Association Update from ICPA President, Bill Sanders

Dear Members,

Fiscal year ending June 30, 2016 was a successful and eventful one. Some of the highlights of the year were the separation from the ACMA, reestablishing an operating organization, hiring an Executive Director, and a successful POLYCON in Raleigh that was well sponsored and attended. We obtained our first segment of funds from our reserves from ACMA and will shortly meet the membership requirements that will enable us to obtain the second segment.

The plans for this new year are just as exciting. First and foremost, we must grow the membership to a sufficient level that will enable us to be a viable and successful organization. We plan to improve communication to our members on marketing and on the technical and administrative issues that we are all facing. We must determine how the ICPA can best serve our membership in meeting governmental compliance issues. As you will read in more detail in this Insider issue, in order to grow and improve the association we need to increase the number of individuals participating in our standing committees- both the Marketing/Communication and the Technical/Educational committees. In addition, we are planning a bigger and better POLYCON in March 2017 that will provide both an informative and fun event for our members and attendees. Finally, in addition to POLYCON, there are plans this coming year to develop regional events that can be beneficial to employees and management for a more reasonable cost.

This past year, our industry lost a member that was beloved by many and a longtime leader and industry champion, Royce Newsom. He passed away from complications of cancer in his home in Lubbock, Texas on June 1, 2016. He was a friend, mentor and a resource that will be missed by all that knew him. I will be forever grateful for having known him and benefited from his teachings.

Like Royce, I encourage you to become more involved in the association and in doing so help our association and our industry grow. It is an exciting time as we now are Moving Forward with Forward Thinking.

Best regards,
Bill