Kevin Gilbride has never been one to put much stock into a professional group’s anniversaries or birthdays. Instead, he’d rather have a project’s impact or an initiative’s accomplishments serve as the milestone by which to measure success.
However, as the Accredited Snow Contractors Association speeds past its six-month mark, Gilbride, who serves as the group’s executive director, says so many significant goals have been reached that it was only appropriate to break with convention.
“It is hard to believe the progress we have made in such a short timeframe,” he says. “ Back in August, when GIE Media (the multi-media parent company of Snow Magazine, as well as sister horticulture publications Lawn & Landscape, Commercial Dealer & Distributor and Golf Course Industry) made the announcement to launch the ASCA I never imagined that we would have established the infrastructure of the organization, established our education objectives, drafted the first written version of “Industry Standards,” submitted a report to congress – which was very well received by the way – and, of course, gained a strong membership base in just six month’s time.”
But Gilbride isn’t one to rest for long. He wants to capitalize on the association’s momentum to fast-track other ASCA initiatives that, according to its long-term goals, could be achieved before it reaches its one-year anniversary.
Gilbride found a few moments in his schedule to sit down and bring us up to speed with the progress the ASCA has made over the last six months, some of the association’s challenges and accomplishments, as well as what’s on the horizon.
SNOW: For snow contractors who are not aware, go back to the beginning and explain GIE Media’s motivation to create the ASCA?
KEVIN GILBRIDE: Certainly. Fifteen years ago, GIE Media began what is today Snow Magazine. I have been fortunate to be part of that team since its inception. Nearly two years ago at Snow Magazine’s Top 100 event and Executive Summit, we held an open-forum discussion in which the attendees asked us to explore the issues surrounding insurance. These were industry leaders…and I had heard about this insurance issue before. Quite frankly, I never paid that much attention to it.
We agreed to look into the issue of insurance and we quickly found contractors’ insurance issues were actually the result of others issues in the marketplace, with the laws being the lead issue. However, with that said, we also learned that there was enough blame to go around. For example, insurance is not something you can look at and say claims are the insurance company’s responsibility…that is what we pay them for, right? Too many snow contractors look at it this way. It is the snow industry’s responsibility to protect the insurance companies as much as it is the insurance company’s responsibility to maintain claims.
Needless to say, it’s a fairly complex issue that takes into account a number of factors from the entire professional snow removal industry. In essence, GIE Media was able to convince enough people in the insurance world that there are snow contractors out there doing things right and working to help reduce the insurance company’s risk. It is those contractors that the ASCA insurance program was introduced for.
So GIE Media manages the program?
No, and that’s a common misconception.
Mill Insurance manages the program. Mills has the technical knowledge of snow risk but also has the thought process and forward thinking ability to be in line from what I wanted for this industry. They’re very innovative with attacking some of the major issues surrounding that world.
They made a commitment to GIE Media and then to the ASCA to not only manage the program, but also to continually re-evaluate the program to make sure it is the best program possible for the professional snow removal industry. They will go through the re-evaluation process for this year in April with some pretty heavy hitters in the snow removal industry. It’s exciting to watch the evolution.
So why form the ASCA?
In our conversations – call them negotiations – with the insurance world, it came down to a couple of things. Once we proved to them there were snow removal contractors who – by their professional approach and business systems – actually reduced risk for insurance companies, they conditionally accepted working with us on a specific insurance program for snow. Those conditions included: Put the Industry Standards in writing; manage educational programming that supports those standards; create a program in which we, as an insurance industry, can be assured the members we are writing insurance for are abiding by industry standards; and finally, work with us to represent this industry to the legislative bodies.
Of course, most of those items don’t generally fall under a professional trade magazine, but rather an association.
So, who from GIE Media was involved in the decision?
Richard and Chris Foster (GIE Media’s owners) and myself. They then asked me to take the role of the association’s executive director.
The ASCA has a board of advisors. What role did they play in launching ASCA and what role to they play now?
Once GIE Media made the decision, I reached out to some people, most of whom were attendees at our initial event and who started this whole ball rolling, as well as those who guided me in our search for our insurance partner, and I asked them to serve on the board of advisors.
As for the role they play today, the ASCA’s board of advisors operates as any company board. They offer input and suggestions. They bring their wealth of experience and knowledge to the table so we as an organization make the right decisions.
I am thrilled with the input and guidance the ASCA board has brought to us. It is one of the reasons we have been able to move so quickly to achieve our goals.
What about the committees?
I have had wonderful input from the committees. We have roughly 50 companies represented at the committee level. These committees have driven much of the success we have experienced so far. I have the privilege, because of the way we are set up, to lead each committee and can assure you it is the dedication of the committee members that has allowed us to move so quickly.
Of course, I encourage anyone in the industry to contract me directly if they wish to contribute some time to an ASCA committee.
The ASCA has a solid base of members.
Our initial members are those people who you would expect to join a new venture. I have always called them the “thought leaders.”
They are more high profile and more well known nationally. However, now that we are out there and have explained our mission and goals, membership is growing nicely with all types of snow professionals. They each have their individual reasons for joining. Some it is insurance, some industry standards, while others are interested in the legislative side. In all, they believe in the ASCA’s goals and mission.
So you’ve set your educational objectives. Have those been announced?
Soon! We actually finalized those this week in our committee meeting.
And Industry Standards?
The same. We actually have had these completed since December. We are going through a third party to insure they stand up to the level needed to help the industry. We should be able to release in the next month.
You mentioned the report to Congress being well received. Explain.
The sponsors of the bill we are supporting have asked if the ASCA or some of our members would be willing to testify on our industry when the bill hits the House or Senate floor for debate. I think that qualifies as pretty good feedback.
Who should get involved?
Anyone who wants to be part of changing the industry for the better and have their voice heard.
What do you mean “have their voices heard?”
There are obviously many big names attached to the ASCA already – and of course, big personalities –
It is my privilege…my job…to listen to everyone in the industry, take the best ideas and they are good for the industry and then get them the right feedback. I move on the decision pretty quickly.
It has been fun, sometimes I feel like I bounce the same idea off of 100 people, but if that is what it takes, then so be it. We are thinking big at the ASCA and we don’t have all of the answers. When we get down to a decision, I want to be sure we are right.
So what are the association’s upcoming goals?
That’s really a two-part question. First, what are the goals of the ASCA – because that is most important – and then how do I plan to execute them?
The goals of ASCA are simple but large. Enact positive change in the industry by convincing those external entities that matter. Those include insurance companies, legislative bodies, and ultimately the customers of professional snow and ice contractors. There is my 30,000-foot answer.
How do we execute that? We change the laws. I want to get insurance companies and lawyers to recognize that we are not going to lie down and get sued and then just settle and let insurance premiums continue to go through the roof.
We are taking the fight to them. We already have. We have the right partners… and we will succeed. I know it is not going to happen overnight. But it will happen.
Mike Zawacki is editor of Snow Magazine.
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