This past October, the Board of Directors completed a three-day Strategic Planning event. The first such effort since 2012, our collective energies were still focused on the same general sense of goals and strategies, though constantly adapting to fit the needs of the membership and the industry. In nearly a decade that plan had been pushed and pulled, rolled over and marked up so many times that even as close as I am to it, I couldn’t clearly interpret the tea leaves. It was time

In 2012, the Board gathered in a large conference room.  Large Post-It notepads were placed around the room and the mud slinging began.  I still have those paper images and it seems the wholeness of the strategy was to define and refine who the CFA could be for the future.  Considering this Association was established in 1974 by contractors, for contractors, it isn’t hard to imagine the need to stay true to that mission.  Today, even more so than just a short decade ago, the networking landscape is vastly different.  Information seemingly at your fingertips…Google has proven that you can get a purported answer to any question from any position.  Essentially, today’s knowledge base is about bending information to your will… support what you want to be supported.

This past October, I watched a refreshing group of industry leaders, taking valuable time from their businesses, investing in a new vision.  There was no discussion of “new identify,” the Concrete Foundations Association doesn’t need that.  Five pillars, platforms, areas of interest…these came from the hard work of discussing the past and present and evaluating the opportunities of the future.  The Strategic Plan established a core vision for the Association to center energy on strengthening Education, Networking and Advocacy while building new strategies to leverage Membership and Workforce Development.  These five aspects of what the Association needs to be for the members become your core values.  The Board then installed task forces for each and invited the membership at large to participate.

January rolled in after the holiday season and without World of Concrete to plan around, an intensive four weeks of development work took place by incredibly talented and spirited members.  Whether on the Board or serving as a member-volunteer, they took task development to a new level.  Eighteen goals for the Association are now prepared for the Board to wrestle with in their February meeting.  This represents the structure of the here and now as well as the short to long-term development planned to continue building on the legacy that every Board before had maintained.

I extend my personal thanks with sincere gratitude for the amount of effort put forward that continues to make this association a special place. A place  where dedicated and passionate businesses can come together, be supported, contribute and strive for the strongest of futures for our industry, its workforce and their families.  The introductions to your new Board members found beginning on page 18 evidence much of this energy and the excitement we should all have for what is to come.