Minnesota, United States - The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) announced the recipients of its 2015 Outstanding Volunteer Awards at IFAI Expo 2015 in Anaheim, Calif. Volunteers build the organization’s strength and contribute knowledge that benefits both IFAI’s divisions and its overall mission to contribute to the prosperity of its members in the specialty fabrics industry. In return, volunteers gain added ownership of their association and increased value from their memberships.
In 2012 IFAI created the Outstanding Volunteer Award to acknowledge each year a handful of volunteers who go above and beyond. Five individuals were named this year:
Haskell Beckham, senior managing scientist at Exponent, was nominated for moderating and advising on flame retardancy webinars and for speaking at this year’s Advanced Textiles Conference. His contributions have made both programs better and stronger.
Bret Kelley, vice president of sales at Trivantage and chair of IFAI’s United States Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI) division, has been a longtime, active USIFI member, making sure those around him are fully engaged with issues critical to the U.S. industrial fabrics industry. By working to inspire action in others, he has led USIFI through a time of uncertainty in trade and military appropriation concerns. For example, last week it was announced that the text of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act keeps the threshold to trigger the Berry Amendment at its current level of $150,000. UFISI and NFI actively lobbied to keep the threshold at this amount.
Sarah Lapping, director of sales and marketing at Economy Tent International, was nominated for her unwavering support and diligent efforts in finding new ways to recruit members to join IFAI’s Tent Rental Division (TRD).
Dr. Maureen MacGillivray, professor of apparel merchandising and design at Central Michigan University, serves as chair of IFAI’s Advanced Textiles Products (ATP) division, with seven years of dedication on the ATP board and many years on the Advanced Textile Conference committee. MacGillivray has brought two major programs to IFAI, the Military Uniform System Technologies (MUST) database development, a new program coming out of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) funding to build a strong bridge between IFAI members and procurement officers in the DOD, and the addition of an intensive paper submission process to the Advanced Textile Conference.
Kevin Yonce, MFC, IFM, CPP, CEO of TCT&A Industries and former IFAI chair, was nominated for his outstanding leadership during a time of change and uncertainty for IFAI. He was always open and honest with his feedback and provided the support necessary to allow IFAI’s new staff leadership team to strengthen the association and strengthen its finances with additional membership benefit offerings and a stronger, healthier membership.
Source: Industrial Fabrics Association International