On behalf of the new chapter board, I wanted to take a few moments to update the recent news on chapter activities.  With the arrival of spring, it appears that the pandemic of the last two years may finally be subsiding, and we can get back to the “new normal”.  Those few years have been challenging but the SoCal ACI chapter has managed to function despite those difficulties.  Our thanks to all who have been a part of keeping ACI moving forward.  We hope you and your families are safe and healthy.

In February the Annual Meeting and Sam Hobbs service award celebration was held.  The event was well attended by over 75 people and included dinner, installation of new chapter officers and presentation of the Annul Sam Hobbs Award.  This year Steve Toland was honored as the 2022 recipient.  Steve is a past president of the SoCal ACI chapter and has served in various chapter roles throughout his career.  Congratulations to Steve on an honor well-deserved.

The Annual ACI Spring 2022 Convention was recently held in Orlando, Florida.  A few Southern California members attended the convention including roundtable discussions, committee meetings, “hot topic” discussions on current industry trends & ideas as well as social activities with other industry people throughout the country.  At this year’s convention, our very own Ken Sears was recognized by ACI as a Fellow and was acknowledged at the Annual ACI Spring 2022 Convention.  Congratulations to Ken for recognition of his continuous service to the chapter and the industry.

The chapter recently purchased a new 7’ x 14’ trailer for the certification teams to assist in mobile certifications.  The new trailer will also be available for use at remote sites, for special classes or chapter-sponsored events.  As well, it will help keep equipment and material properly secured and be another tool to provide a higher quality of service to our chapter members.

As we look forward to spring there are many exciting activities coming up including a student mixer to be held in downtown Los Angeles, a joint meeting with SEAOSC with a presentation of the new Intuit Dome (the new home of the Los Angeles Clippers) and the Annual SoCal ACI Golf Tournament on May 5th at Los Serranos in Chino Hills.  Please feel free to contact me, or any of the board members, for additional information or if you would like to be included in these events.

In closing, we look forward to 2022.  There are many things to be excited about and plenty of opportunities to get involved, socialize or to be a part of ACI.  Please feel free to reach out to myself or any chapter officers or committee members and get involved.  Hoping to see all of you soon.

Don Kahn,
ACI President