In September I introduced the new members of our board of directors. Shortly after taking office, however, our Vice President, Mark Fagala of Fagala Biohazard Specialists, LLC had to resign for personal reasons. We are now interviewing his replacement and should have the new VP in place in November. Several members have stepped up to the plate and we will inform you of the board’s choice for replacement in the next issue.
Our annual conference next year will be in Seattle, Wash., at The Renaissance Hotel. Theresa Borst of Bio Clean, Inc., is serving as conference committee chairperson; the committee will be putting together a conference that you will not want to miss. Even if you do not desire to enter this field, you should consider attending as you will learn much while meeting some of the industry’s finest professionals. We will keep you posted as we line up topics and presenters.
The conference is a great place for vendors; we give each vendor a 15-minute spotlight to talk about their company or products, addressing all the attendees at once. Many vendors tell us they love what we do for them and that we give them this time.
ABRA is a unique association. We know that we may never get as large as many other associations because of the nature of our work. Becoming involved with ABRA will bring strength and awareness of the work we provide. Many in our membership belong to other trade associations as well. Some have joined ABRA because their association did not have anything for the bio-recovery technician. Many in the janitorial, carpet cleaning and restoration industry do not want any part of bio-recovery because of the nature of the work. It is important that ABRA members reach out to these associations and let them know we are a resource for them, and they should get to know us so we can help them and their customers in a time of need.
As president of ABRA, I intend to support all members and help them succeed in their business, to provide benefits and value for their membership. But over the years, I have found one thing to be true, and that is that those who participate in their organization or associations are the ones that truly benefit the most, while the ones who complain the most are the very ones that do the least.
