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President's Message
Enhancing Our Impact
At the Summer Meeting, I shared the exciting results of ABMA’s Strategy Session that took place in May. I was overwhelmed by the postive comments and support from the membership including numerous attendees who volunteered to assist with our efforts.
For those unable to attend, the Leadership has focused our efforts in four strategic areas.
• Industry Promotion
• Workforce Development
• Advocacy
• Knowledge & Value
For more details on the strategy progress, please click here.
I am working closely with our volunteer leaders to finalize the initiatives for each area with a goal of adopting a 3-5 year plan at the Annual Meeting in January. Feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any feedback or would like to volunteer.
Until Next Time,
Scott
ABMA Manufacturers Conference - Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for ABMA’s 2015 Manufacturers Conference which will take place October 5-7 at the Marriott Ann Arbor at Eagle Crest, just outside of Detroit, MI.
Join us for this great opportunity to expand your industry knowledge, network to enhance and grow business relationships and hear about today’s trends that are impacting your company. This year’s Manufacturers Conference is also focused on the next generation of leaders in the boiler industry.
We are thrilled to have Michigan Seamless Tube as the conference host and attendees will tour their new cold pilger mill expansion that has expanded offerings and significantly increased capacity.
ABMA has also confirmed Bob Bessette from the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners (CIBO) to moderate an End-User Sector Panel Discussion to close the meeting.
Breakout session topics scheduled to include:
- Building Entrepreneurial Skills
- Addressing the Aging Workforce
- The Evolution of 3D Printing in the Manufacturing Sector
- Federal Policy Changes Impacting Boilers
- Coal Outlook - The Real Story
- Transportation Trends & Challenges
For more details on the meeting and to register, please click here.
For more information on the conference, please contact Cheryl Jamall at [email protected].
ABMA Welcomes Alex Lovely
ABMA is pleased to annouce that Alex Lovely has joined the ABMA staff and will be transitioning with Diana McClung over the next month. He will handle oversight of the association operations as well as various other projects.
Alex can be reached at [email protected].
Many of you will have the opportunity to meet Alex at the Manufacturers Conference in October.
Please join me in welcoming him to the ABMA team.
ABMA Summer Meeting - Back to the Future
The 2015 Summer Meeting had some nostalgic looks back with a focus on the future.
Looking back, ABMA recognized two people that have had a long tenure in the  boiler industry. Welch Goggins was recognized with a Distinquinshed Service Award (DSA) for 40 years in the boiler industry and leadership with ABMA. He started his career with Industrial Combustion in 1975, was a long-time board member and Past Chairman of ABMA and retired as President & CEO of Cleaver-Brooks earlier this year.
 ABMA also recognized Diana McClung, who worked for ABMA for over 40 years and will be retiring at the end of August. Diana was recognized at the Monday General Session with family in attendance for years of service and greeted by all the Past Chairman of ABMA in attendance. In addition, Diana was presented with a certificate that entitles her to a roundtrip flight anywhere in the continental U.S.
 Looking forward, we heard from Williamson Trustee Dick Storm about the future of our workforce, implementing lean from Jamie Flinchbaugh and an energy outlook from Lyle White from Black & Veatch. We were also mesmerized by the magic of Craig Karges. As mentioned in Scott's article above, we talked about the future of ABMA and built momentum toward adoption of a 3 year comprehensive strategy for the association.
 At the end of meeting, we went back to the 70's and enjoyed a groovy evening highlighted by a costume contest. During the dinner, we looked to the future and recognized the graduating seniors in the audience.
 Finally, ABMA would recognize our Director of Meetings Cheryl Jamall for her tireless efforts and our sponsors for their generous support to every meeting.
A special thank you to ABMA's intern, Amani Jamall, for all her assitance on the Summer Meeting, especially on-site.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2016 Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, AZ.
ABMA Moved to Suite 380
ABMA has moved to Suite 380, staying in the same building.
Please make a note of our new address below and ensure your accounts payable department updates their records. Our phone numbers will remain the same.
ABMA
8221 Old Courthouse Road
Suite 380
Vienna, VA 22182
Washington & Beyond
"Hell of a Bell Lap"
By Fred Lyon, The Lyon Firm
In the last column two months ago, I drew an analogy between presidential politics and the Kentucky Derby, the propensity of commentators to incessantly compare the progress of candidates to horse racing – who is gaining, closing, fading. Given the unparalleled successes of the White in the last 60 days, it makes sense to stick with the sports analogies. Because no matter what your party affiliation, you have to admit that President Obama is running one hell of a bell lap. Or to beat a dead horse, he is having a great fourth quarter.
By any measurement, the last two months have been the most successful of the Obama presidency. Consider the triumphs. The Supreme Court saved his most important legislative legacy, the Affordable Care Act. And then endorsed gay marriage. The Republicans in Congress gave him fast track authority to negotiate the Trans Pacific trade pact, over the strident objections of his Democratic base. Relations with Cuba are on the way to normalization. He gave perhaps the best speech of his presidency in Charleston after the tragic murders of Clementa Pinckney and eight of his church members which led directly to the removal of the Confederate flag with bipartisan support from the South Carolina statehouse grounds. The framework for a nuclear arms treaty with Iran is finally in place and likely to remain so given the unlikelihood that opponents will be able to muster enough votes to overcome a veto. The economy is improving and the President’s approval ratings are the highest they have been since his re-election.
Explanations for these successes are diverse. Obama himself has attributed the Supreme Court victories to in part “luck” which may be the case but it doesn’t recognize Justice Kennedy’s consistent advocacy of gay rights nor Chief Justice Roberts’ reluctance to interfere with legislative decisions which led to Obamacare. And bipartisanship in connection with the trade pact was a rare instance of Obama successfully reaching across the aisle.
And some of this is a consequence of the 2014 mid-terms and Obama’s new found sense of independence. Other than Mitch McConnell, maybe no one was happier than the President that the Republicans won control of the Senate. No longer did he have to try to work with a cantankerous Harry Reid. He could forge his own path, accomplish as much as he dared (and then some) by executive order and occasional bipartisanship. Obama has never been comfortable with the horse trading and the social interactions needed for a successful relationship with Congress. He has always much preferred to be the loner, the isolated man of action. As he finishes his term, he has found his footing and appears more content in his job than he has anytime in the last 6 ½ years.
What do the next 18 months hold? The emboldened White House is likely to continue its aggressive use of executive orders and continue its independent redefinition of foreign policy with continued negotiations with traditional enemies like Iran and Cuba. With the Paris conference on climate change scheduled for December, environmental considerations will loom large with the President likely to commit the United States to aggressive carbon policies to cement his green legacy.
Since Ferguson last summer, civil rights issues have dominated the headlines in ways unseen since the 60s. The President has become more aggressive in responding to these concerns and is more boldly asserting the interests of the African American community. Last week, he visited a prison in Oklahoma to advance the cause of criminal justice reform and a reduction in the nation’s incarceration rate, now 25 times higher than any other country in the world. This may prove a bipartisan initiative with the Koch brothers, his otherwise bitter opponent, also committed to prison reform.
Final piece of this new White House. If the President revisits gun control, that will be a sign that he is playing the fourth quarter with a lot of confidence.
Where does this leave that other branch of government, Congress? It seems that whoever is in control, they flounder in inaction and irrelevance. Main reason for this – the filibuster rule which gives the minority party in the Senate the ability to dictate the Congressional agenda, a power exercised enthusiastically by the Republicans and now in retaliation by the Democrats. But have no fear, Congress may yet be relevant later this summer when there is a possibility of yet another government shutdown. Rather than engaging in meaningful dialogue, both parties are maneuvering to blame the other. That always works.
Meanwhile, like peak oil, we appear (hopefully) to be near peak presidential politics. Number of candidates are at record high. With John Kasich of Ohio joining the field and Jim Gilmore of Virginia (really?) set to join by the end of the month, the Republicans will boast 17 candidates. And even the party of Hillary’s coronation has five – Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley, Webb, and Lincoln Chafee (really?). And the latest is that Vice President Biden has not ruled out a run with a decision expected by Labor Day.
Which brings me to hair – as in whose is worse, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump’s? Mid-July both are these candidates are attracting attention and poll numbers, much like Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann did in the summer of 2012. Sanders, an independent who identifies as a Socialist (a real one, not like the label the Republicans pin on Obama). Trump who has the audacity to question the heroism of all POWs including John McCain after using five deferments to avoid the draft so he could spend time in Studio 54. A betting man would guess that by the time September rolls around, both of these boomlets will have ended with Sanders back with Ben and Jerry and Trump with another model. But then again 60 days ago we never could have predicted the first Triple Crown winner in 66 years and the extraordinary run of White House success. We shall see.
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