Geoprofessional Business Association Midyear Report
President Charles “Charlie” Head, P.E., P.G. (Sandborn, Head & Associates)
GBA Members,
GBA is a great organization, with great people, and a great legacy.
For the entirety of GBA’s almost 50-year history, it has thrived under the tenets of openness and sharing so that all may understand the risks that face our businesses and learn from others how to mitigate them. The founders of GBA worked to build a kind of “professional capital” that did not previously exist and has benefited the geoprofession greatly to this day. Those that followed have added a tremendous amount to this foundation.
Now, almost 50 years later, GBA is a thriving organization with an incredibly bright future.
As we now turn to that future, the challenges that face our businesses are as great, if not greater, than those we have faced in the past. The need for an organization that helps member firms confront risk and optimize performance, especially in a world of accelerating and disruptive technology, is more vital than ever. The foundation we have built is strong, but there is a lot more to do.
This year we will adopt a new Strategic Plan to propel us forward to 2020. Our Plan can be simply distilled to the following:
Strengthen Our Brand Celebrate Success Turbocharge Member Experience
First – Strengthen our Brand. Our opportunity is to enhance delivery on our value proposition by doubling our efforts to focus on matters of business risk and performance. We will strengthen our brand through impactful messaging in all that we do and with an abundance of warmth and friendliness so we can learn from each other in what really, at its heart, is a relationship organization.
Second – Celebrate Success. Sharing our collective experiences is really at the core of GBA’s culture. What better way to share these experiences than to celebrate member accomplishments that exemplify our values, purpose and strategy, and which continue to elevate our profession and foster pride. In that regard, we have a great opportunity to deliver on GBA’s 50th anniversary in FY 2019-2020 to connect with our past and create a powerful platform for a bright future.
Third – Turbocharge Member Experience. Developing a unique member experience to further drive value and connection is paramount to our success. We believe the member experience starts first and foremost with our conferences. As a premier value driver for our members, we will continue to enhance the conference experience to deliver unique value to us all. But it doesn’t stop there. The unique member experience must also be infused in our educational materials and development programs, and be fostered by the diverse thinking of GBA’s Board. Overall, we must stay truly connected to our members, including multiple generations within member firms.
Thank you to our members for your support and collegiality, and for the work that you do to help make GBA strong and vital. If you are a member and not yet immersed in the GBA experience, I encourage you to attend one of our conferences and consider active participation through one of our committees and councils; I believe you will find that you get a lot more in return. Finally, if you are not yet a member, I invite and encourage you to consider joining us on our road to a bright future.
Thank you.
Charles “Charlie” Head, P.E., P.G.
President 2017-18