the legislation, the next step is to grant privileges to counselors from other compact states to practice across state lines.
To learn more, visit the ACA website and watch a video interview with ACA's Chief of Professional Practice Lynn Linde, EdD, who played a lead role in the creation of the compact.
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About the American Counseling Association
Founded in 1952, the American Counseling Association (ACA) is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization that is dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. ACA represents more than 62,000 members and is the world's largest association exclusively representing professional counselors in various practice settings. Driven by the belief that all people can benefit from the power of counseling, ACA's mission is to promote the professional development of counselors, advocate for counselors, and ensure that ethical, culturally inclusive practices protect our members' clients and all people who seek counseling services. For more information, visit the ACA website and follow them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky and YouTube.
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Original text here: https://www.counseling.org/publications/media-center/article/2026/06/08/history-is-made--indiana-allows-counselors-to-practice-across-state-lines
[Category: Psychiatry/Psychology]
CDC Sleuthing Helps Decipher Drug-Resistant Infection Rise
WASHINGTON, June 9 -- The American Society for Microbiology issued the following news release:
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CDC Sleuthing Helps Decipher Drug-Resistant Infection Rise
Key Points:
* New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to explain the sudden increase in drug-resistant infections caused by NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (NDM-CRE) in the U.S. between 2019-2023.
* Most of the NDM-CRE cases were caused by only a handful of strains from a few species, chiefly Klebsiella pneumoniae (~50%) and Escherichia coli (~31%).
An additional, new high-risk clone
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 9 -- The American Society for Microbiology issued the following news release:
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CDC Sleuthing Helps Decipher Drug-Resistant Infection Rise
Key Points:
* New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aims to explain the sudden increase in drug-resistant infections caused by NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (NDM-CRE) in the U.S. between 2019-2023.
* Most of the NDM-CRE cases were caused by only a handful of strains from a few species, chiefly Klebsiella pneumoniae (~50%) and Escherichia coli (~31%).
An additional, new high-risk clonebegan to emerge more recently in 2022, a K. pneumoniae lineage called ST45.
* The researchers are working with state and local public health labs to utilize whole genome sequencing data to help rapidly identify outbreaks of drug-resistant infections.
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Previous research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that a dangerous variety of bacteria that cause drug-resistant infections, called NDM-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (NDM-CRE), has become much more common in the United States, increasing by 461% from 2019-2023. Now, in a new study presented at ASM Microbe 2026, researchers set out to better understand what was behind this sudden increase, examining if it was driven by closely related strains or, instead, by many different, unrelated bacteria.
To conduct their study, state and local public health labs decoded the full genetic blueprint of more than 8,000 NDM-CRE bacteria that caused human infections through a process called whole genome sequencing. This work was done through the Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network), which includes labs from all 50 states. Scientists from CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion analyzed this data to determine the genetic similarities between the bacteria causing these infections.
The researchers found that most of the NDM-CRE cases were caused by only a handful of strains from a few species, chiefly Klebsiella pneumoniae (~50%) and Escherichia coli (~31%), both of which are known to cause healthcare-associated infections. Most of these strains have previously been designated as "high-risk clones" because they are more likely to cause outbreaks of drug-resistant infections in hospitals. An additional, new high-risk clone that only began to emerge more recently in 2022 was also identified--a K. pneumoniae lineage called ST45. It appears to be carrying a plasmid (a piece of DNA that can be shared among bacteria) causing drug resistance that was also found in other previously recognized strains.
"Since NDM-CRE is largely spread by these high-risk clones, surveillance efforts and research into new treatments and diagnostics should prioritize these strains," said corresponding study author Richard Stanton, Ph.D., a bioinformatician in the Prevention and Response Branch of the Divisions of Healthcare Quality Promotion, which is part of CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. "Additional, new high-risk clones can also rapidly emerge, making it important to recognize these emerging threats through genomic surveillance, like the whole genome sequencing done by the AR Lab Network."
Stanton said the researchers are working with state and local public health labs to best utilize whole genome sequencing data to rapidly identify outbreaks of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria like NDM-CRE, which can help stem its overall spread and minimize threats to patients.
"The spread of these nearly untreatable bacteria is being driven by a small number of highly successful bacterial strains that have acquired NDM. New resistant strains can emerge quickly once they acquire these genes, as well," Stanton said. "This underscores the importance of ongoing genomic surveillance to catch these emerging threats early."
The researchers said the work would not be possible without the efforts of state and local public health partners from all 50 states working together through the AR Lab Network.
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ASM is a global community shaping the future of the microbial sciences to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges. Established in 1899, ASM connects scientists across disciplines, sectors and borders to advance discovery, foster collaboration and drive innovation.
With more than 38,000 members and a global network that reaches millions, ASM accelerates scientific progress through publishing, convening, advocacy and professional development. From climate change and antimicrobial resistance to industrial, basic and applied microbiology, ASM empowers the microbial sciences community to create solutions that benefit society and build what's next.
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Original text here: https://asm.org/press-releases/2026/june/cdc-sleuthing-helps-decipher-drug-resistant-infect
[Category: Biology]
AESC Welcomes F&B Consultores Into Its Global Membership of Top Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Firms
NEW YORK, June 9 -- The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants issued the following news release:
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AESC Welcomes F&B Consultores into its Global Membership of Top Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Firms
The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), the global association representing the firms that place and advise the world's leaders, is pleased to welcome F&B Consultores as a new Member. The firm's acceptance follows a rigorous vetting process to ensure quality standards.
F&B Consultores is the first legal executive search firm in
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NEW YORK, June 9 -- The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants issued the following news release:
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AESC Welcomes F&B Consultores into its Global Membership of Top Executive Search and Leadership Consulting Firms
The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), the global association representing the firms that place and advise the world's leaders, is pleased to welcome F&B Consultores as a new Member. The firm's acceptance follows a rigorous vetting process to ensure quality standards.
F&B Consultores is the first legal executive search firm inSpain. Founded in 2004, the firm has more than 20 years of experience helping organizations identify, assess, and nurture legal talent that supports long-term success and sustainability. F&B Consultores specialises in executive search, mentoring and career guidance, strategic consulting, and training and development. With a distinctive "Triple A" approach--evaluating attitude, aptitude and altitude--the firm is committed to selecting well-rounded talent while minimizing bias and aligning each appointment with the client's vision, culture and future goals.
F&B Consultores Founder and Managing Partner Paula Fuentes Bueso said: "We're very proud to become part of AESC's international network of executive search and leadership advisory firms, a community that represents the highest standards in our industry. For us, this recognition is closely connected to the way we approach our work every day: with a strong service mindset, professionalism, dedication, solid values, and a genuine focus on people. At F&B Consultores, we believe executive search is not only about finding qualified talent, but about identifying professionals who truly fit the culture, values, and long-term vision of each organization. Joining AESC not only strengthens our position in Spain but also our international perspective and motivates us to keep promoting a more human, responsible, and sustainable view of leadership and career development."
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About AESC
AESC Member firms place and advise the world's board directors and C-suite leaders. Founded in 1959, AESC represents the global gold standard in executive search and leadership consulting, bringing together over 16,000 professionals in more than 80 countries. AESC Members are rigorously vetted to meet the highest standards in the profession, with only the top tier accepted into Membership.
To serve and promote its Members, AESC holds exclusive multi-day events and summits across the globe; provides in-person and online educational seminars and courses; operates the BlueSteps platform connecting candidates with AESC Member firms; publishes extensive industry research, as well as Executive Talent magazine; and provides access to exclusive Insight Exchanges and partnerships to assist Members with virtually every part of their business operations.
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Original text here: https://www.aesc.org/insights/press-release/aesc-welcomes-fb-consultores-into-its-global-membership-of-top-executive-search-and-leadership-consulting-firms/
[Category: Human Resources/Personnel]
Southern Shrimp Alliance Welcomes Congresswoman Mace's SHRIMP Act
NEW PORT RICHEY, Florida, June 8 [Category: Food/Beverage] -- The Southern Shrimp Alliance posted the following news release:
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Southern Shrimp Alliance Welcomes Congresswoman Mace's SHRIMP Act
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If you order a shrimp dish at any restaurant in the United States, you are likely to be served "whiteleg shrimp," also known as "Pacific white shrimp" (Litopenaeus vannamei). Vannamei dominates global shrimp farming, with the species grown in ponds throughout Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
One of the consequences of the prevalence of vannamei has been the ability to conceal the country-of-origin
... Show Full Article
NEW PORT RICHEY, Florida, June 8 [Category: Food/Beverage] -- The Southern Shrimp Alliance posted the following news release:
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Southern Shrimp Alliance Welcomes Congresswoman Mace's SHRIMP Act
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If you order a shrimp dish at any restaurant in the United States, you are likely to be served "whiteleg shrimp," also known as "Pacific white shrimp" (Litopenaeus vannamei). Vannamei dominates global shrimp farming, with the species grown in ponds throughout Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
One of the consequences of the prevalence of vannamei has been the ability to conceal the country-of-originof shrimp farmed in countries that do not meaningfully limit the use of dangerous veterinary drugs or are subject to significant additional customs duties. In result, the U.S. shrimp industry has long confronted widespread trade fraud, with the Southern Shrimp Alliance raising alarm regarding transshipment of Chinese shrimp through other nations, such as Malaysia, for the past two decades.
Federal government agency efforts to address shrimp trade fraud led to scientists at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) developing a methodology for testing for trace metals in imported shrimp to determine an accurate geographic location for the origin of the product. The results of this work were published in a 2009 paper in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Since then, academics outside of the federal government have conducted additional research as to how to identify the county-of-origin of vannamei shrimp, including a paper - "Shrimp (sub-)national Traceability and Retail Fraud Detection Using Stable Isotopes and Multi-Element Profiling" - scheduled to be published in the journal Food Control in September 2026. Although the authors of the paper recognized complications tied to the processing of shrimp, they claim to have demonstrated "a powerful, data-driven approach to authenticating the origin of shrimp and tracing their production sources across national and subnational scales." One of the leading researchers in the field and an author of the Food Control paper, Dr. Bobby Davis at Young Harris College in Georgia, provided an overview of this work in a seminar at Clemson University earlier this year, summarizing some of the challenges presented in the practical application of trace element identification of shrimp.
On Friday, Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC), joined by Representatives Randy Weber (R-TX), Troy Carter (D-LA), and Mike Ezell (R-MS), introduced H.R. 9154, the " Shrimp Honesty and Responsibility in Import Monitoring Protocols Act of 2026 " or the " SHRIMP Act of 2026." The legislation directs federal agencies "to develop a portable, chemical testing methodology to identify the country of origin of shrimp." As the press release issued by Congresswoman Mace explains, the development of such a methodology would "support[] law enforcement in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, to improv[e] food safety and traceability, [] verify[] compliance with country-of-origin labeling laws, [] improv[e] screening of shrimp at ports of entry, and bolster[] enforcement of trade restrictions and customs duties."
The SHRIMP Act of 2026 follows similar legislative initiatives intended to facilitate country-of-origin identification for other seafood products, particularly red snapper and tuna. For example, the " Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act," S. 283, introduced by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and co-sponsored by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Katie Britt (R-AL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), directs federal agencies "to jointly develop a standard methodology, based on chemical analysis, for identifying the country of origin of seafood" with an initial focus on red snapper "as an example of a stationary stock" and tuna "as an example of a highly migratory stock." This legislation was passed by the Senate in July of last year. In the House, the " Standards for Understanding Source and Habitat Identification Act " or the " SUSHI Act," H.R. 3706, introduced by Congressman Brian Babin (R-TX) with Congressman Eugene Vindman (D-VA) and Delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-AS), works to achieve the same result as S. 283 and was reported favorably out of the House Committee on Natural Resources in February.
Legislation advancing country-of-origin testing for red snapper has been long supported by the Southern Shrimp Alliance because, if successful, it would create a powerful tool for confirming that illegally harvested red snapper from Mexican lanchas are being sold in the U.S. market. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by Mexican lanchas undermines the catch restrictions for red snapper imposed on American fishermen. Moreover, the health of the red snapper stock has been used as a consideration to justify restrictions on the overall effort of the Gulf commercial shrimp industry as a means for limiting bycatch. In consequence, depletion of the red snapper stock in U.S. waters has not only stolen these fish away from American fishermen but places greater pressure on commercial fisheries targeting other species to limit their activities.
Congresswoman Mace's SHRIMP Act of 2026 helps to connect decades of research conducted on the development of country-of-origin testing of shrimp with needs for similar capabilities for other seafood products. If practically achievable, standard methodologies to identify the origin of shrimp and fish would undermine fraudulent schemes that currently are rampant in global seafood trade.
"International shrimp supply chains, along with seafood supply chains generally, have intentionally been made opaque," said Blake Price, the Director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. "Congresswoman Mace's SHRIMP Act of 2026 recognizes the importance of the ability to objectively identify where shrimp comes from. The U.S. shrimp industry applauds Representatives Mace, Weber, Carter, and Ezell for introducing this important legislation that addresses a decades-long need in our country's shrimp market."
Review the text of the H.R. 9154, the " Shrimp Honesty and Responsibility in Import Monitoring Protocols Act of 2026," here: https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SHRIMP_20Act_20MACE_165_xml.pdf
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Original text here: https://shrimpalliance.com/southern-shrimp-alliance-welcomes-congresswoman-maces-shrimp-act/
NetChoice Flags Serious Risks with Proposal to Partially Nationalize AI Labs, Warns of Harm to Innovation and Threats to Free Speech
WASHINGTON, June 8 [Category: Business] -- NetChoice, a coalition of trade associations that says it makes the internet safe for free enterprise and expression, posted the following news release:
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NetChoice Flags Serious Risks with Proposal to Partially Nationalize AI Labs, Warns of Harm to Innovation and Threats to Free Speech
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WASHINGTON -NetChoice, a leading tech industry association dedicated to defending free expression and free enterprise, today issued the following statement in response to recent suggestions that the Trump administration is facilitating some form of government
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 8 [Category: Business] -- NetChoice, a coalition of trade associations that says it makes the internet safe for free enterprise and expression, posted the following news release:
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NetChoice Flags Serious Risks with Proposal to Partially Nationalize AI Labs, Warns of Harm to Innovation and Threats to Free Speech
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WASHINGTON -NetChoice, a leading tech industry association dedicated to defending free expression and free enterprise, today issued the following statement in response to recent suggestions that the Trump administration is facilitating some form of governmentownership or control of private American artificial intelligence companies and labs.
" America leads the world in technology because of the free market, not bureaucracy," said Patrick Hedger, NetChoice Director of Policy. "Forcing a government partnership or financial stake upon private AI labs mimics the socialist economic models of our adversaries, compromises the First Amendment, and establishes an unprecedented bureaucratic chokehold on American innovation."
"The free market is infinitely more agile and efficient than the federal government. Nationalizing America's leading AI labs, even if only partially, would inject Washington bureaucracy into a hyper-competitive, fast-moving industry, stalling progress when we can least afford it. The global AI race is a competition of ideologies. To beat state-controlled models like China's, we must lean into American free-market principles, not cripple our own tech leaders with European-style regulation or Beijing-style government control."
"If these plans materialize, unelected bureaucrats will inevitably leverage this financial control to influence labs and manipulate the free flow of information. When the state controls the labs, it controls the outputs. State intervention in frontier AI poses a direct threat to free speech, granting Washington the structural leverage to censor viewpoints and dictate how Americans access news, knowledge, and opinion."
" While the White House considers different ideas for how to best ensure America and everyday Americans are the winners in the global AI race, it should avoid the siren song of Bernie Sanders socialism and stick with the tried and true recipe that has kept America leading for 250 years: freedom."
Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries.via Unsplash.
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Original text here: https://netchoice.org/netchoice-flags-serious-risks-with-proposal-to-partially-nationalize-ai-labs-warns-of-harm-to-innovation-and-threats-to-free-speech/
EEI Announces Winners of 2026 Supplier Engagement Awards
WASHINGTON, June 8 [Category: Energy] -- The Edison Electric Institute issued the following news release:
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EEI Announces Winners of 2026 Supplier Engagement Awards
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WASHINGTON (June 08, 2026) -The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has announced the winners of its Supplier Engagement Awards, which were presented during the 4 2nd Annual Supplier Engagement Conference in Philadelphia. The awards were judged by an esteemed panel of energy industry professionals and recognize companies for their outstanding efforts to advance purchasing opportunities for small businesses who partner with investor-owned
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, June 8 [Category: Energy] -- The Edison Electric Institute issued the following news release:
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EEI Announces Winners of 2026 Supplier Engagement Awards
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WASHINGTON (June 08, 2026) -The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has announced the winners of its Supplier Engagement Awards, which were presented during the 4 2nd Annual Supplier Engagement Conference in Philadelphia. The awards were judged by an esteemed panel of energy industry professionals and recognize companies for their outstanding efforts to advance purchasing opportunities for small businesses who partner with investor-ownedelectric companies. The winners were evaluated over a two-year period.
"EEI is proud to recognize this year's awardees for their exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment to strengthening communities through supplier inclusion and development," said EEI President and CEO Drew Maloney. "These organizations exemplify the power of collaboration, opportunity, and forward-thinking solutions that not only advance our industry, but also create lasting economic impact for businesses and families across the country. "
Learn more about the winners below.
DTE Energy earns the EEI Excellence Award
This award is presented to an EEI member company that demonstrates stellar contributions in supplier engagement, development, growth, partnership, sustainability, and economic impact.
DTE Energy distinguished itself through a comprehensive and highly integrated supplier engagement strategy supported by executive leadership partnership, operational accountability, supplier development initiatives, and advanced supply chain analytics.
The company's achievements included a CEO-signed supplier inclusion policy, enterprise-wide supplier engagement processes with embedded accountability measures, extensive internal training on inclusive procurement practices, and the implementation of operational tools designed to promote transparency and continuous improvement.
DTE Energy was also recognized for its mentorship program based on a four-pillar safety maturity model, dynamic supplier outreach initiatives that strengthen community partnerships, and expanded use of narrative storytelling to elevate supplier visibility, workforce development, and inclusive economic participation.
Over the two-year evaluation period, DTE Energy's annual spend with local suppliers exceeded $6.3 billion and supported more than 3,700 local suppliers within its operational footprint.
Oncor Electric Delivery receives the EEI Supplier Engagement Innovation Award
This award recognizes innovative supplier engagement practices that create measurable benefits for suppliers, communities, and the company.
Oncor Electric Delivery earned recognition for its Building Opportunities and Leading Transformation (BOLT) initiative, a comprehensive strategy focused on expanding supplier engagement, strengthening business capacity, and improving access to opportunities. The company also launched its Blue Wave Supplier Development Program, which provided intensive operational readiness, risk mitigation, and business continuity training for 30 supplier cohorts. Graduates of the program have since secured contracts with Oncor, prime contractors, and global organizations.
Over the two-year nomination period, Oncor's spend with local suppliers exceeded $6 billion and supported more than 4,600 local suppliers.
Burns & McDonnell earns the EEI Prime Supplier Leadership Award
This award is presented annually to a prime supplier that demonstrates exceptional leadership in supplier engagement, outreach, and mentoring across their supply chain operations.
Burns & McDonnell was recognized for its comprehensive supplier engagement initiatives, including a CEO-signed strategic partner policy, formalized supplier inclusion processes, a cross-functional Strategic Advisory Council, and strategic planning frameworks that measure and support supplier progress.
Additional highlights include their internal supplier inclusion training programs, strategic partner development through the Accelerate Program, annual symposiums focused on best practice sharing and networking, scholarship and capacity-building support for strategic partners, workforce development initiatives, and supplier recognition programs celebrating partner success.
In 2025, Burns & McDonnell's economic impact with strategic partners totaled approximately $1.5 billion, representing 21% of the company's total spend and supporting business opportunities for more than 1,200 strategic partners.
Infinite Energy Construction (IEC) earns the EEI Distinguished Supplier Award
This award is presented annually to a supplier that demonstrates superior performance and excellence in community engagement, job creation, mentoring, and development.
IEC has steadily expanded its capabilities from substation engineering into substation commissioning, strategic procurement, and staffing support, delivering innovative solutions that address critical utility construction challenges.
IEC also was recognized for its partnership and mentorship collaboration with Burns & McDonnell to support growing transmission and distribution market demands while actively promoting supplier engagement by sharing its success story and highlighting the value of mentorship in business growth. Since partnering with Burns & McDonnell, IEC has created 21 new jobs and established a new office in a HUBZone community, further contributing to local economic development.
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Original text here: https://www.eei.org/News/news/All/supplier-engagement-awards
