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President's Message for May, 2003
Springtime in Chicago is unlike any other time of year. The ice is off the
lake and all of us shake ourselves out of the winter doldrums in anticipation
of the summer days ahead. The bright sunny days and warming temperatures invite
you to play hooky and spend some time in the great outdoors. If you're
a top notch Chief you have earned a little R&R. After all, the last six
or eight weeks have been hectic. Your chiller winter maintenance is done, the
towers are cleaned and filled, fan coils have been washed and every bug in the
air conditioning system has been wrung out. Your staff is up to speed on summer/winter
changeovers and they take the morning temperature swings in stride. Flushed
with the satisfaction of a job well done, you grab your pole and head out to
wash a few lures in the crisp and cool waters. When you do, look over to the
next boat and wave. I'll be right there with you.
In this month's issue we're running a special story on our hugely
successful emergency Generator Certification Program. In 2001, the City of Chicago
passed an ordinance that mandated the installation of emergency generators in
our largest properties. In addition, it dictated that each property have a certified
operator available to insure its performance when the need arose. We, as Chief
Engineers, looked around and found that proper training was not readily available.
Our educational committee, chaired by Dave Arvans, rose to the challenge and
answered that need. The committee laid out their plans and the board of directors
authorized the funding. The team formulated an educational program, developed
training materials and crafted an exam to measure the participants ability.
Now, 18 months later, we have issued certificates to over 1,000 operators. Thanks
to the efforts of the Educational Committee, this program has come to illustrate
perfectly the ability of our organization to forge new ground and take the lead
in industry innovation. Our gratitude goes out to our Business Manager John
Fanning and committee members Dave Arvans, Neil Masterson, Harold Hacker, Glen
Wysong, Dan Carey, Dennis Nolan and Tom Phillips.
This year 285 Active and Associate members helped celebrate St. Patrick's
Day by attending our monthly educational meeting at The Irish/American Heritage
Center in Chicago. The catering was supplied by Harrington's and, needless
to say, there was enough corned beef and cabbage served up to feed the entire
Emerald Isle. By the end of the meal there wasn't a loose-fitting pair
of pants in the crowd. Our thanks go out to Anchor Mechanical, AMS Mechanical,
DP Systems, Molter Corp., and Nolan Boiler & Tank. Their generosity made
for a memorable evening. In last month's message, I mentioned the unusual
occasion of having five past presidents in attendance. Well, they must have
read it and decided to make a liar out of me. This month we had no less than
SEVEN past presidents in attendance: Dan Hickey, Gary Evans, Dan Falletti, Don
Stein, Marty VanHoesen, Greg Lussem and Gene Preston. It's not just the
past presidents who have been driving the attendance numbers. At virtually every
meeting, our headcount has been up over previous years. This tells me that you,
our membership, see the value in networking and building new relationships.
We will continue to provide only the best events and venues to facilitate that
end.
As always, please utilize our advertisers for your mechanical and supplier
needs. They support us year round and have earned our business. Remember to
let them know you saw it in The Chief Engineer.
Fraternally Yours,
Frank E. Tverdek
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