CLEVELAND – This week at the Great Lakes Economic Forum, Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14) was presented with the first-ever Great Lakes Changemaker Award by the Council of the Great Lakes Region. Launched in 2005, the Great Lakes Economic Forum gathers leaders from all levels of government, business, academia and the non-profit sector who are committed to economic growth and environmental sustainability in the Great Lakes region.

“A lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio, I have never been shy about my support for the Great Lakes,” said Dave. “As a father, I was proud to share the importance of protecting the Lakes with my children, and now as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I have the honor of advocating for the Lakes in Congress. The Great Lakes are an invaluable natural resource and economic powerhouse, and I am proud to fight to ensure we make the necessary investments to treat them as the national treasure they are. I am humbled to be a recipient of the first-ever Great Lakes Changemaker Award and am eager to live up to the title!”

Dave has long been a fierce advocate of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and other important programs to protect and preserve the Lakes. Having authored the language formally authorizing the GLRI at $300 million annually for the first time in 2016, Dave has successfully fought to ensure the GLRI receives appropriate funding every year since coming to Congress in 2013. As the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Dave continues to lead the effort in Congress to ensure the Great Lakes receive the investments necessary to protect them to the fullest extent.

“The binational Great Lakes are a crucial economic region and watershed for the United States and Canada,” said Mark Fisher, President and CEO, Council of the Great Lakes Region. “Through the new Great Lakes Changemaker Award, the Council is pleased to be able to recognize people, organizations, and companies each year who share our vision of creating the most prosperous, innovative, sustainable, livable, and welcoming region in the world.”

The Council of the Great Lakes Region created the Great Lakes Changemaker Award to recognize individuals, companies or non-profit organizations that are leading the way in strengthening the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the Great Lakes Region, and who are playing a leadership role internationally on a range of economic and environmental issues. Additional recipients of the award were: SC Johnson, former Ambassador Bruce Heyman and Vicki Heyman, the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, and Swim Drink Fish Canada.

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