There was lots of fun and lots of education at WTSA’s 105th Annual Convention. On Sunday evening, the group gathered in the Shangri-La Pavillion – Demaret Room at the beautiful Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Dickies gave away a free shirt to all who attended. (See page 5 for a picture of the shirts and the beautiful view.)

              On Monday morning, the group gathered for the first of two educational sessions. The first speaker was Dave Fleischer from Business Resource Services. He gave an interesting presentation on the IRS Research and Development Tax Credit. Less than one third of companies that qualify for the tax credit claim it, as they are usually unaware that they qualify. Who qualifies? Companies that are attempting to create or improve products, services or fabrication can go back three years and deduct up to 20% of the cost to improve or create a product. These costs can include Employee Wages, Consumed Supply Material, and Contract expenses. Dave Fleischer’s company is willing to perform a no cost assessment; if you feel your company may qualify. See the flyer on page 7 for more information.

The second speaker on Monday morning was Sonia Lopez from Action Onsite. Her company specializes in Industrial Ergonomics. She has 35 years as a licensed Occupational Therapist. She helps train your team to become “Industrial Athletes”. You can see some pictures of the demonstrations during her sessions on page 6. In addition, there is a flyer for her services on page 8.

On Monday afternoon, over 35 people took part in the golf tournament. Also on Monday afternoon, 10 brave souls participated in Tina Groff’s spin class. (see picture on page 6.)

On Tuesday morning, the educational sessions continued. Jim Gutheim gave a presentation on customer retention. Industry standard is 95% retention. The value of a 1% improvement in customer retention leads to enormous results over a long period. Route people have the most impact on customers. Only 5 to 10% of companies are unhappy customers who actually complain. They provide mailer, surveys, emails, 800 numbers to survey clients. Jim’s contact information is W 818-784-7189, Jim@Gutheim.com.

The final speaker on Tuesday was Kevin Schwalb, VP of Government Regulation from TRSA. He gave the group an update on Legislation, Regulations and Policies that effects our industry. After Kevin’s presentation, there was the annual meeting of membership and the golf awards, presented by David MacKenzie. As David has retired from the organization, he is looking for a “Golf Chairperson” to handle the presentation of the golf award at the 2019 meeting.

The last event of the meeting was the President’s reception on Tuesday night. The turnout was unpresented. Undoubtedly, the large attendance was due to the presentation of WTSA’s first ever Lifetime Achievement Award to David MacKenzie.

Tom Watts was the first to speak. He told a great joke to get the night started. Greg Rogers, WTSA President, was next up, and he kept the room laughing with a wonderful recap of events at the meeting. There were heartfelt speeches from Jeff Newman, Bill Terrell, and Jim Ginnetti recounting some tales from years gone by. (see picture on page 3.)

Finally, David MacKenzie took his turn at the podium and told some of his own tales of his 50 plus years in the Industry. He recited the poem on page 2. There were many laughs, a few tears, and an overall wonderful evening. WTSA thanks all who attended and congratulates David MacKenzie on his well-deserved award.