President’s Message
Reengineering AIHA®
This month’s column updates AIHA members about the association’s current financial condition and some very difficult
decisions that the Board of Directors have
made regarding resetting member products and services in 2010 and beyond.
While we are wounded by the worldwide recession, our reserves remain
strong and will certainly support AIHA
through this economic downturn. AIHA
reserves have fallen from a high of nearly
72 percent ($10.2 million) to today’s 52
percent ($7.39 million). Alan Fleeger,
AIHA Treasurer, reported in the June/July
Synergist AIHA’s low overhead costs of
20. 5 percent, nearly 7 percent below similar professional societies. This allows us
to maximize our investment in member
programs, services and support. He also
reported that although AIHA has lost approximately 19 percent in unrealized investments, this pales in comparison to the
32 percent drop in the Dow Jones and the
37 percent loss in the S&P 500.
In January, the AIHA Board passed an
initial operating budget of $14.66 million
for fiscal year 2009. Two months later,
realizing that the impact of the economy
would be greater than anticipated, the
Board reset the FY2009 operating budget
to $14.21 million. As we continue to
monitor this year’s operating budget and
look forward to 2010 and beyond, the
Board has established a $1 million reset
goal to bring the operating budget into
alignment and begin rebuilding reserves
to the extent possible.
FY2010 and Beyond
Like most professional societies, AIHA has
been very good at adding to its product
and service line, but we have not been as
diligent at removing or resetting products
and services. Over the past three years, the
AIHA Board and other task forces have reviewed AIHA’s products, services and
funding of volunteer activities, various organizations and standards-setting bodies.
Determining the right mix of activities has
been a difficult process. Through it all, it
has been paramount in our minds to remain good stewards of the profession and
the association while maintaining the
high-quality products, services and representation that you expect and value.
The right mix of resetting
and reengineering will
keep AIHA a strong and
vibrant organization.
At its July Board meeting, the leadership agreed to a number of decisions that
impact the organization, including addressing the future size of the Board and
the frequency of Board meetings. Further,
the Board discussed resetting the amount
of staff time and direct dollars devoted to
related stakeholder groups, including the
Local Sections Council Officers, the Academy of Industrial Hygiene, and the Foundation. The Board also determined that
many of the liaison and representative
travel and membership dues that AIHA
has covered over the past three to five
years will largely go unfunded for 2010
and beyond.
In addition, the Board agreed to set a
course to reengineer AIHce, PCIH, government affairs, standards-setting activities, and as mentioned above, the size
and number of meetings of the Board.
“Reengineer” does not mean eliminate. It
means undertaking more strategic discussions about how to most effectively support these and other AIHA products and
services while delivering them efficiently
and cost effectively. Finally, the AIHA
staff will have been reset by FY2010 to
approximately 49, a reduction from 58
just two years ago. Fortunately, nearly all
of this has been the result of natural attrition and integration of responsibility.
The Right Mix
AIHA is an incredibly fortunate organization. We have the world’s best, most engaged volunteers, a strong staff team
supporting the organization’s goals, and
strong reserves to weather the current
economic downturn. While these reserves
have taken a beating and we project an
approximate $700,000 deficit in 2009, we
believe that the right mix of resetting and
reengineering will keep AIHA a strong
and vibrant organization.
The Board and I welcome your feedback. Please feel free to send your comments to cathycole@aiha.org. We will
collect your thoughts and find a way to
provide an overview in a future issue of
The Synergist.
My thanks to you for your membership
and your support of AIHA.
CathyCole,CIH,CSP,ispresidentofAIHAanddirector
ofcorporateoccupationalhealthatTheSherwin-WilliamsCompanyinCleveland, Ohio.Shecanbe
reached at (216) 566-3096 or cathy.l.cole@sherwin.com.
