Focus On The Future

If you were in the Bahamas at GAWDA's annual convention and attended my induction ceremony, you know that the theme for my year as President is “Focus on the Future.” As I write this column, the future of the U.S. economy looks rather bleak. The stock market has had back-to-back days of record plunges, major financial institutions have gone out of business, the credit market has collapsed, and Congress is struggling to fashion a $700 billion bailout. Many political and economic pundits have declared that the American Dream of a better and brighter future is dead.

The same morning as my induction, convention attendees heard a presentation from John Stropki, the chairman and CEO of Lincoln Electric, on the state of the industry and future trends. His presentation about the future of the welding and gases industry in the United States and worldwide was in contrast to what we are hearing about the U.S. economy as a whole. John outlined how the global demand for new construction and the refurbishment of a crumbling infrastructure is driving increased demand for welding products. America's infrastructure, with a major focus on its 600,000 bridges, needs $1.6 trillion worth of emergency rehabilitation. Increased investments in energy, pipelines, shipbuilding, aviation and rail are also driving the prospects for growth in demand for welding products over the next five to ten years. The future of the welding and gases sector may be the one bright spot in the U.S. economy.

This year's convention featured a report from our leadership on the “State of the Association” outlining numerous steps that the Board of Directors has taken over the past year to strengthen the association and to insure a brighter future. Those steps include:

• Increased educational and networking opportunities for our Young Executives to develop GAWDA's future leaders
• A more equitable dues schedule that will stabilize revenues
• New consultant relationships that improve service to our members while reducing financial exposure
• An online employee training program called GAWDA University that features over 40 courses at very low prices
• An emphasis on running GAWDA like a business and paying attention to the bottom line in budgeting for meetings and programs.

As President, I plan on continuing down this same path of examining and then strengthening GAWDA's processes and products.

The Audit Committee will continue its work of reviewing and restructuring our contracts. Next on our agenda are the management contract with Fernley & Fernley and our contract with Data Key Communications to publish Welding & Gases Today, GAWDA Connection, GAWDA Edge and our Membership Directory.

A task force will be formed to rewrite GAWDA's Policies and Procedures and our By-Laws to more accurately reflect our changing governance structure and the needs of our membership.

Read more about Andy Oxy Co. in the Member Profile online.

GAWDA's Web site will be updated with an emphasis on providing the membership with more transparency on the actions of our Board and Committees and current industry news.

Regional Meetings will be strengthened by providing assistance with speakers, best practices and the creation of several Super-Regions which will combine smaller meetings that need additional membership and financial support.

I hope that you share my optimism about the continued growth of the welding and gases industry in the United States and the strengthening of the Gases and Welding Distributors Association. I look forward to the year ahead and know that I can count on your support and assistance as we continue to “Focus on the Future.”