Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida | Page 4

reach out to your elected officials when they are in their home districts and then join us in January when we visit them in Tallahassee. Keep us posted on any rising stars you have in your area. Senator Latvala was once a rising star in my home territory and SUCA reached out and supported him way back then, which has resulted in a great relationship for many years. Who is the rising star, future leader in your area?

Speaking of rising stars, who is the rising star in your company? Have you mentored them as to the importance of NUCA? Are you inviting them to participate in NUCA events, on committees, on the Board? Without young blood, we will die on the vine. Get someone new in your organization involved and help secure our future while improving theirs.

I mentioned last time that we need help organizing our e-mail list. We need to be reaching out directly to more employees of our members both as an ongoing educational effort and as part of our legislative efforts. One of the folks I work with asked me not long ago where I learned about the lien laws, my answer was at a NUCA convention years ago, with multiple updates at SUCA meetings and Ditchmen articles. How many of your employees get the Ditchmen? We should reinvigorate our role as of sharing knowledge so we can “learn from one another” as our Statement of Purpose says. I am begging for someone smarter than me to help with this effort, please e-mail me if you have an interest in helping, [email protected].

Tom Woodward

President's Message

Tom Woodward

We are happy to report that the Annual Conference was a financial success (along with being a lot of fun), for which we thank not only the conference committee and Wilson and Associates, but everyone who attended. If you are interested in helping with next year’s conference, please contact the Wilson folks, anyone on this year’s committee or just send me an e-mail at [email protected] and I will get it to the right people. New faces are always welcome, old ones too!

Summer is coming to a close, have you visited your State Representative and your State Senator yet? The most effective way we can influence the legislative process is by letting them know who we are and what we stand for. That is accomplished by taking the time to get to know them and by putting our money where it counts. Please