Scaffolding Industry - September 2008 - (Page 27)

Past President’s Message SIAEF Chairman presents Millstone Corporation with the Platinum Benefactor award Elouise Schultz and Bill Breault pose with Miller after he received the President's award cial collapse. Soon after, a “perfect storm” threatened the very existence of our association. Once stabilized, I strongly suggested that Liz Callahan be nominated as the next SIA treasurer. Today, after her two terms as treasurer, your association is as financially sound as it has been in years. Budgets tightly adhered to, expenses closely monitored, cash flow projections regularly analyzed, Liz Callahan has restored fiscal integrity to the SIA and I will miss working with her. You too will miss her. I have said many times before that I have seen both the best and the worst that this association has to offer and these three represent our association at its best. And I promised no long speeches. In conclusion, I don’t know what the future holds. These are uncertain times in an election year with a new global economy. People far smarter than I are going to have to figure it out. But I do know this. The SIA today is strong, growing, relevant, improving and enjoying great momentum with goodwill restored. There is still much to do within our rapidly changing industry and now people are looking again to the Scaffold Industry Association for leadership. Incoming presiwww.scaffold.org dent Bill Breault is well trained and ready for the challenge and nothing less than your full and total support of his agenda is required. Some of you may have been getting a little nervous that I may have forgotten the most important component to the SIA success throughout the last two years. Rest assured, I have not. They say behind every good man stands a great woman. No truer words have ever been spoken. Ladies and gentlemen, if it were not for my wife of 21 years, I would not be here tonight, would not have been here for the last 15 years, would not have been able to accomplish what we have accomplished together. While I was tending to the business of the SIA, she was tending to the business of the Miller family. I’m no fool. At the end of the day, the success of the SIA during my tenure will be long forgotten and the only measure of success that will truly matter is the kind of men my three young sons turn out to be. Now, with my SIA commitment behind me, I can spend more time in my role as dad. So with that, I say thank you to my wife Sheryl and my three sons Jacob, Cory and Dylan for sharing me, not just for the last two years but for the last 15. Ladies and gentlemen, the SIA is an affliction that starts in your head as a curiosity. What are they doing at those meetings? Why are all my competitors and suppliers there? So you join to find out what’s going on. Then it moves to your gut as you get involved in the meetings and you realize that these are people who share the same issues, concerns and problems as you. You speak out in a meeting, you challenge a comment, and you volunteer to participate in a project. You are now a part of the process. Then it moves to your heart as the people you meet along the way become your friends, which adds even more to the SIA experience. You look forward to coming to SIA events to see your friends again while working together for a cause. And that cause is a better SIA which leads to a better scaffold and access industry. I have made many friends along the way and come to realize that you can never underestimate the power and abilities of a group of committed volunteers driven to change an association and an industry for the better. The bylaws say my presidency ends at the end of week at the conclusion of our Board of Directors meeting on Friday. But for all intent and purposes, my presidency ends here tonight. To say it’s been an honor and a pleasure would be an understatement. For over 15 years I have served this association well and always in a tie and for that I have taken a lot of grief. So tonight, we will break with tradition as I leave you with one last question that only you can answer. What’s Next SIA! Scaffold Industry SEPTEMBER 2008 25 http://www.scaffold.org

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Scaffolding Industry - September 2008

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