Chairman’s Letter Cheers to 2023

Cheers to 2023!

by Stephanie Liston

One of my main focuses this year will be maintenance engagement. I think our Maintenance Team members are often forgotten, and even though they are on the front line they are also our industry’s backbone. I have had an advantage over the years being married to a Maintenance Supervisor. He is looking to retire in the next few years. Many of our experienced maintenance team members are leaving the industry, and I think it will be important that we actively remind people that this can be a career like it has been for my husband and is more than just a job. I want them to feel like they are part of a larger organization and see the GNAA as a resource to help their long-term goals. We as an industry need to re-glorify trade education.

I want to thank all of you who have attended the Maintenance Committee over the years, and most recently the engagement in this year’s focus group that is going to help shape what our maintenance programs look like in the future. I want to thank all of you who have encouraged your team members to be active participants, and those who have been and continue to be mentors to others. I want to be sure to mention my gratitude to those suppliers who have supported and will continue to support our maintenance events.

To everyone who might be timid about being active or perhaps just hasn’t found their place, I promise there is a committee for everyone – keep coming until you find it!

There are so many great people in this organization who are here to support each other, and I am so proud and thankful to be part of it. I am even more thankful for everyone who has given me their support over the years, I wouldn’t be where I am today in my career today without it. For all of you, I promise to do my best to make you proud. I am really looking forward to working with such a talented Executive Committee and Board this coming year.

So does being the Chairman of the Board mean I’ve “made it” in my career? No – absolutely not! I realize now that making it is when you are known as a mentor to others in the industry like Chari and Wes were to me.

Cheers to 2023!