President’s Message

by Nathan Wittman CAFS, NCT

Thank you to those NAFA members who traveled to Scottsdale for our very successful Technical Seminar in April. Tech was a milestone in NAFA’s history. For the first time, members could attend both in person and live virtually. This was especially beneficial for those members who were restricted from travel due to the pandemic, but also our international members who could enable more participation from their organizations without the limiting travel cost needed to attend in person. The seminar was a success by every measure, and I foresee the hybrid conference model becoming standard for the future. Feedback from members who attended the event was very positive in terms of the valuable, relevant, educational and industry specific information presented through an impressive speaker lineup. Our presenters covered a variety of topics ranging from sales training, the future of healthy indoor environments, current Covid-19 updates from the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, to a panel discussion that communicated the myriad of struggles and factors affecting the industry supply chain in terms of both raw materials and finished goods. For those that participated, either in person or virtually, the information presented, and the knowledge gained will be valuable to our individual businesses and the diverse facilities and industries we serve.

I again would like to thank our attendees, but also our speakers, our board of directors, our event planning committee, and especially our NAFA staff team that went above and beyond ensuring the event was a tremendous success.

As we look to the future, it is a very exciting time to be part of this industry. NAFA members have the ability to greatly impact the lives and success of the people and facilities we serve. We have seen much change over the past year in the way that society views the quality of the air and environment we live in. The public interest in improving the conditions of the air we breathe is at an all time high. I am proud that our organization continues to provide the expertise and guidance that facilities rely on to respond to the many concerns raised as students, coworkers, and family members return to workplaces worldwide. NAFA is the leader in advocating improvements and solutions involving clean air that make people’s lives better. Through our NAFA Foundation funded research studies, relevant guidelines, and publications, organizations globally rely on the information the experts within the NAFA membership provide to make good decisions regarding facility air quality improvements. Improvements in air quality, through the utilization of higher performing filtration products, greatly impact everyone in a positive way.

As always, the core value of NAFA is its membership. I encourage you to seek out opportunities to become more involved in the organization. Your experiences and application knowledge will benefit other NAFA members, but also those we serve. I hope everyone has an enjoyable summer and I look forward to your continued and future participation in our valuable organization. Please mark your calendar and make plans to attend our upcoming November 2-4 Annual Conference in Clearwater, Florida.

Thank you for allowing me to serve this organization, stay safe.