EFMA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Steve Smoroden Well, what a summer it was! With the major challenges experienced due to job-action delaying or putting on hold many major AFG work, some districts found they lost an entire summer of AFG work; others were delayed starting this work, which continued into the start of the school year – creating a challenging work environment in which to complete these tasks, now that students are back in class. But these type of challenges are not new to us; as professionals, we have always been able to overcome any adversity thrown our way and complete the tasks at hand. Our 50th annual conference was a great success, with many learning and networking opportunities, as well as a great trade show. Did you know Elvis was in the building? The executive team is currently reviewing our association’s strategic plan to keep up-to-date and on course for our members – and of course, planning our 51st annual conference for June 2015, to which you are all invited too! This year’s theme will be “The Beat Goes On” – this refers to the need for our professional association to maintain momentum, to not miss a beat, while we enter our 51st year as an association. For the 2015 annual EFMA conference, building on the excellent legacy of our past members, we have built and maintained not only an incredible associa-
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Ops Talk • Fall 2014
tion, but also a public school infrastructure – something of which we can all be proud. We, as the current leaders in the public education sector, need to maintain our capital resources for future generations, as well as boldly look into the future with advanced building and maintenance technology; all while upholding to new more rigorous environmental standards in all that we do to both build new and maintain our existing buildings. As we maintain and build new greener and cleaner buildings, we are making our schools safer for our students, teachers, and staff; as well, the environmental footprint we leave is smaller than ever before. I would like to encourage all of you to pay it forward: share your knowledge and your expertise with all our members by participating in your zone meetings, sharing your successes with fellow members, submitting an article to Ops Talk magazine, and participating in the annual EFMA conference. As Aristotle said: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” I believe this to be true of our association. You are all valuable members and I wish you the best in the school year ahead. Cheers, Steve Smoroden
