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I recently had the good fortune to speak with Jerry Heppes, CAE, the CEO of the Door and Hardware Institute, and I asked him how the impending shutdown of the federal government would affect his government relations and advocacy efforts. Here's how it went (my commentary is in italics).

Q. What will the effect be on your group?

My members are in commercial construction and that industry has been in dire straights recently. If the government shuts down, they're the biggest owner of property in the country, so if they shut down for an extended period of time, that translates into less construction and that would be a bad thing for us--but I don't think that will happen.

I imagine that's the perception of a lot of associations: a short-term shutdown, while not ideal, is not anything to get too twisted about. If the shutdown were to drag on, however, it would likely have much more serious effects on the U.S. and global economies--and even many associations that were mostly immune to the recent recession could run into serious issues.

Q. What about ongoing efforts you have with agencies?

We do some work with the Department of Justice and the Department of Education and some other agencies--school security, the Stars Program (an energy initiative), that sort of thing. If the government shuts down, you don't just stop. There's always things you can do to get you're part of the work on the projects done, to get it ready for when the shutdown ends.

Again, sounds like the place most associations are in. If there happens to be an imminent deadline for an issue important to your members, or if you'd been working on securing a meeting with a government official for months only to have it scheduled for next week--well, I could see why you wouldn't have quite such a laissez-faire attitude.

Q. How is this going to end?

Well, I don't think this is something that will drag on for months; I think they'll get something worked out. And if a government shutdown is what it takes for the American people to get a better-managed budget, well then that would be a long-term win for us, despite whatever damage might come from the short term.

So there is a silver lining after all. Maybe.