As the Scene Changes, Challenges and Opportunities (and Some Fun) Persist

Times are strange … but compared to what? I sometimes wonder if the generations before us didn’t think the times they lived in were strange and that the next generation was never going to amount to much.

The local, national and international scenery keeps changing: New York State redistricting sending elected officials into a panic, domestic economy spiraling out of control, turmoil throughout the world.

Our business partners are changing as well:

• My good friend of 40 years, Joan Cusack-McGuirk, has retired from Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall and Dan Maughan has taken over the reins.
• Mike Gaydos has retired from the Ironworkers Local 417 and Matt Stoddard has stepped up to the helm.
• One of the great SMACNA chapter executives, Bruce Sychuk, from British Columbia, retired on Aug. 31.
• And pending retirees, Bob Kaehler, president of Perreca Electric and former CCA Board president (as well as a great sounding board and advisor to me), and Maria Martini from the Bricklayers’ Newburgh office, are starting their countdowns of working days.

By the way, these folks are all younger than me and I frequently am asked when I am throwing in the towel. My answer is always “not anytime soon.” I still enjoy working with my colleagues, overcoming the challenges and helping to bring about positive change to our members and communities.

While the thoughts of playing more golf, wintering in warmer weather and sleeping until 7 a.m. during the week do sound marginally attractive, I am not ready yet. I like hatching and tweaking new ideas into shape and the challenges of putting out fires. I like meeting new people, working with my business partners and members, and making a difference in our communities. Certainly, keeping our associations’ goals top of mind with our elected officials is not something I want to step away from.

Yep, I’m still in it for the long run. Some days are better than others but I couldn’t be happier working with our office staff to deliver top-notch service to our members and partners. As for the challenges that are looming ahead of us, I say bring them on and we’ll slice and dice them into opportunities for more jobs for our businesses.

To me, it’s all about the relationships and challenges and I still enjoy them every day.  Please join me in wishing those that joined the retirement ranks this year (or are planning on doing so in the near future) all the best in a long and healthy next phase.  

To the people filling the shoes of the retirees, much success and I look forward to working with you!

As for me, you’re stuck with me until it’s not fun and challenging anymore.

All the best,

Alan Seidman
Executive Director