From the President From the Desk of Steve Mast, ISFA President
Changing Strategies for the Changing Times This year, ISFA’s Annual Conference was like
ISFA’s job is to create a professional platform
by a pool in Mexico, we instead had to create
But the members have a more important job
has made one thing certain: We all have had to
sides of the triangle have to be equal, and I
no other. When we’d usually be talking shop
to facilitate and guide these conversations.
a collaborative environment online. COVID-19
… participate. It is well worth the effort. All
get creative with problem solving.
am asking all members to jump in and be part
While no one would ever choose to live
through a pandemic, there have been some silver linings. In our own shop, we have implemented positive changes that will
continue to serve us long after the pandemic has passed. Another specific silver lining
COVID-19 brought was our annual meeting
had a large attendance. Because no one had to travel and commit more time to meeting
up miles from home, we had more attendees, which always makes for more enriching conversation.
of these conversations. There are three easy ways to get more involved: Join a Committee Committees can be up to a one-year
commitment and consist of people from throughout the industry and across the
country. Typically you’ll meet online about
once a month with other industry professionals to take actions or report on a topic. These range from compact surface fabrication,
annual meeting planning, marketing and social media, or membership. This is a minimal time
It was surprising to me how successful
commitment, and it will be exciting to be
seeing each other face to face is typically
direction of our industry.
our annual meeting was given the fact that
part of the discovery and help to guide the
ideal. However, whether we are in person
Attend a Virtual Roundtable
or online, what we all really need is the
opportunity to collaborate and learn from our fellow fabricators, material manufacturers
and equipment suppliers. In my 25 years of
being in this business, the best things seem to surface when all three of these groups brainstorm together.
A perfect example of this synergy was the
recent two-day seminar facilitated by ISFA on
the fabrication of compact surfaces, porcelain and sintered stone. Fabricating compact
surfaces comes with a set of challenges that we have to collectively solve. ISFA industry
partners Park Industries and LPI sponsored the event and provided helpful tips and
information, and fabricators gave feedback and best practices.
50 • Vol. 13 / Issue 4 • International Surface Fabricators Association
always will be a key takeaway that you can
apply to your business immediately. Seeing other ways fellow fabricators are solving
common industry problems is probably one
of the best 45 minutes you can spend. If you
have never attended one, be sure not to miss our upcoming tour that ASST is hosting on
Wednesday, January 6. The company performs custom and highly specialized commercial
work throughout the country. They hosted an
in-person shop tour last year, and we sent our
production manager to learn about what ASST was doing. He said its level of sophistication and the things the company was able to
fabricate were mind blowing. Being from Portland, it’s been historically difficult to
attend all the tours, but now that they are
virtual, there’s no excuse to not hop on and
participate. Sign up is easy and free. Just go
to the ISFA website at www.ISFAnow.org and
under the “Events” dropdown you will see the “Shop Tours” tab.
Although I have just beun my tenure as
We have had some wonderful feedback on
president, I will continue to drive home this
the chance to attend one, you know that
don’t have time or much to share, but I can
back to your businesses and implement
back more than you give. Not only will you
covered everything from new fabrication
you will enjoy the journey much more with the
our roundtable forums. If you have ever had
one goal: participation. You may think you
you always learn something new to take
wholeheartedly promise you that you will get
for improvement. Dynamic speakers have
become better at running your business, but
techniques or ways to increase profitability to
friends you’ve made along the way.
better utilizing social media; and even OSHA
consultants review safety improvements. This is also a great space to ask questions of our
knowledgeable partners in the materials and equipment segments of the industry.
Attend and/or Host a Virtual Shop Tour The time you invest in attending a shop tour
will be worth every minute. There will almost
Steve Mast, ISFA President steve.m@precisioncountertops.com
