RULES CORNER
Inspection Services Department Carries on With the Mission Despite Challenges Contact us to see how we can help you! by Chief Inspector Dana Spessert
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he hardwood industry has undergone significant changes over the past two years, and NHLA is no exception. We’ve had to make some tough decisions but through it all we have managed to carry on our mission, which is to “serve NHLA Members engaged in the commerce of North American hardwood lumber by maintaining order, structure, and ethics in the changing global hardwood marketplace; providing unique member services; promoting North American hardwood lumber and advocating the interest of the hardwood community in public/private policy issues; and providing a platform for networking opportunities.” As you are reading this, I hope you decided to join us at the NHLA Annual Convention, an event where you meet with old friends and make some new ones. The Annual Convention is one way that we help to ensure a vibrant and robust hardwood industry. Another significant role that we embrace is maintaining the NHLA Rules and the process by which they are refreshed and updated. We hold a special meeting on a quadrennial basis and allow our members to submit Rules change proposals that go through an extensive screening process by the Rules Committee. The committee consists of 13 members representing a variety of industry segments.The Rules Committee is tasked with verifying the efficacy and impact of the proposals to ensure that we do not create conflicting Rules changes. The Rules change proposals that pass the Rules Committee process will be voted on by our Active members in November – December this year. Throughout the ups and downs of the COVID pandemic, we have continued to deliver education to the industry. From 3-day short courses to the traditional 8-week Inspector Training School pro-
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gram. NHLA has created many news ways of offering education for everyone, including the ITS Online Training Program and industry specific webinar courses. The ITS Online Training Program provides hands-on training but allows some of the information to be studied from home. With the onset of the pandemic, NHLA embraced the webinar platform, offering more than 14 to date and will continue to provide those as an opportunity to learn in a short amount of time, in a streaming format wherever you may be. We continue to meet our members’ needs through our National Inspectors located throughout the US and Canada. We are a smaller staff than in the past, yet we are still delivering the services required to meet the demand throughout North America. Our National Inspectors have become much more than the National Inspectors of the past; they are ambassadors for the industry. They have the capability of working with owners, managers, supervisors, and the employees of our membership to help everyone reach their full potential, not only in lumber inspection but in management, quality control, yield studies, and many other aspects of the lumber production. Please contact a National Inspector or me to see how we can help you, your employees and your company. Dana Spessert at d.spessert@nhla.com or 901-399-7551. W W W. N H L A .C O M
