By / Joey Fabing,
President, TIAC
First, I would like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. As I write this, the long winter months have just begun, and we are all looking forward to either getting away to a warm sunny destination or hitting the slopes while spending time with family and friends as we wait for spring to arrive.
TIAC and NIA Partnership
Following the CAN/AM meeting at the Conference in August, TIAC and NIA have continued the collaboration discussions and met in September and again just before the holidays. These meetings have focused on how to strengthen the relationship between the two Associations and work together to benefit the North American insulation industry.
One notable change that NIA has already implemented is the expansion of the CAN/AM meeting at the NIA Convention. Joe Leo, NIA’s President, was thoroughly impressed with the participation numbers and engagement of all TIAC members at our CAN/AM meeting and wants to see that level of energy and dialog at their meetings. If you are going to the Convention this year, please join me at the meeting so that we can keep this momentum going!
We are going to work together to make NIA’s extensive list of training courses more accessible to TIAC members. If there are any courses on their roster that you are interested in us offering, please reach out to the TIAC Office.
We are also starting to brainstorm different initiatives that we can partner on that will be beneficial to the members of both Associations. Examples include increasing member engagement and participation in Association activities, creating opportunities for dialogue amongst members to share information and experiences (good, bad and ugly!) from job sites, and new recruitment tactics and labour retention strategies.
To further demonstrate their commitment to this reinvigorated partnership, both Joe Leo and Michele Jones, NIA’s President and CEO, have arranged their schedules to join us at our Winter Board Meeting. This is a huge step, and I am very excited about where this relationship is going to go.
2023 TIAC Conference
The planning for the 2023 Conference in Whistler (August 23-26) continues. The Chair, Chris Ishkanian, has already confirmed some fantastic keynote and technical speakers. We are also working on a host of fun activities for the whole family. Watch for announcements in TIAC’s eZINE’s and on our social media pages. The Board is very excited about going to Whistler and we can’t wait to see you all there!
TIAC Innovators
The TIAC Innovators, now that the NACIIS Manual has been launched, have shifted focus to a new initiative: getting more professionals involved in the industry. From installers, estimators, project managers, sales, accounting, and business leaders. I am hearing the same thing from members across the country: everyone is looking for labour. Through this initiative, hopefully we can get a true understanding of what kind of workforce is out there, and what TIAC can do to attract more qualified people our industry.
AIQ Inspector Training
Since the update from AIQ at the Conference, they have run and completed their first inspector training course. The AIQ Board has also continued their outreach to engineers and owners to educate them on the value of implementing the quality assurance program on their jobs. Félicitation AIQ!
Exciting Announcement!
The biggest news that I would like to share is that your TIAC Board, after years of searching, has hired Tristan Bertram to be our new Technical Initiative and Strategic Relationship Coordinator. We are very excited about this addition to our team. Learn more about him on page 10.
Tristan has been involved in the industry since 2013 and comes with wealth of knowledge and the managerial skills to fill this position to its full extent. He started at the beginning of the year and has hit the ground running! His main focus, and to get the lay of the land, will be to connect with all of our members across the country. He wants to hear directly from you, to learn what you want to get out of your membership, to find out where TIAC can support your/your staff’s educational needs, to hear your ideas to build initiatives that matter to you and help improve your business and the industry as a whole. So, if you haven’t heard from him yet, his phone call will be coming!
Tristan, welcome to the TIAC family! We look forward to working with you and are excited to see what you will bring to the Association and members. ▪