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President's Corner - September 2008

Keeping ASSE Southern Colorado’s Chapter Strong

Greeting Southern Colorado Chapter! We are off to a great start this year and I anticipate that our chapter will keep the momentum going. With respect and appreciation I would like to acknowledge the support and innovative contributions from Dominic Romano and the 07/08 officer team. The chapter explored a different meeting venue that combined a technical presentation with a facility tour. I personally believe the new venue is a great success as well as enjoyable. We plan to continue with the same meeting format this 08/09 business year, alternating locations between Pueblo and Colorado Springs and additional Southern Colorado Locations as requested.

I look forward to serving this year as the Southern Colorado Chapter President and to the many opportunities we all have ahead to utilize the vast resources of the ASSE. With that being said I would to reiterate some simple reminders regarding the ASSE as a whole. Our primary goal as safety professionals is to ensure the safest work place possible for all employees. As members of the ASSE we are part of a networking group of approximately 30,000 members who we can consider colleagues for networking and enhancing our profession overall. Although we are entitled the American Society of Safety Engineers, we are quickly becoming a global community of safety professionals. ASSE is truly a premier organization specifically designed to bring the safety profession to excellence and make a difference in this world.

The Region 2 Regional Operating Committee Meeting was an important planning session for Region 2. A formal report out will be presented at our September meeting. I had the opportunity to meet some key members of the ASSE organization including Our ASSE President, Warren Brown, Executive Director, Fred Fortman and Director, Member/Region Affairs, Terry Wilkinson. I considered this a tremendous opportunity to meet and speak personally with these individuals to hear their insights and share the successes of our Chapter!

The Southern Colorado Chapter is a growing and vital chapter and your continued participation is vital to our success. As the year progresses I plan to continue to communicate the resources that ASSE can offer us as safety professionals. Some of these future communications will include the following:

• Report out from the August 22-23 Regional Operating Committee Meeting
• An overview of the ASSE Structure
• Overview of the STARS strategic planning tool
• Review of our Strategic Objectives and Plans for Achievement (Increase Membership, Meeting Participation and Financial Stability)
• A presentation on the Council on Practices and Standards AND how we can become involved as a chapter.
• ASSE Region 2 Mountain West/Middle East Region Origination
• Joint fundraising opportunities with our neighboring Denver Chapter
• Area B Director, Edwin L. “Brownie” Petersen visit and technical presentation March 2009

These are just a few, expect more to come!

I thank you for your continued support. Together, we can advance the Safety and Health profession and build a strong Southern Colorado Chapter and even stronger ASSE. I am looking forward to seeing you all at Our September 19, 2008 meeting.

Cathy Benecke, CHMM, CSP
President, Southern Colorado Chapter ASSE