Posted by Laura LaBine on Apr 12, 2023

It's been an honor and a joy to serve on the NPAworldwide Board of Directors for the last four years. My specific focus was leading the Practice Groups, and they have proven to be the ever-evolving heartbeat of our organization. When I joined ten years ago, the Chem Processing group was the top revenue-performing group. With shifts in the economy and market, the group withered down to a point where it was combined with the Agriculture and Food practice group. As change is a constant, it will be interesting to see where the labor market creates now specializations that would require the support of a Practice Group.

Before I joined the board, I had the great fortune of being the Technology Practice Group leader for four years. The adage of "you get out of it what you put into it" is not just lip service. Being part of the monthly meetings creates a real sense of community just by being there. I was able to help the group select two new Practice Group leaders.

Christine Kines, our new Technology Practice Group leader, is a newer member of our network and is evidence of being successful in following best practices recommended by peers. She managed to attend her first NPAworldwide conference in her first year and regularly attended Practice Group calls which exposed her to the action of who is hiring. I really think that her experience as a software development manager provides her an excellent perspective on both technology and facilitating. As the Technology Practice Group is really split into two monthly calls, Christine has already jumped in with both feet.

Marcus Ronaldi has been a consistent volunteer, having led the Accounting/Finance Practice Group and served as Pacific Coast Area Leader. Marcus is always available to provide some advice and has proven to be agile in his business as well. I met Marcus while he was working at the office of PartnerWest before I ever became a member, and I'm honored to consider him a friend. He has taken over leadership of the Engineering / Operations / Manufacturing group.

Please join me in welcoming these new leaders and also in thanking our previous leaders. Phil Chappel, former Technology leader, and Patrick Long, former Engineering / Operations / Manufacturing leader, were both recently elected to the NPAworldwide board of directors. We thank them for their continued support of our network.

You may not be able to hear the noise from my office, but there is an enthusiastic round of applause for our volunteers!!

See you in Atlanta!