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What an honor and surprise it was to experience Iowa
Automotive Recyclers being named 2014 Affiliate
Chapter of the Year at the recent awards banquet of
the ARA annual convention in Nashville, TN this past
October. Adding to the honor were the kind words of-
fered on our behalf from my friend, the immediate Past
President, Ed MacDonald.
Shortly after returning from the Nashville conference
Andy Wilken and I were interviewed by
Autobody
News
with some questions regarding how we felt and
why were we selected for the award.
Being honored for doing our best for our association in
Iowa adds to the satisfaction that not only are our
members being served but our peers see that too.
Iowa Auto Recyclers tries to set a good example as
well as sharing any information we have with other
state chapters and members at large. We often provide
articles for trade publications about our Iowa Certified
Auto Recyclers Environmental (I-CARE) program stan-
dards such as environmental waste handling or safety
practices. We have a nice newsletter with current infor-
mation published six times per year and we make
those articles available for republishing by any other
chapter or trade news. We also host a trade show &
conference called the Summer Outing that attracts
about 250 people each year which is pretty big for a
state show especially in a low population states such
as ours!
I think this mindset of cooperation and sharing makes
us very likeable by our peers! As the Executive Direc-
tor, I also participate in many ARA committees to give
and receive information, work on cutting edge technol-
ogy projects and define consensus across states for
enforcement actions and sustainable practices. That’s
why it is important to be affiliated with ARA.
ARA advocates at the national level just like IAR does
at the states level. I often chuckle when Recyclers call
to ask "What does the association do for me?" When
that question arises it means the associations are do-
ing our job, otherwise the phone would be ringing off
the wall asking "How did you let that unfair law get
passed?!"
From the Desk of the Executive Director
Sue Speaking
Recyclers News Press
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