Hello fellow Phoenix Chapter members,
I write this quarters President’s letter as I prepare to exit this operational year and make way for our new President, Byron Bargas. Byron comes to the table with extensive experience at the general contracting level as well as work on several large commercial projects here in Arizona. Byron is an effective leader, and we welcome him to the CSI
leadership helm.
The year started a bit rocky as we transitioned from the C-19 pandemic restrictions. Members (new and existing) were a bit leery to meet in person but as the months progressed, we slowly got back to normal, and our monthly meetings have been well attended during last few months. My thanks to Bobbi Jo Huskey for facilitating a very informative “speaker” topic schedule. We had some great speakers, events and special guests that helped us all continue to build our construction business acumen.
One of our financial highlights for the year, once again, centered around our annual golf tournament. Another successful event cumulated from the hard work and efforts of our events committee. Pamela Hunt, Bobbi Jo Huskey and Frank Thomas are all to be commended for helping facilitate this annual outing. All said and done, the Phoenix Chapter walked away with a $10K + financial gain. A good majority of the success this year was due to the support of our corporate sponsors and event coordination “extra’s” that helped create additional revenue. A great job by the team this year with special “thanks” to Frank Thomas for once again leading the charge!
The Phoenix Chapter was represented at the Bi-Regional conference held in Denver (April). Several impactful breakouts were attended during the conference and several pages of notes were taken to review with our chapter leaders. I was impressed with the overall turnout and our thanks goes to Robin Snyder for all the hard work managing the tasks for this successful event.
We made significant headway with our chapter “Scholarship” program led by Jaime Garrido and Heather Unger. Our goal this year was to successfully transfer the scholarship assets from the previous Ken Lockhart foundation to our newly created chapter program. Funding transfers took place and Jaime and Heather designed, implemented, and coordinated the revised scholarship requirements and documentation. Along with a newly created program website, prospective applicants can now submit applications, essays, and review program requirements directly from the site. This was a monumental step we agreed to accomplish this year....... All in the hopes of attracting multiple candidates each year......... “Build-it and they will come” as they say! We currently have candidates applying on-line and hope to distribute our first scholarship award payout by Fall.
Our other focused chairs (Media, Professional Development, Publicity) stepped-up this year with plans and programming that took us to the next level. Our Media and Publicity teams continued to create industry relevant content for our members. The use of our newly created “YouTube” account, activation of several social-media platforms and the opportunity to professionally view monthly meeting content online helped create additional interest and participation within our chapter. My thanks to Allie Peters for leading the charge with our social-media campaign. A special “thank-you” to Lisa Barnard for her many years of successful technical committee service with our chapter. Lisa has announced her transition to a new position within her current company and therefore requiring more time for professional cultivation. Lisa’s dedication to our chapter does not go unnoticed and we appreciate all her hard work.
I end my communication this month with a heartfelt “thank-you” to all our chapter board members, committee associates and dedicated members. I mentioned at our end-of-year event that this chapter is run, and kept alive, due to the labor of love we all possess for this entity. I have never been a part of an organization that has such a love for a specific industry. You look back to the original roots of our organization and you begin to see where this “love of industry” started. From the heart and soul educational programing Paul Simonsen originally implemented, to the dedication you see from many of our members in pursuing project delivery excellence, this chapter has plenty to be proud of. It was my honor to help guide the direction this past year and humbled to have had the opportunity to work with the best group in the business!
Wishing all a fantastic summer break. See you all in the fall!
Jay Harris
President
CSI Phoenix Chapter 2021/2022
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