09/21/2012

NAHAD Board Meets in Washington, DC

By Don Fritzinger, NAHAD President

The NAHAD Board meets on a semi-annual basis; one meeting scheduled during the annual meeting and the other in late September of each year.  Every three years, the Board engages in an expanded planning exercise which helps us establish organizational priorities for the coming years.  This issue of hoseconnections will arrive in your In Box just after our fall meeting. With that meeting freshly behind us, I would like to share some of the activity on the meeting agenda. 

Typical of any organization we have the required approval of meeting minutes, budget reviews, annual audit reviews, Committee reports and general governance as established by the Association Bylaws.  Specific areas of discussion worth sharing include:

1.  A detailed review of the year-to-date (YTD) Operating Statement which is reviewed monthly by the Executive Committee and semi-annually with the entire Board.
2. Nominating Committee activities for future Board seats and the George Carver Award.
3. A Board study of suggestions and opinion provided by the membership after each annual meeting to continually improve the content of that event. 
4. A thorough review of the major objectives established by the Board every three years to make certain we are acting on these objectives and staying on course with activities tied to the Hose Safety Institute, regular communication to the membership, branding of the organization, growing the organization, etc.
5. Dialogue regarding potential threats to industry associations due to industry consolidation of vendors and distributors.
6. Keeping the NAHAD value proposition relevant i.e. make certain we are spending money on items that truly provide value.
7. Review of the Membership model as our industry changes.
8. Other future association impact discussion points, such as communication, volunteerism, education, etc.

There is a time commitment made on the part of each of our Board members to keep our organization progressive, fiscally sound and of great value to our membership. Please join me in thanking them for this effort, their commitment over two long weekends each year and their interest in our industry.  Their ongoing commitment ensures NAHAD’s success, which will translate to the continuing success of our members’ businesses. They take the responsibility for organizational oversight of this NAHAD organization very seriously.