Summer's over, State Convention was a blast, and Apprenticeship/Craft Training classes will begin soon for the Fall Semester . . . as expected, the first half of the year flew by, but not without plenty of activity for our Bayou Chapter members.
We kicked-off the year with the Installation of the 2009 Board of Directors, and then immediately followed up with two new annual speaker series, Lunch & Learn and Final Fridays, featuring cutting-edge presentations to benefit our members' businesses. We also co-founded the Bayou Industrial Alliance (BIA), with the Greater New Orleans Industrial Educational Council and the Greater New Orleans Business Roundtable, to provide information and networking opportunities for our industrial contractors and the plant representatives they serve. In addition, we sponsored a seminar for all members, "EFCA: Losing Your Freedom & the Right to Choose," featuring Bayou Chapter General Counsel, Phil Shuler of Chaffe McCall, LLP. And as always, we had a lot of fun at the annual Crawfish Boil with record attendance, and at the 1st Annual President's Cup Golf Tournament. (You can find photos for all of these different outreach activities in our eNewsletter and on the various pages within this website.)
Once again, the Bayou Chapter Board of Directors traveled to Baton Rouge for the ABC Day at the Capitol to meet with our legislators to discuss 45 key Bills which were relative to the construction industry. We also attended ABC National's Legislative Conference, again in record number, and met with Senator David Vitter, a representative from Senator Mary Landrieu's office, and our U.S. Representatives Steve Scalise, Rodney Alexander, Charles Melancon, Bill Cassidy, John Fleming, Charles Boustany, and Joseph Cao.
Just so you know we never slow down in our commitment to providing informational, educational & fun initiatives for your participation, we have a BIA Brunch Meeting planned next week with LSU Baseball Coach Paul Mainieri in Kenner, then our annual Rock'N'Bowl Tournament the following week, as well as ABC Merit PAC Committee interviews with Senate District 20 candidates.
So . . . drop us a line, give us a call, and say hello when you're at our events . . . We're here for you, our members -- our friends.
Angela M. Latino-Geier
President / CEO