President’s & Executive Director’s Perspective It does not seem that long ago that the office was asking for my first President Perspective article and having to send frequent “reminders” to make the deadline. In the last issue, our Executive Director, Justin Apel, and I were traveling together so we did a joint message. For this issue, we are traveling together again and since he is good with words and more importantly, faster on the keyboard – consolidated article take two.
Scott Veazey GCBAA PRESIDENT
CHARTER MEMBERS ACC GOLF CONSTRUCTION ADS/HANCOR, INC. ASPEN CORPORATION BOYD IRRIGATION, INC. BRYANT TAYLOR GORDON GOLF CAL OLSON GOLF ARCHITECTURE CATERPILLAR, INC. COLORADO LINING INTERNATIONAL, INC. DUININCK GOLF DYE DESIGNS INTERNATIONAL EAGLE GOLF & LANDSCAPE PRODUCTS EWING IRRIGATION FLEETWOOD SERVICES LLC FLOWTRONEX FORWARD GROUP GLASE GOLF, INC. HARCO FITTINGS HARTMAN COMPANIES, INC. HENDERSON & COMPANY, INC. HERITAGE LINKS
Justin and I are wrapping up two back–to-back trips; one was the annual South Florida Regional Meeting at The Breakers Resort and the other was being guests of fellow board member Chris Caccavale with Caterpillar on the Steel Wings Duck Hunting trip. We were both discussing our history with GCBAA and thought it carried a good theme for my departing message. Many of you probably don’t remember that I ran for the board several times before being appointed to fill a vacancy. Now I’m wrapping up my presidency which has been one of the highlights of my professional career. Looking back, I feel like we have come a long way as Justin shared his excitement and appreciation of how many of you have stepped up to offer help for 2018. We talked about the power of a volunteer and how important it is to take advantage of someone’s willingness to help. After our recent election, we divided up the list of candidates and made calls. While some were exciting to make as we congratulated those elected to the Board, it is always humbling having to tell a volunteer who is willing to serve that they were not elected. I always remind them that I was in their shoes once and it took me some time before getting the nod; in fact, I had to be appointed rather than elected. The point being, we have plenty of projects and committees for everyone to be involved with and look forward to seeing your names on a future ballot. Thank you for your willingness to serve.
HUNTER INDUSTRIES ISCO INDUSTRIES J L PIERMAN INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATES, INC. JACKLINGOLF JOHN DEERE LANDSCAPES UNLIMITED, LLC LANDIRR, INC. LASCO FITTINGS INC. LEEMCO INC. LEPANTO GOLF CONSTRUCTION INC. MACCURRACH GOLF MCDONALD & SONS, INC. MEDALIST GOLF MID-AMERICA GOLF & LANDSCAPE, INC. NMP GOLF CONSTRUCTION, CORP. PROFILE PRODUCTS LLC QGS DEVELOPMENT, INC. RAIN BIRD CORPORATION – GOLF DIVISION RYAN INC. CENTRAL RYANGOLF CORPORATION SHAPEMASTERS, INC. SOUTHEASTERN GOLF, INC. SPORTZMIX – WAUPACA SAND & SOLUTIONS SUNBELT RENTALS TDI INTERNATIONAL, INC. TEE-2-GREEN THE CART PATH COMPANY THE TORO COMPANY UNITED GOLF, LLC WADSWORTH GOLF CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WEST COAST TURF
4
Having worked closely with Justin and the staff for the past several years as a member of the Executive Board and as president, it should come as no surprise that we are extremely blessed to have a team that represents our association and members in such a professional and personal manner. Many of us have seen firsthand how well they handle themselves and represent our organization, however it is amazing how personal they are with us and how they have created so many relationships. I was reminded of this when I watched how Samantha, Justin, and many of our fellow members honored our friend Mike Roach at the opening reception in South Florida. Mike’s wife Cheryl joined us and Justin and Sam introduced me to her. She was extremely grateful for the outpouring of support by many of you during this difficult time for her and her family with Mike’s passing. During the reception, many of Mike’s friends stood up and told stories and encouraged all of us to live by Mike’s example. Mike was a good friend to many of us and despite challenges that come along in business, at the end of the day we are all in this industry together and need to help one another along the way. I shared the story of how Mike sent a check to support someone he barely knew in a time of disaster. He was an extremely generous man to his family and the industry that he loved. I think we can all agree how special it is that we are part of a group like the GCBAA that not only provides all the perks of a trade organization, but most importantly a second family of friends and relationships that go beyond the day to day business dealings.