Snow Safety Week is coming...

'We should do a Snow Safety Week!' I said to my 2 year old son. He wasn't too excited with the brilliance of this statement, but I persevered.

By Brian Birch, CAE
It was just over a year ago when my boss, SIMA CEO Martin Tirado, threw me an idea he'd been tossing around. It was Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week' at the time, and he said simply; 'we should do something like that for the snow industry.' It was a relatively nonchalant statement, but I was intrigued.

Fast forward many months. Like all good ideas, this one was something that just kept popping back into my head from time to time. As SIMA has shifted to a more specific focus on safety in the industry, the 'Shark Week' concept hit me full blast - 'We should do a Snow Safety Week!' I said to my 2 year old son. He wasn't too excited with the brilliance of this statement, but I persevered.

I went back to Martin and Phill Sexton, our Director of Education and Outreach, and pitched the concept to them...they were intrigued, and we began planning what we hope will be a tradition for all of us in the industry - using one formal week each year to talk safety and snow removal.

We are very excited at the opportunity to work with our publishing partner, Moose River Media, to deliver Snow Safety Week to the industry, March 25th - 28th, 2013. We have planned a diverse program that includes a free webinar, Conducting a Post-Season Safety Review, for anyone in the industry, almost a dozen topical articles on safety issues, multiple facilitated discussions at Plowsite.com, and more. We are also excited to thank Progressive Insurance as a 2013 Snow Safety Week sponsor!

Please take a moment to add Snow Safety Week to your organization's calendar, and share the concept with your employees, subs, and operators. It may seem strange to focus on safety at the end of the season, but we feel this is an opportune time to reflect on the past season while it's fresh, talk safety, make changes, and continue to create a safer working environment for employees and customers. 

Hope to hear from all of you if you have any thoughts on this concept, and how we can improve it!

Membership visits = membership value

Chris Marino

After visiting a friend’s facility in Canada, 
we decided to implement a new residential snow management strategy to supplement our traditional commercial work.  

Many SIMA members, through their affiliation with the association, meet and build long-term friendships. These relationships are a key way professionals can grow through sharing best practices and ideas with their peers. Over time, many friendships result in members visiting each other’s sites to see how they manage a snow operation. We caught up with Chris Marino, CSP, of Xtreme Snow Pros of Mahwah, NJ. Chris recently visited a member in Quebec after getting to know him through SIMA. What he learned led him to launch a new segment of his snow management business in 2012.

How many SIMA members have 
you visited so far? 
Since joining in 2011, I have visited four snow contractors that I have met through SIMA.

How did SIMA help you in building those relationships?
SIMA has helped by putting me in contact with other people who have similar businesses as mine. We are able to share ideas with each other since we have so much in common. It has been very beneficial for me to meet snow contractors in Canada because they have a completely different way of operating, and the culture is different. Using this insight as a way to contrast our business, I have been able to incorporate some of their techniques into my company. This has been a huge plus, since I am offering services that have never been offered in my location.

What is the most exciting thing about visiting a contractor’s facility?
I love to visit other facilities because we all have similar businesses, but we run them differently. It’s nice to compare how their businesses are both different from yet similar to mine. I usually take some new ideas back to my office to better my company and hopefully share some ideas with the folks I’m visiting at the same time. It opens your mind to other ways things can be done, and it truly is a huge learning experience on both sides.

What is the most important thing you learned from a site visit?
After visiting a friend’s facility in Canada, we decided to implement a residential snow management strategy to supplement our traditional commercial work. We have opened a new company and have outfitted it with a tractor and snowblower, and we were able to take several of the ideas I learned through the site visit to jump-start our new venture. 

Eight Tips for Safe Snow Shoveling

A 2011 study published in the Clinical Research in Cardiology revealed that shoveling snow actually does increase the risk of a having a heart attack. The study looked at 500 people and found that 7% started experiencing symptoms of heart problems while shoveling snow. The cardiologists conducting the Canadian study felt that while 7% is significant, there could be as many as double that number given the fact that the patients may not have connected their heart problems with snow shoveling. 

"While heart attacks may be the most serious consequence of shoveling snow, there are other even more common health risks including dehydration, back injuries, pulled muscles, broken bones and frostbite. But the good news is there are ways to safely shovel snow," said Martin B. Tirado, CAE, Executive Director, SIMA. 

Here are SIMA's safe snow shoveling tips:

TIP #1: Stay on top of the snow. No we aren't suggesting that you make snow angels but when there's a heavy snow, the best advice is to stay ahead of the storm. SIMA recommends that to prevent snow and ice from adhering to the sidewalk or street, clear the snow every few inches instead of waiting for the snow to stop falling before you head outdoors. 

TIP #2: Wear breathable layers. Layering is typical cold winter weather advice. We suggest wearing layers of loose clothing so you can peal a layer off if you get hot. Avoid wearing heavy wools, manmade materials or other materials that don’t allow perspiration to evaporate. Better choices are cotton and silk.

TIP #3: Watch your feet. No you aren't on Dancing with the Stars, but nonetheless, you need to pay attention to what's on your feet when heading outdoors to shovel snow. SIMA suggests wearing quality outdoor winter wear such as waterproof boots with good traction. Good traction is critical to ensuring that you don't slip and fall.

TIP #4: Take a few minutes to stretch. Shoveling snow is a workout so you need to stretch to warm up your muscles particularly because you are shoveling snow in the cold weather. Stretching before you start shoveling will help prevent injury and fatigue. 

TIP #5: Push don't lift. Sounds like something a high school wrestling coach may say but if you push the snow to the side rather than trying to lift the snow to remove it, you exert less energy thereby placing less stress on your body.

TIP #6: Drink up! Water that is. SIMA recommends taking frequent breaks and staying hydrated. You should drink water as if you were enduring a tough workout at the gym or running five miles. 

TIP #7: Don't play in traffic. Sometimes people get so focused on the task at hand they don't pay attention to their surroundings. When shoveling snow near streets, pay attention to the traffic since vehicles may not have good traction in the snow and ice. 

TIP #8: Call and text. We're not suggesting that you make calls and text while shoveling snow, but it is important to have your cell phone on you so you can make a call in event of an emergency.

GoPlow.com helps build business

We wanted to create a simple space that allowed people in the industry to read relevant content, and share thoughts, photos, and videos. 

By Brian Birch
The strategy was simple; create a space online to provide high quality, relevant content in various formats for industry professionals to use, including SIMA members. At no cost to the snow professional, period. And in June of 2010, with a lot of hard work, GoPlow.com was launched.

This was not a typical thing to do for a national trade association; traditionally associations have kept quality content hidden behind a membership login, to ensure members see value. However, in this day and age, with so much information available at our fingertips, anyone anywhere can create and share content easily. For SIMA, a proactive strategy was adopted to create GoPlow.com; we wanted to create a simple space that allowed people in the industry to read relevant content, and share thoughts, photos, and videos. Since then, the SIMA staff and key industry volunteers have built a solid resource that will continue to evolve and grow over time. We’d thought we’d share some of the progress so far.

In 2011, GoPlow.com was discussed in the book The End of Membership as We Know It by Sarah Slydek, a well-known association thought leader. In the book, GoPlow.com and SIMA are featured alongside other innovative associations like the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. These are best-in-class associations, and we are excited that GoPlow.com could serve as a solid example of a realistic approach to association-led content management online, alongside these great associations.

Here are some of the tangible resources available to anyone in the industry, right now, at GoPlow.com:

• 50 short videos produced by SIMA and Snow Business, including contractor interviews, short topical presentations, and brief demos
• Over 25 ‘Quick Tips’ on various aspects of managing a snow business, quick and bulleted tips for easy reading
• 220 videos uploaded by the GoPlow.com community, including videos related to products, plowing techniques, and more.
• 60+ articles and tips related to legal issues and insurance
• 30+ resources related to tools and technology in the industry
• Over 90 resources on ice management, including deicing, anti-icing, and more

SIMA realizes that GoPlow.com is not perfect, and we are committed to evolving and improving this asset to the industry. Share below any thoughts you have on how we can improve the site!

Built on Trust

Good governance is vitally important for both the for-profit corporate and non-profit sectors. Why? The most simple answer is trust.

By Martin Tirado, CAE
Let me guess, when you see an article about corporate governance you read it immediately, clearly prior to the compelling sports stories of the day or what the showing times are for the blockbuster movie that just opened over the weekend. You don’t? I didn’t think so, and neither do I, as it just isn’t a ‘must-read’ news item. How about an article about excessive corporate compensation or buyout packages prior to bankruptcy filings (think Enron)? A bit more interesting for sure. When some of these scandalous stories receive media attention, it does lead to more questions, and questions certainly related to why good governance matters. Good governance is vitally important for both the for-profit corporate and non-profit sectors. Why? The simple answer is trust.

Trust is about the importance of these concepts: accountability, ethics, financial oversight, compliance with the law. All are key concepts that, as pieces of good governance, are clearly defined and actively practiced. To cover several more of these critical areas of good governance, take a quick look at these sites:

http://www.independentsector.org/accountability
http://www.greatboards.org/faq/general.shtml

As for SIMA, as the only 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association in our industry, we are accountable to our members and need their trust to continue to enhance professionalism in the snow and ice industry. Good governance is paramount to what we do. SIMA’s board of directors underwent a comprehensive update to our board governance policies in 2012 and now practice the Policy Governance® model. Our governance policies can be read on SIMA’s website and we also practice several other forms of good governance that enhance our accountability to members. These are such things as conducting a full, independent financial audit annually by a CPA firm, disclosing conflict of interest situations, a clearly defined investment policy of the association’s assets, anti-trust protection, whistleblower policy, and disclosure of annually filed tax returns to the public.  Most non-profit organizations, including SIMA, have their annual tax returns available for free public viewing at www.guidestar.org. That’s an issue of transparency, we don’t have anything to hide that we can’t disclose to our members or even the general public. 

Anti-trust issues for trade associations are particularly sensitive, as there have been many cases of industry members engaging in collusion to limit competition or fix prices, and they have been prosecuted as such. Anti-trust law has its roots in the Sherman Act (USA) and the Competition Act (Canada), and SIMA actively follows its guidelines. Both for in-person meetings and in online discussions, we have statements read that prevent discussions on pricing and price setting, boycotting, exclusivity arrangements and other possibilities that would violate anti-trust law. Short term, it may feel nice to have snow and ice contractors raising their prices across the board. But we wouldn't want our consumers or suppliers to do the same. That’s the quandary, and why there are good, relevant laws to maintain a free and open marketplace for all.

Good governance also deals with conflict of interest and conflict resolution. Policies should be in place to have directors and officers of the board and senior staff disclose conflicts of interest and specify what actions are taken when conflicts do occur. Board of directors have legal duties to abide by, namely duty of care, loyalty and obedience. When a diverse group meets regularly to discuss strategy and company issues, disagreements can arise. How these disagreements are dealt with and resolved are important, with awareness given to what’s in the best interest of the company, not what is in one person’s own best interest.

SIMA’s governance structure is continually being evaluated and developed, with appropriate training provided for our board of directors and professional staff. Our newly adopted bylaws and governance policies are not the end, they are part of a journey to be a part of best practices for non-profit, trade associations.

There are many companies and associations that are doing good work, meeting and even exceeding the needs of their customers. Unfortunately, there are also some Enron’s. In your business decisions, I ask that you take a moment and evaluate a business on many criteria, and don’t exclude how they practice good governance. It’s a matter of trust.

*Source: Associations Matter: Associations By the Numbers, ASAE report 2012

Lessons from Nemo (The storm not the fish)

By Phill Sexton
Now that the snow has settled after Nemo, a huge Nor’easter that hit New England earlier this month, we have an opportunity to learn from yet another crippling ‘storm of the century.’ Since starting in the snow & ice management industry over 20 years ago, my own personal study proves these types of life altering, business halting events occur much more often than is discussed in the national media. Think about the history just since 1993. It includes ‘100 year’ type events that have been called ‘Blizzard of ’93, ’96,’99, 2001…2004…, Snowpocalypse 2010 and 2011, Snowmageddon and now Nemo. When I look back over the last 20 years, these types of major snow or ice events have happened almost every year somewhere. Major storms like these can reinforce the same lessons that are in the Best Practices checklist, which service providers and consumers can both learn from.  

Budget and plan for the worst (and save the money when it doesn’t snow). Many times, consumers of snow & ice management services ‘roll the dice,’ particularly in typical low snow markets, only to end up spending more money in one or two large snow events than they would have if they had paid a reasonable readiness / preparedness fee or seasonal fee with ‘floor and ceiling’ price protection. Paying for snow & ice management should be similar to how insurance is purchased.  

Storm response planning. What if it snows more than the average? In the case of winter storm Nemo, I was plowing myself non-stop that Friday night and all day Saturday.  Around 4:30am Saturday I started receiving calls from SIMA members in New England closer to the coast looking for help because plows just couldn’t handle the volume of snow coming down any more. I had conversations with quite a few contractors, and the same questions kept coming:

• “Where can I find a loader (or 2… 5… I heard a request for 10)?”
• “How much should I charge for a larger loader?” 
• “Where can I find more hand labor?”
• “The people I have worked two shifts and are too tired to keep going, where I can find more people?”    

These are questions that need to be proactively discussed and answered in partnership with clients before the season begins, not after the first 15 hours of what might be a 30+ hour historic and crippling snow event. Many times, discussions about preparedness don’t normally happen because of reasons like these:  

• “It doesn’t usually snow like that around here”   
• “My boss will never allow me to budget that way”
• “You’re crazy, that is more than double what you charge me per hour for a plow” (because we didn’t explain it would take less than half the time with larger equipment therefore less costly).

I’ve lived and heard all of these excuses so I appreciate and understand the challenge. Now I beg you go try again right now…tomorrow, before you and the clients forget how bad it was and how much less it would have cost if they had agreed to a worst-case scenario plan. How do all of you out there in the industry start this difficult discussion with your clients and prospects?

Phill Sexton is the Director of Education & Outreach for SIMA. Contact him at Phill@sima.org.

SIMA goes to Capitol Hill

By Martin Tirado, CAE
On March 18-19, Phill Sexton (SIMA's Director of Edu and Outreach) and I will be in Washington, DC, to meet with our elected members of Congress during American Associations Day. This event provides us the opportunity to not only be an advocate for associations in general, but to also put SIMA and the value of the services its members provide on the map.

Being in Washington DC for this important event is part of SIMA’s strategic vision to increase awareness of SIMA, and be a resource to consumers, the general public, and legislative and regulatory entities, both locally and nationally. This winter’s Impact of Snow Campaign, led to SIMA being covered in several news channels, such as radio shows in Ithaca, NY, Baltimore, MD, coverage in the Wall Street Journal and more (full reporting on the “Impact of Snow” will be provided in the future). We have also continued to build our relationships with the consumers of snow and ice services, with information published by SIMA appearing with the International Parking Institute and the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association, as well as numerous other initiatives in the works.

The next step is to participate at the national level, in Washington, DC, and continue to be a voice and advocate for the snow and ice management industry. Phill & I will certainly deliver our message on the value of associations on issues such as the important role that non-profits play in the economy and their impact of  governmental policies, like recent health care reform for example. We will also advocate on the issues of importance to SIMA members as provided to us in our Fall 2012 legislative survey.

I personally am thankful that Phill is coming to DC with me; the industry could not ask for a better, more passionate, and more qualified advocate. Phill has worked in the snow/landscape/tree care industries for several companies over the years, and can share his direct experiences to key DC contacts. Certainly, it will be an informative and enriching experience for Phill and I, and for SIMA. I look forward to reporting on outcomes later this spring.

If you have any thoughts on key topics or issues we should discuss with the folks on Capitol Hill, please share them here or email me at Martin@sima.org.

Martin Tirado, CAE is the CEO for SIMA.