Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve the Chapter as president. As you know, we face many challenges in the upcoming year in our workplaces and as a Chapter, due to the ongoing Economic recession. One of our challenges and goals in our strategic plan is to “build up the capacity of the Chapter to better serve its members.” A key strategy to accomplish this goal is to sustain and broaden Chapter membership, a difficult task while so many public works organizations are cutting back on expenses. In an effort to recruit new members under these economic conditions, the “First Time Member Campaign,” which offers reduced membership fees, has been extended until the end of this year. Pass this on to your colleagues and promote APWA at your place of work.

Another key strategy to build chapter capacity and provide better service to chapter members is to ensure Chapter leaders are proactive and involved in the Chapter. One of the ideas Chapter leadership is exploring is forming Chapter branches which will offer more leadership opportunities to more members and more opportunities to get involved in branch activities. The Chapter branches could be formed geographically which would allow each branch to tailor programs based on the needs of the geographic region. The proximity of branch activities would also make it easier for members to participate and get more out of APWA.
 

Finally, I would like to thank all those who attended the 2009 VA/DC/MD APWA Chapter Conference in Roanoke, Virginia. I would also like to thank the conference committee who worked tirelessly organizing the 2009 Chapter Conference. Faced with an economic downturn which resulted in decreased conference attendance, the conference committee put together another great conference. We had excellent speakers, a competitive rodeo and lots of very interesting and informative vendors. The conference theme was “Green is Groovy!” Public works has and will play an important role in promoting environmental sustainability. APWA will continue at the chapter level and the national level to provide “green” leadership to help you keep
your organization “green and groovy!”

Sincerely,