Tony Kocurek, SMACNA President
As SMACNA’s president, I find myself measuring and evaluating engagement frequently — when I travel to chapter meetings, lobby for passage of local legislation or even participate in an interview with a national trade magazine. We all wonder what our reach is, who is listening and what impact we are having on others.
Engagement is a hot topic at SMACNA as Aaron and his staff are implementing a new management system for the association. One of the benefits of this system is accurate data on membership, what members participate in, and how they spend their time engaging with the association.
All sorts of interactions with the association are possible — from light engagement transactions like clicking on an email link or visiting SMACNA’s website to more substantial, personal engagements like volunteering for a committee or donating to the PAC. SMACNA has done well with engaging members in critical areas, such as labor relations, technical services and legislative advocacy, but our focus needs to broaden to other critical areas as well.
One area SMACNA is making significant strides in is education. I am really excited about all of the different programs SMACNA is developing, the amount of webinars with experts SMACNA is producing and the content SMACNA is creating on its website.
A big step forward for SMACNA will be offering training and education in different ways that meet the needs of members. If you are like me, its tough to send someone to a different city for training. It’s a tough situation where you can’t afford to lose those days, but you want increased skills as a result of the training. You will have to gauge the temporary impact versus the long-term return on investment.
t’s a unique decision for each contractor, but for me having an option to provide fully remote learning or remote learning combined with an abbreviated, in-person training would be a great option. The other option I like is that SMACNA is starting to offer more frequent programming in different parts of the country. This enables me to reduce travel costs and time, while also giving me choices for when the training fits within our project planning.
A lot of these enhancements were articulated in SMACNA’s strategic plan. It is my sincere hope that the strategic direction that contractors helped develop will steer our industry towards a new era of prosperity.
Tony Kocurek, SMACNA President
