A Message From the VPPPA Chairperson Hello my fellow VPPPA members,
F
irst and foremost, I want to begin by sharing how great it was to interact (both inperson and virtually) with everyone at this year’s National Safety+ Symposium. For the first time in almost two years, we were able to come together and execute the
conference that we all know and love, despite circumstances surrounding the pandemic. To those who joined us face-to-face in Nashville, I’d like to express a great thanks for complying with COVID-19 protocols that were set in place; your collective effort helped ensure the safety and health of those in attendance, and ultimately played a large part in making this year’s Symposium a smashing success. While there are countless moments worth highlighting from this year’s event— statements made by our keynote speakers, Jim Frederick from OSHA, and Jimmy Hart from the AFL-CIO, warrant mention. Both Frederick and Hart stressed the importance of increasing collaboration with VPP participants, this, along with seeing OSHA and Labor assure all of us they support VPP and will in the foreseeable future was great to hear. Additionally, each workshop speaker went above and beyond delivering their expertise.
I wholeheartedly believe that we will continue to look back on this year’s Symposium as a reminder of the resilience and dedication held by those a part of VPPPA.
Meanwhile, the exhibit hall contained a great deal of new world-class safety products, many of which I had not heard of or seen before, from an amazing group of vendors! On top of this, the networking events were an absolute hit, as being able to connect safely in-person, with faces both new and familiar, reaffirmed my appreciation and commitment to this Association. Given all of these wonderful highlights, I wholeheartedly believe that we will continue to look back on this year’s Symposium as a reminder of the resilience and dedication held by those a part of VPPPA. While the Symposium has come and passed, we want to ensure everyone that the VPPPA has not stopped working to provide you with the best member benefits. Our fantastic staff at VPPPA’s National Office continues to demonstrate why the VPPPA is the premier safety and health organization. We are expanding our online education services and free member webinars, so please be sure to regularly visit our newly revamped website to find more information on our upcoming virtual education events. Additionally, I am excited to share that you will soon be receiving information on our virtual conference occurring early next year! Also, we expect to have our electronic annual self-evaluation completed by the end of this year – those who complete the annual evaluation process will notice changes that help organize and streamline this task. Lastly, we are expanding our membership department, because of this we kindly request that when you receive the membership benefit survey, please fill it out to ensure we are providing relevant benefits to our membership. I am beyond honored to work with such a remarkable group of passionate individuals in our National and Regional Board, as well as our National Office staff. We are excited about the future of the VPP program and the many ways the VPPPA will continue to support it. I thank each of you for unwavering support, and for being such an important part of this journey going forward.
— Terry Schulte, Chairman—National VPPPA Board of Directors We are better together!
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Leader—Autumn 2021
vpppa.org
