Celebrating 25 Years with CETA

By Michael Hamline / Published February 2016

In 2015, CETA celebrated the organization’s 25th anniversary since its inception in March 1990. In a message from CETA’s president in 2015, Linda Chappell, she wrote, “When we introduced the new logo for CETA—‘Celebrating 25 Years’—at the business meeting in Orlando, FL (in 2014), we did it with the thought that a wonderful celebration should be shared among members and with new members.” And what a great celebration it was for the members at CETA’s most recent Annual Convention.

This past October 19–23, 2015, CETA held their Annual Convention in conjunction with ISSA/INTERCLEAN in Las Vegas, NV. On the first day, October 19, it was a travel day for many of those arriving from around the country. However, there were exciting activities planned for those who had arrived early with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start golf tournament held at the Arroyo Golf Club at Red Rock. Later in the afternoon, from 2:00–4:00, the Women of CETA held their 7th annual meeting at the host hotel, The Mirage, and invited women in the industry to a Sip-n-Doodle. As the announcement for the event said, “it’s a forum where we can visit, enjoy fellowship, and have fun!”

The CETA Education Seminars were held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from mid-morning to late afternoon on October 20. It started with CETA bringing in Barry Maher, a motivational speaker, who talked about important business principles that help people achieve success and satisfaction in business, which comes from his book Filling the Glass: The Skeptic’s Guide to Positive Thinking in Business. A principle of leadership he shared, came from Dwight Eisenhower who said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

After Maher’s motivational speech, the educational courses offered throughout the day on October 20 were presented by Scaltrol, Inc., which taught “Strategies for Reducing Hard Water Equipment Issues,” Beckett Burners presented “Burner Service and Repair Workshop,” General Pump offered an interactive class “Pump Service and Repair,” and the day was closed out by the “CETA Technical Update.” There was also one educational class offered first thing in the morning on October 21 by Cat Pumps called “Pump Service & Repair Workshop” and Metro Studios offered “Search Engine Optimization” on October 22.

The CETA Technical Update provided by the CETA Technical Com-mittee states, “The CETA Technical Committee continues to work for all CETA members and the pressure washer industry at large. We continue to develop standards to move our industry forward as well as deal with regulations and misconceptions and misapplications of current standards and regulations.” One of the hot issues brought up is that of pressure washers being lumped together with boilers and put under boiler regulations. The Technical Committee is working to educate involved parties of the differences between pressure washers and boilers and “seeking a seat on the A.S.M.E. to have a voice to prevent and guide these changes.” When it comes to education/training development, the Technical Committee is “looking at different institutions and methods to help dealers to ensure their technicians are trained correctly for the tasks they do” with the hope this might remove some of the burden and liability for manufacturers to do the training.

Apart from the education classes held primarily on October 20, the CETA Business Meeting and Opening Reception were the main events held that evening at The Mirage. Linda Chappell welcomed everyone to the meeting, Aaron Auger gave the highlights with a “Year in Review,” Chad Rasmussen provided an encouraging review of the financials, Kyle Notch talked about the important Performance Standard, Gregg Brodsky gave a report on behalf of CETA’s Education Foundation, Jeff Theis presented the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Linda Chappell passed the gavel to Curtis Braber, who is the current CETA president for 2016.

The Lifetime Achievement Award winner was Ralph Notch of A.R. North America, and it was great to hear Theis present the award to such a deserving recipient. For reasons why CETA chose Notch, read Diane Calabrese’s article “Ralph L. Notch, A.R. North America,” which is on page 12. The Opening Reception was notable not only because of the abundance of good food, but because it was held at Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat, where attendees were treated to an amazing performance by the dolphins and were even able to touch these fascinating creatures. In addition, a short walk in the garden allowed attendees to view some grand looking lions, tigers, and panthers.

Of course, the main event wasn’t to come to Las Vegas to enjoy good food and view the amazing animals. Rather, it was to exhibit and conduct business at the CETA Annual Convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center from October 21–23. There were two and a half days filled with many exhibitor’s booths to explore and ask questions about their products. In addition, Cleaner Times was pleased with the foot traffic that came by our booth to check out the new Pressure Washer’s Guidebook and to talk with us about life and goings on in the industry. It was a great celebration, and Cleaner Times can’t wait to see you next year in Chicago! Mark your calendars for October 24–28, 2016.