Q&A with Matt Mika

NM: How did you get started in government relations?

MM: I went to Adrian College in Michigan, a small liberal arts school, playing football and baseball. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, and before my sophomore year of college, I interned for then lieutenant governor of Michigan, Dick Posthumus. The best thing I got to do was drive him around the state to go to events, and I was involved in meetings and got to see what was happening at the agricultural level in Michigan. After college I worked for Congressman Nick Smith. I worked in his district office in Michigan for about a year. In 2004, I had an opportunity to come to D.C. and work for Congressman Dave Camp. I worked for Tim Walberg who is also from Michigan, and he was on the ag committee. Then I went over to work for the American Meat Institute and worked there for two years covering ag committees, house and senate trade, immigration, labor and a bunch of coalitions. Then I worked for Tyson for 12 years working on ag committees, appropriations, transportation, trade, environment and water. Then during COVID, I really got involved in procurement, supply chain and just moving goods and helping to keep plants open and working with OSHA, the White House, the vice president and USDA.

NM: Are you planning any big projects in the future?

MM: The biggest thing right now until the end of August, when Congress will go into the August recess district work period, is watching all the appropriation bills and making sure those are funded and that everything works for the growers, producers and others and make sure everything gets moving. Then for me, just relearning the industry. It's been a while since I've worked on these issues specifically. I know them. I just have to get caught up, get re-energized. It’s getting back into the weeds, understanding, working with our headquarters and more importantly working with our members to make sure that they're well heard, and all their issues are represented here in D.C.

NM: What is your strategy to continue growth and success within the horticulture sector?

MM: The biggest thing is to make sure the priorities and top issues are updated – labor and immigration, supply chain, making sure everything works if it's coming on truck or by train or by ports when you're exporting. Also making sure all the programs and funding are there for research and development. Then making sure that there's nothing new out there that we're missing, and if there is an older issue, it's being handled. So really educating myself on what the priorities are and making sure those priorities are being well represented here in Congress.

NM: What are you most excited about or looking forward to in this new position?

MM: I’m excited about taking this trade association and its members to a different level of interaction with members of Congress, senators and their staff, getting folks involved where they need to be involved and making sure their voices are heard. It’s going to be an interesting time here at the end of this year, talking about a presidential race and how that's going to affect politics and policy, specifically related to labor, immigration and trade.

NM: When you're not working, what do you do for fun?

MM: Everything evolves around sports. I enjoy playing softball, baseball, golf and going out on the boat with friends. One of the things I work with a lot around here is the Congressional baseball game. We had that in June, and it’s one of the only bipartisan things left in Congress. I’m the lead volunteer coach for the republican team, and republicans won for the third year straight. It's just a great opportunity to get together with folks, and the most important thing is we raise money for local charities within the Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia region. This year we raised roughly $1.86 million.

For more: www.americanhort.org