Illinois Section Chair Message

It is a great honor for me to serve as your Chair of the Illinois Section of CSWEA. I have "big shoes" to fill, left behind by the Chairs of years past. Nonetheless, I embrace this challenge and I am eager to lead the Section forward over the coming year. To facilitate this endeavor, I will be working closely with the talented individuals on the Section committees. The unique skills and expertise of each committee member will be instrumental in building the Illinois Section into an even stronger, more vital, and far reaching organization. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once wrote, "People acting together as a group can accomplish things that no individual acting alone could ever hope to bring about."

Under the leadership of Gary Scott, the past year proved to be very successful for the Illinois Section. My goal as this year's Section Chair is to continue to build on Gary's success by focusing on the following:

• Continuing to "brand" the organization
• Continuing to build strong committees and technical seminars
• Continuing to increase member recruitment and engagement

I will work with the Section committees to continue to brand the Illinois Section of CSWEA as a place where professionals come to network, gain knowledge, and obtain their professional development credits. In these difficult economic times where budgetary constraints are all too common, it will be even more important to emphasize the value that membership and involvement in our organization affords each individual.

As we learned from the success of the recent one-day educational seminar in Madison, Wisconsin, and from other Section events, a strong program is critical for the success of our technical seminars. I will work with each committee Chair to recruit individuals to help build even stronger programs for the technical seminars. The talented and committed professionals currently serving as committee Chairs - Mark Eddington, Gary Scott, John Szwedo, Roger Gyger, Mary Dressel, Rich Hussey, and Scott Trotter - will ensure the success of this endeavor.

Finally, the future success of every great organization depends not just on the involvement of its existing members but also on the recruitment and engagement of new members. I will continue to encourage young professionals from all backgrounds to actively participate in Section events. In addition, continued engagement of more senior professionals from the municipal and private sectors will be a critical success factor. Over the course of the current year, my goal is to continue to increase outreach and engagement such that the success of the past will be carried into the future.

In closing, I am very excited to lead this Section and, with the support of all of you, I am looking forward to taking it to an even higher level of success.