Group aims to raise businesses' political profile

Washington businesses need to borrow a page from labor unions and get more strategic in their political involvement, says Erin McCallum, the president of a new organization that aims to educate businesses large and small about where best to put their money and support at election time.

Enterprise Washington, an Issaquah-based nonprofit founded last spring, has a staff of three and a budget of $450,000, contributed by its network of 300 member companies and associations.

Its goal: To build “a politically educated and involved corporate community” that will help elect state lawmakers who advance and promote the free enterprise system.

It’s not that business groups don’t put resources into supporting political candidates. Case in point: The Building Industry Association of Washington, which has contributed more than $7 million to Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

The problem, McCallum says, is that the business community lacks the analytical tools and information that would help it target its efforts. Labor unions and environmental groups do have those tools, she said. That allows them to be more focused in their support.

“The business community has not been as successful as some other entities in navigating the political landscape,” says McCallum, who has a background in the nonprofit world.

One challenge, she said, is the diversity of the business community. Washington has about 742,000 private businesses, from Boeing and Microsoft to the corner coffeehouse. About 68 percent have 10 or fewer employees. It’s not easy to get them all on the same page.

Through its Web site, G.R.O.W. (for Growing Roots for Our Workforce), Enterprise Washington now offers detailed information on the voting records of individual legislators and members of Congress,

“It’s a one-stop shop for voters who aren’t eating, sleeping, breathing politics,” McCallum said.

One useful tool the organization has developed is a list of the occupations of all 147 state legislators.

Another tool, available to members only, is a “scorecard” for each legislative district, derived from census and demographic data, statewide business surveys and focus groups.

A district’s “score” is supposed to indicate how important business concerns are to its voters. It’s then possible to match that score with the voting records of the district’s legislators.

“It allows us to find where are the pockets where you should have a delegation that is really a champion for business issues,” McCallum said.

McCallum declined to provide scorecards for legislative districts in Clark County, but she did say that in three, the 15th, 17th and 18th, “voters are more inclined to support a candidate who is supportive of private-sector issues.”

In contrast, she said, 49th district voters “are not as inclined to support candidates who are champions for these issues.”

Enterprise Washington also analyzes which races are competitive. Twenty legislative districts, including the 17th, have competitive races this year, according to its analysis.

Links to its sister organization, the Business Institute, allow businesses to see who is giving how much to which campaigns and where donors can get the biggest bang for their buck.

In 2006, 70.6 percent of business contributions in Washington went to incumbents. But that’s not necessarily the way to effect change, McCallum said.

“People don’t care for incumbents in this state, but they continue to re-elect them,” she said.

Enterprise Washington is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates.

“We can’t tell people how to vote, but we can certainly educate them,” McCallum said.

McCallum has no illusion that this election will significantly alter the large majorities Democrats hold in both the House and the Senate.

“There aren’t enough competitive seats to shift the balance this year,” she said. “We are looking beyond Nov. 4. If people get engaged and follow through, when it comes to the next election cycle, this will be a no-brainer.”

Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.