John’s Soapbox

Three years ago, I was astounded with the decision of the ECA Board of Directors who nominated me to the greatest honor of my life-I was honored as the Hermsmeyer Hall of Fame Award winner in 2016. I had similar feelings to those I have heard expressed by others-“there are so many more deserving folks out there, why me?”. Despite my sincere protestations as to my deserving this recognition, I was thrilled and invited close friends and family to share my special evening. I wanted to convey to the audience in my speech that none of us set out in our career to garner awards, we just try to keep producing and to keep trying to give a little bit back to the industry that has provided us so much.

Why am I sharing this memory with you? Because it is time for the newly formed ECA Nominating Committee to meet and discuss possible Hall of Fame candidates (as well as Contractor of the Year, Affiliate of the Year, and next year’s Officers and Board Members) on August 22, 2019. The process of choosing Award winners goes like this: In August the Nominating Committee meets and decides on recommended Candidates, those Candidates are presented to the Board of Directors at the September meeting to discuss and vote on, and once the Candidates are decided, we then contact the Candidates to see if they would accept the Award that will be presented in February, 2020.

I felt it was appropriate to put the word out to all ECA Members so if they have a thought of who might be “worthy” of consideration, they could nominate someone for being considered.

By clicking the link below, you can see who has been honored as previous Hall of Fame Award winners by clicking on this link—

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The Nominating Committee and the Board looks at for the criteria in considering a candidate, This is an annual award given to two recipients, one posthumous. The criteria is the recipient has been a major contributor to the industry, community, or the ECA in his/her career. The contribution should be demonstrative of a career, not just a singular or short duration occurrence.

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If you have someone you would like the Nominating Committee to consider (the Nominating Committee consists of Chair Brett Wilmes, Past President Dale Mahoney, Current President Kevin Ghilotti, Incoming President Dave Weller, Past President Erik Fowler, and myself as a non-voting advisory member). Please get your suggestions in to the ECA no later than 5pm on August 21, 2019. We will gladly add your suggestions to the list to be considered and all candidates will be discussed on 8-22-19.

The Hall of Fame Awards dinner is called the Installation Dinner and we not only honor the Award winners, we “install” our new Board of Directors and Officers for 2020. It is always a special night. Yes, there are speeches made and some are too short, some are too long. All are sincere and all give us insight into the people being honored as well as their company, their key mentors and partners, and some great stories you will not hear anywhere else. Since it is a live event, you never know what will get expressed and I can guarantee you there will be emotion that is expressed, and you will leave feeling very good at being involved in our industry.

So please think about who has had a lifetime of contribution to our industry that you think would be a good choice for being honored as a Hall of Fame inductee. We honor one posthumous and one living inductee every year. I hope you share a name with us.

I also want to extend our invitation to you to be considered for joining our Board of Directors for 2020. The commitment is not huge, but the ability to make decisions that affect our industry is impactful. Our Board meets every 3^rd Tuesday of the month from February through July, and then from September through November. So there are only nine monthly meetings from noon – 1:30 that we ask you to attend and participate in. If you have any questions, please contact me and I will be happy to answer your questions.

Thank you!

That’s All Folks!

John