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The Annual Conference in Whitefish, MT was outstanding! It was well organized and the sessions were very beneficial. I think that everyone truly enjoyed themselves. The conference committee is to be commended on a great job! Outgoing President Mike Boggs did an excellent job last year in many areas including Canadian membership and the Canadian board positions that were instituted. The Board looks forward to a year of continued Canadian participation. As incoming President, I would like to thank each one of you for the honor of serving as President of the Northwest Chapter AAAE. As a Past-President said at the Annual Chapter meeting, the agenda only continues to grow . . . it seems each year there is more and more . . . to monitor, respond to and plan for. There are four goals I would like the Chapter to accomplish this year. First, a Mentoring Program for AAE candidates. We, as a Chapter, really need to focus on helping candidates through the Accreditation Program. Some candidates become stalled and I think that part of the problem is today's work environment. With the ever-growing agenda previously mentioned, personal/professional development is almost a luxury. It is easy to lose sight of the goal when you become bogged down in the day-to-day realities. Along with this program, the Board voted in Whitefish to start using some of the internship funds for a PDI Scholarship. For the last three years we have not used all of the funds designated for internships. The thought is to assist the development of current members of the NWAAAE. We will be setting policy for the Mentoring Program and the PDI Scholarship at the Chapter Board of Directors meeting in Salt Lake City in March. The second goal is to encourage the Chapter to continue to focus on the Corporate membership. I think that we have invited increased participation by establishing the Corporate Board position. The Board looks forward to meeting with our new Corporate Board member, Jack Kelly from APCOA, in Salt Lake City. The third goal for this year is for the Board to establish a five-year financial plan for the Chapter. This will provide some vision and continuity for the Chapter. We have some challenging issues to resolve. A prime example is the annual contributio to the AAAE Endowment Fund. Raytheon-Isbill Associates and AAAE have come forward and each offered to match up to $5,000 to each Chapter that contributes to the Endowment Fund. The NWAAAE has been examining options for contributing to the fund and the matching program should provide better incentives for other Chapters to participate. Look for some "Chapter Challenging" in the next year. There are so many issues that affect the smallest to the largest airport. The fourth goal is to encourage members to become more involved with the Chapter. It is your source for information, networking, and discussing problems, with experienced colleagues, similar to those problems that you are facing at your own airport or business. We get so wrapped up in our own issues we sometimes forget that we all share the same problems. We need to focus on working together on important issues. The FAA has demonstrated this fact when a recent security increase was mandated due to the bombings in Afghanistan and Sudan. The FAA listened to industry representatives on instituting rational and prudent security measures. A manager from a smaller airport may not think this issue is related to the smaller airport that is not regulated by Part 107. However, if the organizations and "powers that be" have to concentrate resources and time fighting unnecessary regulatory enforcement, it takes away from the resources that are focused on issues that affect all airports. As a Chapter, we are stronger together than apart. Our combined managerial and operational experience at airports of all size, provides a well-rounded perspective. I really look forward to working with the NWAAAE Board and each Chapter member this next year. |
