Report from the Chair
I have served the section for many years through chairing committees and holding various positions on the Board. It has been a great experience that has allowed me to participate in the effort of protecting and conserving our most valuable resource which is, of course, water.
Through the years, the Section has helped me to learn and develop in my skills and career, network, and to make many great friends along the way. I'm honored and am looking forward to serve as Chair of the Nebraska Section AWWA.
I wanted to thank Doug Woodbeck for his hard work over the past year in keeping the Section moving in the right direction. As you all know, Doug is one of those guys that just gets things done. Doug is a great leader, very organized and to the point. Doug has been a great example for me to follow, and I will value his support over the coming year.
Congratulations to Jim Wells, this year's George Warren Fuller Award recipient, it is a well-deserved honor bestowed upon you.
I also want to congratulate Christian New, this year's Outstanding Section Volunteer Award recipient, you have done an outstanding job and dedicated a lot of time to the section. Thank you.
Marc Rosso has done a great job in membership over the past several years. It'll be important moving forward that we continue those efforts to increase section membership and provide member value. I also want to personally thank Chris New and his volunteer work with Water for People.
We have a lot of great committee chairs and committee members, thank you for your past efforts and I look forward to working with you in the coming year. We also have some new folks stepping up to help lead committee efforts in 2016.
With current retirement trends of experts in our industry, we are experiencing a void of knowledge and volunteerism. This is a major challenge we'll continue to face. We must start to replace this expertise and the Nebraska Section AWWA can help to do that by increasing membership, offering assistance, and encouraging the next generation of water industry experts to become more involved.
With that, I encourage and challenge others in this audience to find a way to become more involved in this organization and to recruit new members.
With the help of this newly elected Board and our committees, we will continue to move the Nebraska Section and the water industry forward and offer assistance through training, mentorship, and resources. I'm looking forward to the year ahead and thank you for the opportunity to serve as Chair of this organization.
