CLICK HERE to view CALSAGA's official Press Release announcing Roy's new position.

Dear Members,

As we launch into 2012 I’d like to take a moment to recap some of the highlights of 2011, shares our goals for 2012 and announce some important and exciting changes in our CALSAGA leadership.

I’m sure most of us feel that 2011 was a tough year for business due to the economy. CALSAGA certainly felt those difficulties as well. However, we also believe that we continued to bring value to members in a wide array of programs and services. Two of the most significant were:

•               Our continued close monitoring of legislation which would be harmful to our industry and companies. In particular were our efforts on AB350, which would have required a company assuming a security contract to retain the prior vendor’s employees for the first 90 days of the new contract. We opposed this bill strongly and fought with others for its defeat. And, while it passed the Assembly, in the end we were successful in getting it defeated in the State Senate.

•               Our outstanding programs and conferences, which provide members great information, access to vendors who will help members run their businesses, and a great opportunity to network with industry colleagues.  Most significantly, our Annual Conference  in San Francisco was perhaps the most successful conference in memory. Members and other attendees alike gave us numerous accolades for the venue, our exhibitors and especially our speakers and workshops.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our member retention numbers for 2011. Almost 95% of our members renewed, an acknowledgement from CALSAGA members that the association’s benefits are an important addition to their business. These renewals came from small and large PPOs alike,all of whom find value in CALSAGA and its programs.

We are not resting on our laurels from 2011. Last year, we were already deep in the planning process for 2012. At the Board of Director’s Strategic Planning Meeting in December, we identified our number 1 goal for 2012 as improving our engagement with members at the local level through outreach. We intend to accomplish this goal in numerous ways, but most notably by:

•               Offering Quarterly Training Seminars, in the north and south, focusing on what local members identify as important issues. These could include topics such as handling workers compensation issues, advice in complying with the myriad of wage and hours laws affecting our business or the use of social networking to build your service offering and business. Most of the topics will be taken from the list we prepared from your answers to the recent survey we sent. And, we welcome any others ideas you may have.

•               Regular regional meetings aimed at enhancing your ability to network with peers. These meeting will be held close to your companies and presented by your elected Regional Director’s and will afford you the opportunity to discuss your issues and concerns.

•               Increased one on one networking with CALSAGA leadership.  I am personally making the commitment to regularly visit our members at their place of business to discuss what we do well and where members need more support.

•               And, of course, we will have our Annual Conference which is the major networking and learning opportunity of the year. Our conference this year is being held at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and will provide you with unparalleled educational and informational presentations. Coupled with the exhibitors we are inviting this will be a “can’t miss” conference. Mark your calendars now for October 16 – 18.

In addition, we will continue to enhance our training programs, including content and the security officer training database, as well the myriad of other programs we offer. And, I know importantly to all of you we will continue to aggressively monitor and oppose legislation which will be harmful to your business. CALSAGA is dedicated to making sure our legislators understand the hardships and difficulties you operate under now, and the harm even one “job killer” bill can do to your business. 

Finally, I’d like to share with you changes to your CALSAGA leadership. Late in 2011 the Association launched a search to replace William Hodges, who had been serving as Deputy Association Manager and day-to-day leader of CALSAGA after it was revealed that he would be leaving at the end of the year.

We were looking for someone who could hit the ground running, bring a wealth of security industry experience, and instant credibility to helping us move CALSAGA forward. Association Manager Jeff Flint was directed by the Board to lead this search.

During the search, Jeff came to me with a bold idea.  He said that the only person who fit the bill – industry knowledge and credibility along with knowing the intimate details of CALSAGA – was me.  And as Jeff and I discussed this, it became increasing clear to me that after 25 years in the industry in a wide variety of roles, I was at a point in my career that running CALSAGA on a full-time basis was a challenge I wanted.

So, effective January 1, 2012 I resigned as the President of CALSAGA and as Vice President with Universal Protection Service to accept the position of Association Manager. Jeff Flint, who has been the CALSAGA Association Manager since we professionalized operations in 2003, will become Senior Strategic Advisor to CALSAGA and continue to play a critical role in moving the Association forward, as will the dedicated staff you all know, Danielle Vaticano and Kate Wallace.

As a result of by resignation and in accord with CALSAGA’s by laws, I am pleased to announce that Bryan Bayer will assume the role of President of CALSAGA and serve out the last year of my term.

It has been an honor to serve you on the Board of Directors and as your President the past three years. I look forward to my new role and the progress we can make for the industry and your businesses.

If you have any suggestions or comments how we can make CALSAGA even more valuable to you, please feel free to contact me directly at either rrahn@calsaga.org or by telephone at (916) 930-0552.

Sincerely,

Roy Rahn

CALSAGA, Association Manager

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