2003 Was a Good Year for WSTDA

By Becky Thiessen, WSTDA President

Happy New Year and welcome to our first electronic newsletter on our newly re-designed web site. What a great way to start the New Year.

2003 was a good year for WSTDA thanks to the hard work and dedication of its members and management team.

Our Roundsling Committee, chaired by Greg Babinchak from Lift-All, authored our first roundsling warning label. The committee is now finalizing their revision of the roundsling warning sheet and the care and use manual.

Our Tie Down Committee, chaired by Steve Schroeder from American Webbing & Fittings, has generated their third draft of the T-1 Tie Down Standard. This work has been challenging and exciting with the new regulations in place and the new global committee members.

Our Testing Committee, chaired by Charles Lucas from The Crosby Group, published their Summary Report of the UV Degradation Testing Program for Synthetic Web Slings. This report, as well as all other WSTDA publications, can be found online at www.wstda.com.

Our Web Sling Committee, chaired by Michale Porter from New Haven Moving Equipment, has completed their final revisions to the WS-1 Web Sling Standard. This was no easy task but well worth the hard work and the wait.

Our Membership/PR Committee, chaired by Dan Perkins from Ribbon Webbing, has been working on a membership exchange program to better align WSTDA and its members with related associations.

Our Policy and Form Review Committee, chaired by John Walsh from Sling-Choker, has been working on a revision of the WSTDA Insignia Policy. This is a new committee formed just one year ago and charged with the review and revision of WSTDA policies and forms.

I have had the pleasure of working with all of these committees this past year. I congratulate the chairmen and committee members for their successes. Without their vision and commitment, WSTDA could not survive. Your service is greatly appreciated and I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey.

The association brought in 7 new members in 2003, following 8 new members in 2002. Continued growth is a priority for WSTDA to ensure the industries we serve are well represented and that WSTDA maintains the financial resources needed to fulfill its mission. I have to credit the Board of Directors and the Membership/PR Committee for their commitment to welcoming new members and sustaining current members. I also wish to thank every member that took part in introducing WSTDA to a new member. I hope all of us will continue to be good spokespersons for the association and sponsor a new member this year.

My second year as President is coming to an end. I have been blessed with the best group of guys a girl could ask for! Your Board of Directors has been dedicated day in and day out. We as a board have faced some difficult issues and have had to make some difficult decisions. I think it is fair to say that at the end of the day we did the best we could for the greatest of the association. I can only hope that you members agree.

I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I was given to serve this association as President. The past two years have given me the ability to follow through with those things that I truly believed in. I hope I have given as much to all of you as I have received.

I look forward to 2004 and everything it has in store for us. I’m confident we will accomplish more great things together. There is so much to do and there truly is no limit as to what we can do by working together. Best wishes to everyone and I look forward to seeing all of you in San Diego where the new journey shall begin.

You are receiving this email as a benefit of your membership with WSTDA. You are not receiving this message because you are subscribed to an electronic list. If you have any input you would like to provide about mailings of this type, please e-mail wstda@ksgroup.org. To unsubscribe to this newsletter, click here.

Web Sling & Tie Down Association

2105 Laurel Bush Rd. • Suite 200 • Bel Air, MD 21015 • phone: 443-640-1070 • fax: 443-640-1031 • wstda@ksgroup.org • www.wstda.com