FROM THE EDITOR
Crossing the Bridge BY STEVE GUGLIELMO
I Steve Guglielmo is GAWDA Media’s Editor-in-Chief. He has more than a decade of experience working with industrial associations. He can be reached at steveg@gawdamedia.com.
10 • First Quarter 2023
love the 1st Quarter issue of the year. Not only is it a clean slate and an opportunity to reset, but speaking with GAWDA members about their expectations for the new year and hearing about the trends and disruptors that will shape our industry is so interesting. It sets the stage for the year and informs the editorial decisions that we will make at GAWDA Media. The 1st Quarter issue is also an opportunity to put a bow on the previous year. As we put together the Convention Recap, which you can read on pages 44-53, it was great to relive those memories again. Every year GAWDA manages to top itself from the previous year. This year, as we were working on the Convention Recap and the forecasts simultaneously, a realization hit me. I was speaking with Maine Oxy for their Member Profile (page 38) and we were discussing how the company had survived for more than 90 years and is closing in its 100th Anniversary. And to put that in perspective, we were talking about all of the world events that the company had seen and endured. Over the course of 100 years, the company has seen World Wars, the advent of space travel, the internet, the Great Depression and multiple Great Recessions. However, when I was reading Dirk Beveridge’s column (page 54) where he discussed the “Silver Tsunami,” it clicked for me. Though nearly all of our GAWDA member companies have witnessed and survived Recessions before, including the Great Recession in the early 2000’s, many of today’s leaders have not. Or, if they were in the business, they weren’t yet in leadership roles.
Many economists, including our own economists with ITR Economics, are forecasting a slight recession, or at least a softening economy for the second half of this year. And ITR has been steadfast in their prediction that we will experience a Recession to rival the Great Depression in the early 2030s. With so many experienced leaders transitioning out of the President and CEO roles in their company, and millennials in their 30s and early 40s stepping into those positions, many will experience a recession for the first time. And the decisions that they make will determine whether or not the companies continue to grow and thrive past those recessions. Which is why last year’s theme of “Building a Bridge for Future Generations” is so resonant. And it’s why GAWDA’s MBA program, which launched this year, comes at the perfect time. You can never be 100% prepared to deal with business disruptions like these. But you can be as prepared as possible. And by utilizing the tools that GAWDA provides and leaning on the advice of those who have gone through these times before, I’m confident that this next generation of GAWDA leaders, like those before them, will come through the coming economic turbulence better than ever. So, here’s to another great year, GAWDA! I can’t wait to see what it has in store for all of us.
