MOSES LAKE - Making sure the Eastern Washington business community continues to be well represented in Olympia is something incoming Association of Washington Business president Kris Johnson said he takes seriously.

"AWB is a statewide association, and we work very hard to include input from members all over the state, from varying sized businesses and industries," he said.

Johnson said the association realizes there can sometimes be geographic challenges in getting to meetings on the west side.

So AWB does a few things to make sure members on the eastern side of the state are still engaged, he said.

Johnson said AWB takes advantage of the close ties some of their executive team members have to Eastern Washington, and specifically the Basin, for example.

AWB's vice president of government affairs, Gary Chandler, is from Moses Lake and their vice president of communications, Jocelyn McCabe, worked as a journalist in Wenatchee and Ellensburg prior to joining AWB.

Johnson said he is also familiar with Eastern Washington as he used to work for both the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce in Kennewick and the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Representatives from businesses on this side of the state also serve on the AWB Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, he said.

Johnson said one initiative he plans on working on in 2014 is growing the involvement of the association's district chairs, which is based on the state's legislative districts.

"This will give local businesses a point of contact to share their concerns and help us stay in touch with the needs of our members at the local level," he said.

However, nothing beats meeting AWB members in person, Johnson said, who was in Moses Lake with current president Don Brunell earlier this week.

AWB hosted a leadership reception for Basin business leaders to meet Johnson and Brunell.

Brunell is retiring after 28 years with AWB and Johnson will assume his role as president Jan. 1.

The Moses Lake event was the first of many similar events throughout the state.

The pair also visited Tri-Cities and Spokane and plan to meet members in Bellevue, Everett, Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver throughout December and into early January.