CETA Edge: CETA Goals and Plans for 2016

By Diane M. Calabrese

 

Meteorological spring begins on March 1 in the United States. It’s the sort of information that those impatient for the vernal equinox—and the official beginning of spring—hold in sight as winter finally vanishes. (Spring officially beings on March 20 this year.)

A powerful motivator, impatience not only defines the cusp of the season of rebirth and birth. It describes organizations ready to be invigorated by new ideas and initiatives. As 2016 begins to move along quickly, the Cleaning Equipment Trade Association (CETA) is set to see many goals realized and more solid plans formulated. “CETA has an ambitious set of goals for 2016,” says Curtis Braber, the current president of CETA and the president of BE Pressure Supply, Inc. in Abbotsford, BC, Canada.

“We are busy launching the CPC-100 CETA Performance Certified Standard, which will give the manufacturers an industry standard to test their equipment to,” explains Braber. That’s just the start.

Building on successes is another dimension. One success is the benchmarking, or planning for profit program, which will expand. “A lot of energy is also going into the benchmarking programs for distributors as well as a manufacturing benchmarking program to study trends in the industry,” says Braber.

Another foundation on which CETA will build is the annual meeting. “The CETA Annual Convention has seen tremendous growth in the past few years,” says Braber. “Expanding the distributor education classes has been a top priority.” That will continue as will “getting more involvement.”

Readying the CPC-100 has been an endeavor to which many CETA members have devoted time. “The CPC-100 has been a few years in the making,” says Braber. “Getting the testing labs, such as CSA and Intertek, on board has been a lot of work. The CETA board is excited to see this through.”

The CETA Performance Standard, CPC-100, reflects a uniform method for testing and rating pressure washers. The standard can be read by linking to: ceta.org/Media/Default/PDF/CETA_CPC100_Performance.pdf.

One cannot overstate the enthusiasm for CPC-100 among the board of directors of CETA. Many of them cite it first when they tell us more about CETA goals and plans, as well as what the personal goals they have set for themselves as a member of the CETA Board of Directors.

CPC-100 is one of the significant, ongoing programs at CETA, explains the organization’s senior vice president Aaron Auger, who is the water treatment division manager at Mi-T-M Corporation in Peosta, IA. “It is one of the most important programs that we are continuing to work on,” he says. The standard is something more though, says Auger. “This is yet another example of a program that will benefit our industry as a whole.”

All those who worked to produce the performance standard speak to the group’s collaborative spirit. “By CETA working as an organization that benefits all of our members, we are able to initiate programs such as this,” says Auger. “A single company working on its own would have a tough time getting this to pass.”

The cooperative effort is possible because of the time and energy board members and members are willing to invest in the organization. As part of their focus on organizational goals and plans, board members establish expectations for themselves, too. A few board members talked to us about them.

“A personal goal of mine would be to see that our board as a whole continues to strengthen our association,” says Auger. “We have seen a record increase in both members and exhibitors to our tradeshow since co-locating with ISSA. As we continue to move forward, retaining our own identity and independence as CETA is important.”

Auger, like his colleagues, says he looks forward to “another successful tradeshow in 2016 in Chicago.” The venue will be the Wyndham Grand. “As a person that lives in the Midwest, there is no greater city to me than Chicago. 2016 is going to be a very exciting year.”

Valuing Strength, Strategic Planning

“One goal that I have in serving CETA is to help the organization to add value to its members,” says Chris Meyer, a board member and the controller at Ben’s Cleaner Sales, Inc. in Seattle, WA. It’s a goal likely to receive a great deal of emphasis in 2016.

Getting the word out regarding CETA initiatives goes on at every opportunity. Members can visit the www.CETA.org website at any time to read the most up-to-date information about the association.

“I believe our goal for this coming year is to show our members and prospective members the value of CETA membership,” says the current secretary and board member Jim O’Connell, the president of Hotsy Pacific in Modesto, CA. “I believe we need to market ourselves better to the pressure washer community and the industry as a whole. My role as secretary and an executive board member will be to reach out to my peers with that goal in mind.”

O’Connell anticipates the stepped up focus on marketing will bring many good outcomes. “As a byproduct of this, we will be able to grow our membership and hopefully see more involvement from members,” he says.

New to one of his roles on behalf of the organization, O’Connell also has set a priority for himself. “As this is my first attempt at being a secretary for an organization, my personal goal is to provide an accurate and timely review of the board meetings to the board and all the members,” he says, adding he aims for clarity and concision.

Strategic planning will be a special focus this year, says board member Bill Ott, the executive vice president, product development and quality at Kärcher North America, Inc. in Denver, CO. “One major goal for CETA in 2016 is to develop and begin executing a long-term strategic plan,” he explains. “This will define the path forward to grow the organization’s influence on the industry.”

Ott also will be dedicating time to another goal. “I want to focus on developing additional products and services that could be beneficial to our members,” he says.

As the chairman of the benchmarking committee, Ott will be involved in another effort as well. “We have a goal in 2016 to create, measure, and publish our first manufacturers’ benchmark on units sold and revenue,” he explains. “This will provide an assessment of the size of the pressure washer market and indication of trends and opportunities.”

Kyle Notch, vice president of CETA and the president of AR North America, Inc. in Fridley, MN, plans to spread the word about the organization. “My number one goal is to become CETA’s number one brand ambassador,” he says.

“CETA is under the direction of a very talented board of directors,” says Notch. “Its educational role, identity, values, and ethics remain at the forefront of its mission.”

Notch serves as chairperson of the CETA Standards Committee. “I remain committed in advancing the exposure and opportunities performance standardization can play within our industry,” he says.

Among many personal goals Notch has set are those that fall under the header of responsiveness. He explains that he wants to be available to answer any questions about the organization.

Working “in good faith toward achievement of CETA’s mission and goals” requires a commitment that Notch and other board members willingly undertake. In the course of their work, they not only stay current with mission, services, policies and programs, he explains. They also participate in board meetings and telephone conferences.

Being prepared for and being part of all board discussions is a personal goal, says Notch. Although it’s a personal goal, it’s one with which his dedicated colleagues on the board surely agree.

Results, More Results

The work of a professional organization committed to its members is never done. One good result should be followed by another. That’s another objective on which board members agree.

Dr. Marlo Dean, a CETA board member and the senior support services manager at Kärcher North America in Camas, WA, has long been involved with working with regulators and providing industry feedback to rules makers. “I want to implement the CETA CPC-100 performance standard that was finished in 2014,” he says.

“I also want to implement the CETA efficiency standard, which was written in 2014,” says Dean. “I want to finish the ergonomic-gun and pressure-hose standard and create a pressure washer safe work manual.”

Dean’s personal goal is to sustain his involvement with regulators in order to help them fully understand pressure washer design. “I want to continue working with state agencies to deal with boiler code regulations that are being wrongly applied to pressure washers,” he says.

Boiler inspectors still do not completely understand the difference between a boiler and a pressure washer, which leads to much confusion regarding regulations, explains Dean. “We do not generate pressure in a closed vessel. We generate pressure by using a pump and are only heating the water in an open water flow.”

There’s always more to do for CETA board members. Be sure to communicate with them about your own priorities and concerns.