Dear AABC Members:
We just celebrated AABC’s 57th year in a beautiful venue in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with an excellent turnout of more than 125 people.
At this Annual Meeting, Mike Kelly completed his presidency and 12 years of service as an AABC Board member. He has been a great leader, and he will continue to work for the betterment of AABC. His accomplishments include:
- Championing our continuing education program;
- Leading the committee to rewrite the TAB technician certification test;
- He was adamant about the importance of recognizing members who take responsibility for enhancing AABC, leading to the creation of the Outstanding Service Award and the AABC Hall of Fame;
- He worked with our management firm, CAM, to start an excellent, multi-faceted marketing program;
- He spoke at numerous lunch and learns and seminars;
- And finally, for many he will best be remembered for ending drink tickets at the annual meetings.
I have had the opportunity to know and work with both Mike and his dad, Pat Kelly, who was also president of AABC. They shared a great sense of humor and a desire to make AABC and our industry better. In the seven years that I’ve been on the board with Mike, he has been an excellent leader who I respect greatly.
For this year’s awards winners, I congratulate Joe Baumgartner, the family of George Young that includes members of both Test and Balance Corporation and The Phoenix Agency, and the Kahoe family of George Coultas, on their inductions into the AABC Hall of Fame. I also want to congratulate everyone who received 2022 Outstanding Service Awards: Brian Venn, Cody Shook, BJ Link, Mike Kelly, and Doug Meacham.
If you missed this year’s meeting, I would strongly suggest you go to your AABC member portal to view all of the great presentations, which included:
- TAB and Commissioning Coordination;
- Outdoor Airflow Measurement: Challenges and Best-Practice Solutions;
- Understanding Balancing and Fundamental Steps to Balance and Optimize Hydronic Systems;
- Pandemic Operation, Carbon Reduction, and YOU! How These Design Strategies Impact the Commissioning Process;
- Demand Control Ventilation Applications;
- Design and Commissioning: Evaluating the Interface with TAB on Projects;
- Creating an Employee Pathway that Elevates Your Business;
- Succession Planning: Ensuring your Success and Theirs.
I also want to encourage everyone to mark the date of October 4-6, 2023, in Scottsdale, Arizona, where next year’s annual meeting will be held.
Our official mission at AABC is the following:
“AABC establishes industry standards for Total System Balance of building environments, and is the only association that exclusively certifies independent agencies. Members receive certification, technical training, continuing education, marketing, business resources, professional networking, and industry advocacy.”
The past two years I can truthfully say our association has fulfilled our mission. The challenge that I see is that for AABC to improve as an association, everyone must buy into our vision and our mission statement, and become a company that is trusted to provide Total System Balance for every building and design professional.
Therefore, I challenge each company to start a training program for your employees. If you don’t have a program yet, a great way to start is by reviewing a chapter in the technician training manual once a month. In addition, the AABC-endorsed training center in Houston has a Fundamentals Training Program and an Advanced Air and Water Training Program to assist your employees in reaching their goals of becoming a certified TAB Technician and a TBE. Again, I challenge each AABC company to review what you can improve on this coming year.
In thinking about other improvements that will help both your company and AABC, your marketing committee would like to see each company with a great webpage. They would also like to see everyone in AABC be a member on LinkedIn. I am going to ask the committee to offer periodic training on how to market yourself through LinkedIn and through a webpage.
Looking ahead to the next few years, by this time next year AABC will have a fume hood/laboratory certification program. In the fourth quarter of 2024, AABC will have a clean room certification program. Modifications to the Technician Training Manual are underway and targeted for completion by the end of 2023.The revised completion target for the next version of the AABC National Standards is the first quarter of 2024. If you want to get involved, there is always a need on committees. Finally, your board is working on updates to the AABC Policies and Procedures, which will be completed by January 2023.
As a final note, I hope to personally contact each company in the next two months to discuss how you’re doing, whether there is anything that AABC can help with, and what kind of goals you have in the next one, five and 10 years. I realize that everyone is busy, but I hope you will have time for my call.
I look forward to serving as your president and hope that in the next two years all our members will be reaping the benefits because of the hard work our committee volunteers do week after week, the hard work of CAM and its staff, and the continual hard work of your board. It is an amazing group to work with.
Have a great Thanksgiving with your family and I’ll be talking to you soon.
Gaylon Richardson, TBE
AABC President
