GBA President’s Letter
Art Hoffmann FY 2019-2020
To serve as President of GBA is truly an honor, especially as we collectively celebrate GBA’s Golden Anniversary. As members of GBA we all enjoy the benefits of the hundreds of hard-working volunteer members who came before us and we look for opportunities to honor their contributions by expanding GBA’s value to future generations. Leading GBA through this milestone year is a rare opportunity and I am committed to working with our Board, staff and Member-Firm leaders to set the stage for the next 50 years.
Celebrating Our Foundation
This year, we celebrate our foundation by reflecting on GBA’s countless contributions to our profession including important publications such as Limitation of Liability, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and programs such as Peer Review which has been beneficial to many member firms and now enjoyed by the entire professional engineering services industry. We will take the opportunity throughout the year to highlight our accomplishments and our contributions to our members and our industry.
Building Our Future
Our milestone anniversary is also an opportunity for us to build our future as we identify ways to better serve our members and our profession in a dynamic business climate, always focusing on managing risk and optimizing business performance. We have a big, busy year planned and with the support of our volunteer leaders, I am confident we will use this opportunity to significantly impact the value of membership for future generations of geoprofessionals.
Refresh Our Councils, Committees, and Task Forces
Since our January Winter Leadership Summit our Councils, Committees, and Task Forces have been identifying ways to increase involvement, enhance their impact, and elevate their contributions to our Association and our profession. During our annual Summer meeting, the Board of Directors will be using what we’ve learned so far to refresh GBA’s operations. Ultimately, our goal is to engage as many individual GBA members as possible in our efforts to work and have fun with others while developing high impact, high value products and services for GBA members and the geoprofessions.
Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
Our newly formed Diversity and Inclusion Task Force will help to identify the issues and opportunities that surround diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace and develop reference material, programs and presentations that our member firms can consider adopting to ensure their firms better serve their employees.
Emerging Leaders Class Formation
We are forming our next class of emerging leaders to kick off our 2019 Fall Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. This wildly successful program provides a platform for your future leaders to develop a network of peers from across North America, enhance their leadership skills, and increase their engagement with GBA and benefit your firm.
Growing Our Annual Awards Program
GBA’s expansion of our Annual Awards Program debuted at the 2019 Spring Conference. We will continue to recognize greatness and celebrate success by highlighting individuals and Member-Firms that support GBA’s purpose and contribute to our success through engagement and volunteer support.
Thank You
Thank you for your support and for the opportunity to serve as your President for GBA’s 50th year. As we head into our second half-century, I am committed to celebrating our foundation and building our future. We can be proud of our past contributions and our future is bright as long as we continue collaborating on important issues that impact our profession with a keen focus on confronting risk and optimizing business performance. Our collective efforts will benefit our members and our chosen profession. Additionally, our efforts will ensure GBA maintains our position as the industry leader for geoprofessionals world-wide.