CEO of the Year moves to June

'We love this award because size doesn’t matter. Successful CEOs come from big and small companies.'

By Cheryl Higley
This year, SIMA and Snow Business will honor its sixth CEO of the Year, an award created in 2011 to celebrate those who exemplify the very best in leadership and dedication to the industry.

In the past, the winner would be featured in our August issue and honored during the Snow Strategies Forum event in September. As we evaluated the program late last year, however, we decided to adjust the timing of the award to ensure our CEO of the Year would be part of the Snow & Ice Industry Awards celebration at the annual Snow & Ice Symposium. Moving up the timing of the award will also allow the magazine to feature the winner on the cover of our June issue. 

CEO of the Year candidates are nominated based on the following criteria:

• Must be the CEO, president, owner or equivalent position at a snow and ice management company where they are recognized as the top person in a company. The company must be directly engaged in snow and ice management.
• Must have had a significant impact on the snow and ice industry regarding:
• Sustained company financial success
• Professionalism
• Community involvement
• Advancement of the industry, including involvement in SIMA
• Ethical business practices

We love this award because size doesn’t matter. Successful CEOs come from big and small companies. We don’t set revenue minimums for this award because we believe that while the bottom line is important, a true CEO is best measured for the totality of his or her work, including charitable involvement in the communities in which he or she serves.

The editorial advisory committee, 2015 CEO of the Year Bob Greene, SIMA Board President Bob Smart, and sponsor representative Mark Adamson from Douglas 
Dynamics, will judge the finalists anonymously to ensure a level playing field. The winner will receive complimentary registration to the Snow & Ice Symposium.   

CEO of the Year Nominations are open through March 14
Nominating a candidate for CEO of the Year is easy. Review the qualifications and visit www.sima.org/ceo to submit your nomination by March 14. Thank you to CEO of the Year award sponsors Western, SnowEx and Fisher.

Winter Storms: Are They Worth Naming?

'SIMA supports the naming of winter storms as it brings awareness to the severity and seriousness of winter weather.'

By Martin Tirado, CAE

It started with Ajax and recently had Olympia leaving mostly rain in the New England states, the 2015-16 winter storm names have been sort of an unusual bunch. Considering the oddly warm winter, maybe that’s fitting. Back in 2012-13, the Weather Channel decided to start naming winter storms, in a similar way that hurricanes are named, in order to “communicate about a complex storm…as good communications benefits everyone” as stated on their website.

As snow and ice management professionals, do we feel there is value to naming winter storms? Recently SIMA was contacted by a meteorologist in a large city on the great lakes who has some strong feelings that naming winter storms was irresponsible by the Weather Channel because there’s not more than a single storm at a time. He further stated hurricanes are different as its common for more than one to occur at a time.

The New York Times addressed Winter Storm Jonas as part marketing ploy, although it seems they see some credibility in how a storm name can help in spreading awareness via social media.

SIMA supports the naming of winter storms as it brings awareness to the severity and seriousness of winter weather. When bad winter weather hits an area, auto accidents increase, people overexert themselves shoveling, slip and falls on ice, and all sorts of other harm is done. Public safety is at risk, and similar to hurricanes, emergency personnel are working through it to provide safety and resources to those areas hardest hits. In the case of winter storms, those personnel are snow and ice plowers, shovelers, light to heavy equipment operators, and even office staff working at call centers to coordinate crews and provide service.

Most recall the devastation of Hurricane’s Katrina and Sandy, can the same be said for Winter Storm Jonas or Nemo from 2013? Time will tell, certainly it’s easier to recall Nemo as opposed to the ‘February 2013 nor-easter’.

Next up is Petros. What do you think?

Action Alert: Share feedback on new SIMA Mission, Vision and Core Values

‘Last November, the board took a major step in redefining a Mission, Vision, Core Values and a strategic plan for SIMA. We hope that these new tools will take all of us into the future with confidence and a realistic plan for success.’

Take action now:

• Share your feedback with Martin@sima.org or in the comment section below on our new Mission, Vision and Core Values.

By Justin Gamester, CSP
I remember getting my start with SIMA over 10 years ago, when I joined the Membership committee. My experiences working as a volunteer helped me get involved in the association and start to see the bigger picture for my industry. Little did I know that I would be sitting here as incoming board chair in 2016. The thought had not crossed my mind by any means.

It’s been fun and rewarding to watch the association and its membership grow and become more professional. I personally have benefited a great deal from the time spent with my friends and colleagues in the industry. I won’t say that it’s always been smooth sailing; there have been some bumps in the road for SIMA. We’ve launched projects that have failed; we’ve analyzed some things to death to be honest. But each time the association has come against a challenge, the volunteers and staff have pushed hard and made the tough choices to help SIMA thrive. And we have made significant progress in our educational offerings and resources to members and industry suppliers. We are now poised to take some serious steps as an organization to help influence major challenges and issues we all face as snow professionals.

Growing pains
As an entity, the association has grown significantly and has seen its share of growing pains. The industry is challenged, with pressure on pricing, higher service demands, more educated buyers and more. The board and staff have struggled with how to prioritize the many issues facing you in snow so that we could focus on the areas where we could have a true and lasting impact. Last November, the board took a major step in redefining a Mission, Vision, Core Values and a strategic plan for SIMA:

• Mission: Empowering snow & ice management for success.
• Vision: We fight for the industry to be one of the most valued professions in the world, ensuring that snow & ice management services are never taken for granted.
• Core Values: Sustainability, Innovation, Service, Quality, Trust, Passion

We hope that these new tools will take all of us into the future with confidence and a realistic plan for success.

It wasn’t easy to get a group of business owners and entrepreneurs together to reflect on success and build a solid foundation for the future. After much discussion, some disagreement and a lot of collaboration, we created the new and needed direction for the association. We hope that this will engage all of you in the industry to work with us to elevate our profession, train our people and grow in snow.

Positive outcomes
Our new plan has helped us make some hard choices, and we are losing a few programs along the way. But with all loss comes opportunity, and we are excited to see the association focus strongly on best practices, consumer outreach, credentials, research and education moving forward. We value your feedback as we try to move the needle in ways that help elevate us all. Please share your thoughts with me any time at jgamester@piscataqualandscaping.com.

Justin Gamester is Vice Chair of the SIMA Board of Directors and Vice President of Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service in Eliot, ME.